Reah: Face the Unknown

Reah: Face the Unknown 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 in October 10, 1998.[1] It was published by Project 2 Interactive in the Netherlands, and distributed in the U.S. and Canada by GT Interactive.[2]

Reah
Developer(s)
  • Project Two Interactive
  • Black Friar
Publisher(s)Detalion, LK Avalon
EngineV-Cruise engine
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows 
Release1998
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The game was originally made in the Polish language before being dubbed into English, and has subtitles available in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish.[3] A sequel of the game was released entitled Schizm: Mysterious Journey (a.k.a. Reah II).[4][5][6][7] The game was originally released in two different formats: a CD version and a DVD version.[8] It was later released on the Internet by Gog.com.

Gameplay

The game is a first-person perspective puzzle-oriented adventure game.[8] Elements of the gameplay have been compared to Myst, Riven, The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, and Zork Nemesis.[9][10] The game has over 150 scenarios, a supernatural-sounding musical landscape, and a non-linear plot.[11]

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.[12]

Development

Conception

The game was developed in Poland by LK Avalon and Detalion.[8] The Detalion founders had met in the early 1990s while collaborating with Polish developer-publisher LK Avalon, and soon began working on ambitious projects like A.D. 2044 and Reah: Face the Unknown. Around this time, Detalion was known as a developer of surreal, Myst-like games with "phantasmagorical, fantastic worlds".[13][13] The game was intentionally designed to be non-violent so as to appeal to a broader range of players.[14] 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.[13] 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.[13]

Production

The game used the V-Cruise gaming engine,[14] the QMixer sound engine licensed from QSound Labs, and the DVD-ROM version used MP3s from Fraunhofer Institut.[15] 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.[13] 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.[13]

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.[13]

Release

The Computer Show thought the game could have been a surprise hit upon its original proposed release date of April 1998.[16] PC Action announced the game would be released in August 1998.[17] 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.[18]

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 Software's affiliate label program.[19] 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.[13]

The game went out of print for a number of years,[24] until October 24, 2017 when GOG.com made Reah: Face the Unknown and Schizm: Mysterious Journey available without digital rights management restrictions.[25]

Critical reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGSP[26]
GameSpot4.9/10[27]
IGN5.0/10[28]
PC PowerPlay78%[29]
PC Gaming World8/10[30]
PC Magazine[31]
Just AdventureA-[32]
GamePro2 out of 5[33]
Meristation7.7/10[34][35][36]

The game received mixed reviews from critics. 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".[37] 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.[38] IGN implied in 2000 that the game was not remembered by the public.[39]

gollark: Which wrong opinions? My opinions are right.
gollark: I can, but it is also uncool and bad.
gollark: imagine using A4 pages and not computers
gollark: The power of the PIGEONHOLE PRINCIPLE™!
gollark: It sort of maybe ish is.

References
  1. https://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://meristation.as.com/pc/reah/juego/1506406&prev=search
  2. "Reah: Face the Unknown by Project 2 Interactive & LK Avalon. Reviewed by Suzanne Houghton". 2001-04-16. Archived from the original on 2001-04-16. Retrieved 2017-12-25.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  3. "reah". 20 April 2001. Archived from the original on 20 April 2001.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "Mr. Bill's Game Reviews". 15 August 2000. Archived from the original on 15 August 2000.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  5. http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/q-r/reahR/reahR.htm
  6. "New Games On the Horizon". 15 August 2000. Archived from the original on 15 August 2000.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  7. "SCHIZM Start Page". 31 August 2000. Archived from the original on 31 August 2000.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  8. http://www.detalion.com/reah/game.html
  9. "IT Reviews - PC games, PlayStation games, Nintendo 64 games - Review of Reah (Black Friar)". 4 March 2001. Archived from the original on 4 March 2001.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  10. "Reah: Face the Unknown - Review". 16 April 2001. Archived from the original on 16 April 2001.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  11. "3D Planet s.r.l." 21 February 1999. Archived from the original on 21 February 1999.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  12. "Reah Face the Unknown on PC Games - Yahoo! Games Domain". 4 January 2005. Archived from the original on 4 January 2005.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  13. "Lukasz Pisarek - City Interactive - Interview - Adventure Classic Gaming - ACG - Adventure Games, Interactive Fiction Games - Reviews, Interviews, Features, Previews, Cheats, Galleries, Forums". www.adventureclassicgaming.com. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
  14. "Reah - game". 6 June 2000. Archived from the original on 6 June 2000.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  15. "Reah - features". 6 April 2001. Archived from the original on 6 April 2001.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  16. "Reah: Face the Unknown by Al Giovetti". 2011-10-10. Archived from the original on 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2017-12-24.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  17. PC Action Magazine (September 1998) (in German). September 1998.
  18. "PC Zone - Issue 072 (1999-01)(Dennis Publishing)(GB)". 1 January 1999 – via Internet Archive.
  19. http://au.ign.com/articles/1999/03/16/space-sim-ships
  20. "Reah DVD Coming in Early June News". 2005-02-08. Archived from the original on 2005-02-08. Retrieved 2017-12-24.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  21. "The Games Room - Reah". 12 April 2001. Archived from the original on 12 April 2001.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  22. "Project Two Ships Reah on DVD News". 2005-02-08. Archived from the original on 2005-02-08. Retrieved 2017-12-24.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  23. http://au.ign.com/articles/1999/06/17/news-briefs-297
  24. "Reah - game". 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
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  27. Poole, Stephen (May 24, 1999). "Reah". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 20, 2003.
  28. Butts, Stephen (April 19, 1999). "Reah". IGN. Archived from the original on February 6, 2002.
  29. Robinson, Brett (January 1999). "Reviews; Reah". PC PowerPlay (32): 100.
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  34. http://meristation.as.com/pc/reah/analisis-juego/1506406
  35. http://meristation.as.com/pc/reah/analisis-juego/1506406?browserOutputType=mobile&p=1
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  37. Kyser, Cindy. "Schizm (Mysterious Journey) - CD Version Review". justadventure.com.
  38. http://www.tap-repeatedly.com/Reviews/Schizm/Schizm.shtml
  39. http://au.ign.com/articles/2000/11/02/project-two-returns-from-the-dead
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