Uru: Ages Beyond Myst - Reception

Reception

Initial reception to Uru was generally positive, but less so than previous games in the series. The game has average critic scores of 79% and 77% from aggregate web sites Metacritic and Game Rankings, respectively. Though Uru was a departure from previous Myst titles, the differences were usually praised. Game Informer's Lisa Mason said Uru "successfully updated" the adventure game genre. The visuals and music were highly praised, and GameZone called the world of the D’ni beautifully rendered and brilliantly designed. Newspapers appreciated the contrast Uru offered from violence-filled contemporary games.

Reception to the game's third-person controls and the addition of instant failures by falling were not well received. Denise Cook of Computer Gaming World called the third person option "choked" and "quirky". While Cook appreciated the added depth and immersion provided by the real-time rendering, she found incidents such as slipping off rocks, falling into lava, and plummeting into canyons irksome additions to the previously stress-free Myst formula. GameSpy's Carla Harker found several puzzles highly difficult solely due to the poorly implemented control scheme which "never becomes intuitive". Computer Gaming World's Robert Coffey and Cook considered the plot of the single-player release minimal and forgettable.

A major critic complaint about Uru was that the game did not ship with the multiplayer component. GameSpot's Andrew Park questioned why the game shipped with the multiplayer element open only for select players when the component had previously been beta-tested. GameSpy was disappointed that the feature advertised on the box and in the game manual was not available in the product. Reviewer Bob Mandel found that the most disappointing part of the dropped multiplayer game was that "as you progress through the game, a number of tantalizing clues emerge of places you can go and activities you can undertake only through the promised online mode."

Uru's sales were considered disappointing, whereas the first three Myst games had sold more than 12 million units collectively before Uru's release. Time magazine pointed to the game's relative failure as evidence the franchise had lost its touch, a notion the developers of Myst IV: Revelation sought to dispel. Uru's poor sales were also considered a factor in financially burdening Cyan, contributing to the company's near-closure in 2005. The title's original graphics and story nevertheless attracted a cult following.