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This could redefine the meaning of "expansion pack"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 22
Date: July 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

------ Puzzles and Gameplay ------
They blend in with their surroundings; they stare you in the face, and yet remain invisible. They are VERY DIFFICULT. Some are downright unconventional, things you would never expect to have to do in a game, but if thrown a similar situation in real life - make sense. This game deals with time in more realistic ways than other games; things do not happen instantaneously in real life. I might add that it also deals with time in very fantastical ways, so you never quite know what to expect. Unless you're a really good problem solver, Path of the Shell should take you several days at the least to complete, without using a walkthrough or a hint guide. Overall, these puzzles are a pleasant return to the way things were in previous Myst games... really deviously designed, i.e. the concept was brilliant, and they make logical sense if you truly sit down and think about them.

Pro: There are few places where you will have to worry about falling off a ledge, which got very frustrating in the original Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. It's more mental this time through.

Con: Some of the puzzles require a lot of linking back and forth, some take a lot of time, and others are really, REALLY subtle. It could be your twentieth time visiting an Age before you realize: "Oh, hey, that actually does something."

------ Books ------
Reading is actually a feature of this game that I enjoy. Not many games out there require you to use so many different parts of your brain. Not only does it provide a lot of depth to the universe of Uru, with background information, but it also serves as a completely undetectable method of providing solutions to puzzles. The writings just add a lot of realism to the Myst games. Another nice addition to Path of the Shell is the editable player journal, which allows you to make notes or write about anything you wish. It's very useful, when you don't have the real thing next to your computer. But I'm pretty sure you're still going to want paper and pencil while playing this game.

Pro: So much background information in all these books, it could be compiled into a serious hardback copy. Having the texts available to you is better than not having them at all.

Con: So much background information in all these books, it could be compiled into a serious hardback copy. You'll also thank and curse yourself for ever learning how to count numbers.

------ Graphics ------
One of the other nice things about Uru, is that you are able to adjust the display settings so that it runs smoothly on your system. In fact, it does this automatically for you. Now, if you happen to have a very high-end system, you'll be able to turn up all the slider bars to Ultra High Quality modes, and believe me - everything looks gorgeous. Especially the water. I've also run the game with the lowest graphics settings possible, and there's still so much attention to detail in the modeling, that it still looks nice. They even took the time to animate water droplets landing on a glass window.

Pro: They were pretty insane graphics for an online MMORPG (Uru Live, recently terminated), and now you get everything back without the lag!

Con: Set the quality too high for your system, and your game might crash.

------ Sound and Music ------
Even with just stereo headphones, things will pan from side to side as you move around. The natural ambience of the environments, and the sounds of various mechanisms breathe life into the worlds of Uru. You will hear the difference between walking through a pool of water, and jumping in it. Really immersive, no matter what sound system you have. The music is also very diverse from world to world, and very carefully placed. There is a beautiful singing voice in one of the songs, which you will not want to miss. =)

Pro: So much sound design, it's almost ridiculous.

Con: Sometimes it's really noisy.

------ Overall Impressions ------
This expansion pack is extremely worth the $20 you pay for it. Technically, it's 2 expansion packs: To D'ni and Path of the Shell. Not only will it provide you with hours and hours of brain-straining puzzles, the puzzles will provide you with a great sense of accomplishment once you figure them out. One of the worlds seems like an homage to Riven, visually, as it shares some of the same combinations of metal, water, and dry land. If you've only played Myst, this game will still have its nostalgic moments. Trust me. The Path of the Shell makes up for the flaws in the original Uru, although, we'll still have to live with the challenges of navigating in real-time 3D... and it almost makes up for the cancellation of Uru Live, too.

Five stars ... with qualifications

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: August 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Uru: The Path of the Shell (PotS) rates five stars. Its graphics & sounds are extraordinary; its puzzles are outstanding.

This is a surprising situation where the expansion packs, To D'ni and PotS, exceed the game itself, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (Uru Prime).

Unlike Uru Prime, neither To D'ni nor PotS is loaded with annoying jump puzzles. Both expansion packs return to the puzzle style of Myst, Riven and Exile.

The qualifications are:

1) PotS contains a logic error. It's possible to complete PotS and skip the Ahnonay and Er'cana Ages altogether.

2) Ubi Soft recommends having the most up-to-date video and sound drivers, I strongly recommend updating all drivers PRIOR to installing Uru.

I did update drivers first, but played Uru long enough where nVidia issued an additional driver update which was immediately installed. After that, Uru would hang at startup with a 'Querying graphics system' message.

The only solution was to remove Uru and reinstall it.

(When reinstalling Uru, first backup your sav, KIimages and MyMusic folders, their default location:

C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\Cyan Worlds\Uru - Ages Beyond Myst

Then restore them after reinstallation.)

Hope no one else has this problem. It was irritating and almost cost PotS one of its stars.

The Good Ole Days are back!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 12
Date: June 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you loved Riven you will definitely enjoy The Path of the Shell. This expansion for Uru captures that Age-wide puzzle feel we've not seen as much in recent years. To say the puzzles are difficult is an understatement, but to say it's rewarding is, too! I was thrilled to see the new Ages, their huge scope and well-integrated clues. This is a must not only for Uru fans but Myst fans who will feel a real sense of "full circle". Ages Beyond Myst talked of the past; To D'ni explained the present. The Path of the Shell alludes to the future and I can't wait to see what Cyan gives us next! :)

Cyan is back!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: June 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Excellent expansion pack. A treat for anyone who likes challenging, but reasonable puzzles. New types of puzzles that you haven't seen before in a Myst/Uru game, fantastic Relto pages to customize your personal world and lots of new places to explore. Really takes the Myst series back to its roots in terms of quality and quantity of gameplay.

The End of the Journey... for now

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: July 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

My only complaint about the Path of the Shell is that it is, apparently, the last installment in the Uru series. Uru was a great and daring departure from the Myst standard, but it was a wonderful experience and had virtually unlimited potential.

As an expansion pack, Path of the Shell compliments the original Ages Beyond Myst in many ways. It expands the story, opens up broad new areas to explore, contains new information about the D'ni, and offers several very challenging puzzles.

While these puzzles were certainly difficult, I preferred them to some of the more "physical" puzzles of Ages Beyond Myst which required occasionally frustrating manipulations of inanimate objects.

Path of the Shell was a bit more cerebral and in some places a bit more abstract. I found this gratifying, but it may necissitate the use of a hint guide. To that end, Prima has just published a very good one for Uru: Complete Chronicles.

Path of the Shell also continued the fine Myst tradition of beautiful and surreal environments.

As I said before, in the end, the only complaint I have is that there will not be more. As a stand alone addition to the Uru mythology Path of the Shell is fantastic, but as a conclusion to the story it leaves many questions unanswered and left me, personally, wanting to see more of Uru! But as they say... perhaps the end has not yet been written. We can hope!

I enjoyed it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Path of the Shell was in all, an enjoable experience for me. I experienced some technical problems with the install, but nothing difficult to fix or damaging to the computer. The graphics are fantastic, the sound incredible, the Ages intriguing. Many of the puzzles are a bit harder than I would like (The Ahnonay age is so hard, you can hardly even tell if you're in the puzzle or not).
All in all, though, Cyan has come through again with a great game!

Comparable to Riven

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: September 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Riven is hailed by many as the epitome of the perfect D'ni game. However, Uru with its expansions manages to be even better. The Path of the Shell especially has comparable puzzles and grand scope to Riven. There are times when the exploration, music and story become overwhelming and cause the player to cry and experience emotional growth. With such emotional involvement, the game's mentioned flaws are negligable and do not detract.

The Path of the Shell - Expansion Pack for Uru

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

For those gamers who played Uru, this is a continuation with the same equipment requirements. Don't bother if your computer won't handle it.

For those who do have the minimum requirement plus, the mind bending continues. It's beautiful, thoughtful, and full of fantastic music.

At last - Genius!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 13
Date: December 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hail The Gathered! I bow to your superior intellect and wisdow! In the future this expansion pack will be an object of worship! Hail! Hail!

Myst Uru: The path of the shell Expansion pack

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A good add on for the Myst game. The Larghe's

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