Editorial Note: Uru: Expansion Pack 1: "To D'ni" has been
incorporated into "Myst Uru: The Path of the Shell" (the expansion
pack for "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst") and has also been incorporated
into "Myst Uru: Complete Chronicles" which contains Uru in its
entirety.
The Uru Live experience will continue through GameTap, and will
release for the Holiday 2006 Season.
Uru Expansion Pack: To D'Ni
It is hard to describe the gloom that settled on the people who
were deeply involved in playing Uru Live when the announcement came
that it would end. People were upset, some cried while others
started petitions, and hope was dipping and rising faster than the
roller coaster ride in an amusement park. Finally hope died but
before the end came the sorrow was tempered by the promise of the
Extension Packs. From the moment that we heard this promise we were
living in suspense and expectation.
Of course there are gamers who did not play Uru. There are those
who played it and did not fall in love. There are those who were
lucky enough to get into Uru Live at the beginning, I among them,
and those who never had the good fortune to play Uru Live or got in
too late.
To tell the truth there should be a different review written for
all the above groups. Since I cannot do that let me try to tell my
thoughts about the first XPack.
This is really not the place to tell you that I loved Uru that I
loved Uru Live even more, that I made many new and lasting
friendships, that I had a ball and that I was heart broken when they
called it quits. I just cannot help myself.
After the inglorious end came and we went out with a whimper I
was desolate. I lost a lot I had in my Relto, I lost the interaction
with my friends and “Yeesha” deserted her adopted tribe, me along
with it.
March 22nd came, it was just another day in the
calendar for many but to us Uru infected it was “The Day” the first
pack was to hit the broadband. Luckily compassionate souls put up
mirror sites and our cravings for the pack were satisfied quickly.
If you have broadband, cable or DSL, the download does not take up
too much time (for me it was less than an hour). It is, of course, a
different story with a modem. There is help in that area too such
as:
http://bittornado.com/download.html
“Ok, Ok” you say, “quit the chitchat and tell what is in the
Pack”. From now on I must operate under the assumption that you have
played the game and that you understood what it was about. You were
called to your spiritual home at the beginning of Uru. You met a fat
man with a fat book cooking a fat burger he gave you fat hints.
You got into the tree and started the voyage of discoveries
according to Yeesha. Her teachings took you through the ages so you
would understand why the D’ni Empire has fallen. She told you what
happened when pride overruled compassion and when the “lesser” were
exploited for easy gain. (This seems to be a universal lesson for us
all).
The installation of the XPack did not interfere with your saved
game but you had to start at the desert again and make your way to
the tree.
The D’ni Restoration Council that closed up the city for lack of
funds decided to open it again for a few lucky individuals, and you
were one of those.
Now you know that your Relto (if you get there) is always your
starting point. You have your age books there and you have your
avatar definitions there. From your Relto you start the rest of the
journey.
For the people who have never been in the Relto all I can say is
do get there and have fun. You can play the XPack even if you have
not finished the Prime game or you can start the whole experience at
once. It is better if the Prime is finished first because you will
have to go back to it for clues to future puzzles and the game-play
is easier if you know your way around.
So you are back in your Relto. You got back the things you lost.
That means that you who did not know it from before have to look for
things called Yeesha pages. Furnishing your Relto is great fun.
Eventually you have to find your way into the D’ni A’guira that is
the city age. As soon as you get there you realize that there were
some who never left it. You have to look for clues in places you
have visited in the Uru Prime game. These clues are well hidden and
I must admit that being an Uru Live veteran makes it easier to play
the XPack.
I do not want to give the game away because I am sure that there
are a lot of people who have not played it yet. However once you
find the first and most significant clue that leads you to the next
puzzle the wondrous new age of the city will open for you. The story
is that DRC allows a few people to return to calibrate the Great
Zero that is the significant center of all and, activated, acts as
the heartbeat of the city.
This pack gives us two Neighborhoods, a secret place, the D’ni
A’guira, and the GZ. There are the personal logs, scientific
journals of the DRC to peruse and the detailed history of the D’ni
Kings to read. You can look for several pieces of reward clothing.
To advance you must solve the puzzles that are not always easy or
obvious so you must be observant. The first puzzle opens the way to
new places and eventually to the city. There you will behold the
wonders of this underground world. Finally you will engage in what
is called the “Marker Hunt” that will take you all over the place
and will enable you to calibrate the Great Zero. Your KI that you
have to activate in Gahreesen is a great aid to that. Once you do
all that you will get a very interesting hint concerning the future
of the game. You guessed it, the next XPack and I can hardly wait.
It is my opinion that there could have been a little better
introduction to the Pack for those who have not played Uru Live. The
Pack itself is not that new for the veterans but still gives plenty
to do and affords an interesting game play. The Cyan quality we are
used to is maintained in this pack. I have found no glitches or bugs
albeit be warned for this to be true you need a high-end computer to
play the game with a powerful video card. The minimum requirements
are just that, minimum.
I played this game on:
Windows XP/Pro
Pentium®4 CPU 2.26GHz
768 MB Ram, XP/Pro
RADEON 9500 Pro / 9700
RADEON 9500 Pro /
9700-Secondary
Creative Audigy Audio
Processor (WDM)
DirectX 9.xxx
Review
Grade: A-
