In Myst IV Revelation players must find a little girl who has disappeared mysteriously by scrutinising the immensely detailed environments and solving an array of mechanical mind-benders. This fourth outing of the game reunites us with Sirrus and Achenar, the two dastardly brothers who appeared in the original Myst more than a decade ago and have been incarcerated in separate prisons for their evil deeds since.

The Myst world is heavily stylised, a mix of futuristic settings kitted out with retro brass machinery. The outdoor environments are rendered in the game’s trademark photorealistic graphics and these jaw-droppingly beautiful visuals can be viewed through a full 360 degrees. New seamless animations within the locations, such as cascading waterfalls, also help to bring them alive.

Navigating the game is simple enough as it is almost entirely mouse-driven — a small hand has replaced the cursor and this hovers over critical hotspots such as key switches and levers to indicate where exploration is needed. Much of the gameplay focuses on figuring out how the machines operate to reveal the next puzzle or unlock new locations. One new feature is the ability to take photographs at any point during the game; they can be stored in the reference journal until needed.

Myst may not be to everyone’s liking. Some will find that the game’s endless puzzle-solving becomes frustrating when they reach stumbling blocks, though the Help feature has been enhanced this time around. In contrast, legions of Myst fans will delight in cracking this parti-cular if rather peculiar cerebral nut.

The game is released for PC and Mac, but it is worth bearing in mind that this instalment is released only for DVD-rom.

Tim Wapshott