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Fantastic one person effort

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The Rhem series is an intriguing, atmospheric suite of games containing excellent puzzles. The navigation is difficult, as one turns around several times in a multidimensional maze. It is a huge environment with interesting areas. The ambience is of a decayed industrial landscape, rusty and forlorn.

Even though the graphics are somewhat basic (compared with the Myst series), and perhaps more akin to early Myst rather than the sequels. The scens are certainly evocative and mysterious, with appropriate ambient sounds. The high contrast lighting is good and adds to the feeling of desolation.

I cannot fault this game and it is particularly remarkable that it is created in its entirety by one person. That is amazing in itself. Narrative is not important here. For me, this game is a work of art and should be praised for what it is.

Clues scattered everwhere!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

What struck me first about Rhem is that is has very little color. It is a metal pipe, brick, and dirt world. There's a bit of blue water here and there, but even the huge reservoir is dried up mud. Still, like the desert, it does not have to be seen as unattractive...just different.

Having said that, the graphics are done very well. Attention to details, such as views from afar, are done with great care. There are some sounds, but it is very simple and repetitive. You meet one other character, briefly, and the voice-work leaves much to be desired. Fortuneately, the character leaves and you don't have to listen to him anymore. Unfortuneately, he takes the tramcar you rode in on, leaving you stranded.

While the pathways may seem daunting at first, if you roam around a bit, you will soon recognize landmarks. Or, you can use the map provided in booklet or a more detailed one found online. Getting from one place to another, plotting out the routes, was more fun for me than most of the puzzles. After while, I did not have to refer to the map.

I used hints pretty freely in this game since not all puzzles are straightforward. Still, they are not so far-fetched to make no sense at all. I just needed a nudge. More experienced gamers might not.

This is a point and click game, however you can look down nearly everywhere and that gives you the feeling of a 3D world. I soon didn't even notice.

Overall, Rhem has puzzles ranging from easy to moderately difficult. The graphics are well done, but lack interest. It is worth playing, but do not expect a plot- there is none...other than to escape (and that's rather anti-climatic.)

Major Confusion

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I haven't been able to figure out any of the puzzles. There's so many paths to take that it's easy to get turned around or lost. It would have been better if there was a way to "mark" the paths already taken and a way to get hints on solving the puzzles. It's just way too much thrown at you all at once.

Didn't work

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: December 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The game told me to use 600 screen resolution, my monitor doesn't even go down that low. I installed the game, and tried playing it. I clicked "new game" and I got an error message telling me it could not find "Intro" file. Now I know why it was a $9.00 Staples game. Never buy games at Staples on the buget shelf. I'm 0 and 2 there. By the time the games end up there, they're too outdated for any computer built in the last few years. Rhem can't even be played.

Terrible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: October 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Every scene in this game looks the same so it's too hard to navigate. The best grafic in this game is the one on the box, the ones in the game are unimpressive at best.
The Myst games are awe inspiring, this game is nowhere close to that.

Unpolished and not worth it.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: August 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Rhem is clearly a home effort. I bought this in a store for $25, and I expected the gem the reviews promised, but I was greatly disappointed.

Firstly, the resolution of pictures in the game is tiny, and there's no way to change to even a 1024x768 mode. Since my monitor doesn't even have a resolution low enough to full screen the images, I was stuck wincing at a tiny image centered in a black screen.

The graphics are sub-Myst, even 11 years later, and further make the exploration of the 'world' difficult.

The story isn't altogether enticing---I never got far enough to learn more than to see a character basically tell me, "this is Rhem; I'm leaving; you're stuck."

The puzzles, as was mentioned in another review, also make little sense in the context of the world, with the exception of some of the water puzzles which were fun.

Don't buy this game---at least not until it costs about $7 max.

The Next Dynasty of Logic Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: March 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"Fans of Myst of Riven Rejoice! Rhem is here"
That is the description I saw on the web. It is true. Rhem is one of the best games of all time, second only to Riven. The puzzles are fantastic! They are everything you want in a puzzle: logic, thinking, clearly stated goal of the puzzle, clever clues. Not some stupid book with the solution in it, but maybe a scrap of paper showin a schmatic of a power station. The puzzles of Rhem give me a good feeling that only Riven gives me. The setting of the game is good. The erie, deserted, quasi-industrial landscape is noting like I've seen before. I don't care about the fact that there is no story or the grapics not being like some other games's. I play puzzle games for the puzzles. Thanks to Mr. Muller for making our computers a more logical and enjoying place to be. :-)

Sort of a Plain-looking Myst

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The only real problem with installing Rhem wasn't so much the CD-ROM, but the Mac OS X patch you can get from Got Game. It turns out that there are a lot of little .bins you have to open as well.

If you're looking for the kind of fantastic architecture and breath-taking scenery you might find in Myst or the Riddle of the Sphinx series, you probably won't like Rhem. It's basically an abandoned pumping station you have to escape. (Unfortunately, it's never explained just WHY you would steal a railcar to come to Rhem.) The buildings are designed purely for function. Apparently, this is more of a set-up for Rhem 2 (which, from what I've seen at the Got Game website, has much better graphics), as it raises more questions than it answers.

Some of the clues don't make sense within what little of a story it has. You'll find a lot of clues at the beginning that won't be useful until much later in the game, and you have to solve one puzzle before you can even GET to the others. I've always felt that a game should be both challenging AND logical. Some of the logic is lacking here.

If nothing else, it's a good diversion on a rainy afternoon, but it won't blow your mind.

Blah.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 16
Date: April 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was fairly lousy. My fiance and I have been playing games like this for years, so we have plenty of practice and basis for comparison. The puzzles in Rhem tended to make very little (if any) sense in the context of the game, so they weren't logical. As for the graphics, it looks like someone went bonkers applying the same two or three textures to every possible surface. I think the people who designed this game need to go back and play some good quality games themselves so they can get an idea of what a puzzle game should be like. The end has no interest or closure...just basically, congratulations, you made it through.
Blah. Don't waste money on this.

vast world, great puzzles, no story

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: April 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I would say that Rhem compares favorably to Myst and its successors in terms of landscape and puzzles, but it does lack any compelling storyline.

The deserted industrial setting, composed of pumping stations, generators and radio complexes, is dilapidated and needs repair so that you can find a vehicle to escape. It is similar to one of the ages of Myst, but is even more incredibly vast. Much of your energy will be devoted to mapping out the various locales and routes.

The puzzles are very good, and you'll need to note down colors, shapes and symbols that become essential in later settings. At some point I did become quite frustrated when I was STILL putting so much effort into finding my way between sites, but ultimately I would say that I enjoyed the game, it was MYST-like, and if there were a Rhem 2, I would play it.

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