Reah: Face the Unknown

Reah: Face the Unknown, known in North America as simply Reah, is a 1998 first-person puzzle-oriented adventure game with a non-linear plot, described as a Myst-clone. It was developed by Project Two Interactive / Black Friar and published by Detalion and LK Avalon. It was distributed by Erbe in Spain on October 10, 1998.[3] It was published by Project 2 Interactive in the Netherlands, and distributed in the U.S. and Canada by GT Interactive in 1999.[4]

Reah
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)LK Avalon (EU)
GT Interactive (NA), Project Two Interactive, Black Friar
EngineV-Cruise engine
Release
Genre(s)Adventure, puzzle

The game was originally made in the Polish language before being dubbed into English, and has subtitles available in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish.[5] A sequel of the game was released entitled Schizm: Mysterious Journey (a.k.a. Reah II).[6][7][8][9] The game was originally released in two different formats: a CD version and a DVD version.[10]

Gameplay

The game is a first-person perspective puzzle-oriented adventure game.[10] Elements of the gameplay have been compared to Myst, Riven, The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, and Zork Nemesis.[11][12]

The game has over 150 scenarios, a supernatural-sounding musical landscape, and a non-linear plot.[13]

Plot

The main player is stranded at a human colony base of a planet named Reah which had been set up to investigate an alien artifact. The player must return home to reveal their shocking discoveries.[14]

Development

Conception

The game was developed in Poland by LK Avalon and Detalion.[10] The Detalion founders had met in the early 1990s while collaborating with Polish developer-publisher LK Avalon, and soon began working on ambitious projects.[15] The game was intentionally designed to be non-violent so as to appeal to a broader range of players.[16] The full-time team who worked on Reah and its sequel, Schizm: Mysterious Journey, consisted of six people, though the productions had an extended roster of hired help including actors, text writers, and sound designers.[15] Resources were increased in later games due to the industry standards of professional outsourcers, localization and animation studios, while maintaining both quality and low costs.[15]

Production

The game used the V-Cruise gaming engine,[16] the QMixer sound engine licensed from QSound Labs, and the DVD-ROM version used MP3s from Fraunhofer Institut.[17] Once the gameplay and text were completed by the in-house staff, it was sent to the relevant people to flesh out. However, the staff felt a sense of confusion and uncertainty about their work, and decided that in the future they would hire a professional sci-fi writer to develop the story from the very early stages of production.[15] While this was not the case with Reah, Detalion decided that as a rule of thumb, the story writer should also be the gameplay author.[15]

As the Polish video gaming industry was still in its infant stages, everyone involved in the production knew each other. There were no tertiary courses to teach people the required skills, so they learnt while making games with more experienced colleagues. The small teams in the production of games such as Reah had no issues with communication or bureaucracy that appear in larger organisations.[15]

Release

The Computer Show thought the game could have been a surprise hit upon its original proposed release date of April 1998.[18] PC Action announced the game would be released in August 1998.[19] However, PC Zone noted that they had still not received a copy of the game by January 1999, remarking that such was usually indicative of one of two things: that the game is bad and the company is therefore scared to have it sent off for review before it is sold, and that they hadn't yet decided on release dates.

Project Two Interactive revealed in May 1999 that the DVD version of the game would be released in retail outlets in June through GT Interactive's affiliate label program. This version was 10 gigabytes with a compression ratio of 50%, compared to the CD-ROM version which was 3.6 gigabytes over six discs with a compression ratio of 80%. This made the DVD version one of the largest games in the market[20][21] when it was officially shipped on June 16.[22][23]

Author Terry Dowling, who was playing Reah at the time, contacted Detalion and was propositioned with writing the sci-fi story of the sequel, Schizm, which he accepted.[15]

On October 24, 2017 digital distributor GOG.com made Reah: Face the Unknown and Schizm: Mysterious Journey available without digital rights management restrictions[24] after the game had been unavailable for sale for a number of years.[16]

Critical reception

The game received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[25] The general consensus was that the scenery was beautiful and detailed, while the writing and plot were underdeveloped and without forward momentum. Reviews regarding the puzzles and gameplay mechanics were mixed. However most critics felt that despite the downsides, they ultimately had an enjoyable experience.

When reviewing Schizm, Just Adventure's Cindy Kyser commented that the prequel Reah was "a visually stunning yet dismal game [design and writing] that ranks high on my personal list of 'worst of genre' ", adding that Schizm "corrects almost every flaw that made Reah so painful to play".[36] Tap Repeatedly criticised the game's "three too-too-hard endgame puzzles" which when completed led to an unclimactic resolution, and thought that Detalion had committed the same error in Schizm.[37] IGN implied in 2000 that the game was not remembered by the public.[38]

References
  1. Perry Gentry (March 12, 1999). "What's in Stores Next Week". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  2. IGN staff (March 16, 1999). "Space Sim Ships". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  3. "Reah - Videojuegos". 11 March 2012.
  4. Suzanne Houghton (February 22, 1999). "Reah: Face the Unknown". Gamezilla. Online Magazine. Archived from the original on April 16, 2001. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  5. Rosemary Young (December 1998). "Reah: Face the Unknown". Quandary. Archived from the original on April 20, 2001.
  6. "Update log". Mr. Bill's Game Reviews. July 8, 2000. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000.
  7. "Reah: Face the Unknown Review - Mr. Bill's Adventureland". Mr. Bill's Adventureland. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  8. "New Games on the Horizon". Mr. Bill's Game Reviews. June 5, 2000. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. "SCHIZM Start Page". SCHIZM. Archived from the original on August 31, 2000.
  10. "Reah - game".
  11. Black Friar (November 9, 1998). "Reah". IT Reviews. Unusual Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on March 4, 2001.
  12. Farah Houston (1998). "Reah: Face the Unknown - Main Review". Games Domain. Attitude Network, Ltd. Archived from the original on April 16, 2001.
  13. "Reah". 3D Planet s.r.l. (in Italian). Archived from the original on February 21, 1999.
  14. "Reah: Face the Unknown (PC)". Games Domain. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on January 4, 2005.
  15. Igor Hardy (June 13, 2008). "Lukasz Pisarek - City Interactive". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  16. "Reah: Summary". L.K. Avalon. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012.
  17. "Reah: Features". L.K. Avalon. Archived from the original on April 6, 2001.
  18. Al Giovetti. "Reah: Face the Unknown". The Computer Show. Archived from the original on October 10, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  19. "Reah preview". PC Action (in German). Computec. September 1998. p. 19. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  20. James Fudge (May 7, 1999). "Reah DVD Coming in Early June". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  21. "Reah". The Games Room. Archived from the original on April 12, 2001.
  22. James Fudge (June 16, 1999). "Project Two Ships Reah on DVD". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  23. IGN staff (June 16, 1999). "News Briefs". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  24. "Release: Reah: Face the Unknown & Schizm: Mysterious Journey". GOG.com. CD Projekt. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  25. "Reah for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  26. Heidi Fournier (May 19, 2002). "Reah: Face the Unknown review". Adventure Gamers. Nito Games. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  27. Anthony Reed. "Reah - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  28. Andrew S. Bub (March 13, 1999). "Reah". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on February 8, 2005.
  29. Sean Miller (April 1, 1999). "Reah: Face the Unknown". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions. Archived from the original on April 30, 2001. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  30. Paul Bergren (September 1999). "Reah". Game Informer. No. 77. FuncoLand.
  31. Karen Eng (1999). "Reah: An Atmospheric Adventure Game [sic] Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 7, 2006.
  32. Johnny Liu (March 1999). "Reah Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  33. Stephen Poole (May 24, 1999). "Reah Review [date mislabeled as "May 5, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 20, 2003. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  34. Steve Butts (April 19, 1999). "Reah". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 6, 2002. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  35. Brett Robinson (January 1999). "Reah". PC PowerPlay. No. 32. Next Media Pty Ltd. p. 100. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  36. Cindy Kyser (August 16, 2001). "Schizm (Mysterious Journey) - CD Version Review". Just Adventure. Just Adventure, LLC. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  37. "Four Fat Chicks -- Schizm Review". www.tap-repeatedly.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05.
  38. IGN staff (November 1, 2000). "Project Two Returns from the Dead". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
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