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Don't meet the system requirements? Don't write a review

I'm shocked and amazed at the number of people who are willing to write bad reviews about a game after admitting they don't meet the system requirements, and/or didn't pay attention to them when buying the game. This is akin to writing a review about a car, saying it was the worst model ever made and is a road hazard, even though you never actually took it for a test drive, because you didn't have the right key. In my mind this is completely unfair, and is a disservice to the people reading the reviews. It is also a disservice to the developer of the game, who in good faith put forth their best efforts to create a great game and be clear about what was needed to run it.

A word on system requirements:

1) They're listed on the game box. If you're not sure what they are prior to buying the game, ask the vendor. If your computer doesn't meet them, there's no reason to believe the game will install or run on your system. Also, if your computer barely meets the minimum requirements, there's no reason to believe the game will run smoothly, or have the highest quality graphics and sound. If you thought your system met the requirements and it turned out it didn't, you should upgrade your system or take the game back for a refund.

2) These requirements are usually very precise, and mean what they say. Windows 2000 does NOT mean Windows 2000 Server.

3) 'PC' requirements means desktop PC, not laptop. Unless the requirements specifically state that the game will run over the laptop equivalent of the desktop requirements, there is no reason to believe that it will. Developers generally don't test their products over laptops.

4) To Mac users that have flamed this game without playing it: The developer and publisher for this game have both publicly stated that they had every intention of porting this game to the Mac. The reason they couldn't is because one of the engine features had to be done by a 3rd party who assured them said feature would be Mac compatible. Turned out not to be true, when it was too late to do anything about it. Don't you think the developer feels at least as bad as you do about it? Do you think that showing a complete lack of understanding for a developer that has always tried to release games over your platform endears them to your cause?

Creating games nowadays is a costly venture. It would be nice if all PC games ran over all PC systems. But the truth is, the more components you support, the more it costs to make the game. So developers have to support the hardware that they think the most people will have, without compromising the quality of their game by doing so.

I am a fan of the Myst series games (including this one), and the company that created or inspired them. I know MANY people who have played this game (who met the system requirements), and about 99% of them were able to get this game to install and run with no real difficulty. The most technical thing any of them had to do was update their video drivers, which is really pretty easy. And if it's intimidating for you, you can contact the publisher for tech support and they'll help you with that.

As for the game itself, which I have actually installed and played all the way through. It is a break from previous Myst games in the sense that it is 3-D realtime, rather than pre-rendered 'still' shots. This can make the experience a lot more immersive, as it feels like you're 'in' the game. The movement is a lot different though, as it is no longer 'point and click', and takes some getting used to. The graphics are beautiful, the sound is incredible (I own the soundtrack, it's that good). The story falls in line with the rest of the series, and the puzzles can be figured out logically, with a lot of patience. The only thing in this game that really disappointed me was the interface, as it's this company's first real foray into the 3-D environment. It could have been smoother. So normally I would have given this game 4 stars out of 5, but feel I need to compensate with the exra star due to the amount of people that have completely flamed it and given it 1 star, without ever having played it. Not very sporting in my opinion.