Intrepid adventurers familiar with Myst will find a bit of a bastard stepchild in Uru. The Ages Beyond Myst was born from the desire to take modern day explorers to the fabled ancient subterranean city of D'ni in ways Myst and Riven could not - in real time 3D. Having initially been envisioned as a persistent online adventure, players will dress their own avatar and explore the ages beyond Myst in 3rd person. Because of the dramatic shift in context and presentation, players who are less intimate with the Myst mythos than your average die hard fan might feel a tad out of place in Uru wondering what any of it has to do at all with its predecessors. But the Myst essentials are all present. Namely, compelling puzzles and richly realized and beautifully rendered alien environments that are so vivid you can't help but get swept up in them. Some awkward controls, cumbersome platforming and the inability to pick up and carry physics objects needed to solve puzzles all plague the game's interface. Explorers might find themselves hard pressed to get involved in the game's narrative as the story is toned down a notch, weaving a somewhat awkwardly delivered tale about the follies of a lost civilization from a mysterious character players are never fully introduced to while piecing together bits and scraps of largely inconsequential exposition from journals and recordings that are little more than nonessential filler. Make no mistake, Uru's adventure is still one of the series best despite being rather removed from its predecessors and a bit cumbersome at times. Uru is every bit as immersive as its predecessors. The challenges are a bit less cunning than before, but enjoyable nonetheless. Uru stands as the quintessential modern Myst. A vivid reimagining for a new age. And a remarkable experience that is to be lived to be believed.