...well, you know.
Anyhow, I realize I said little at that point. I was pretty ticked off when I wrote that, and it's probably better that I restrained myself a bit.
One of the things I want to make clear is that if other people like the game, I'm not interested in making them not like it. I do, however, think it moves significantly away from what *I* liked about Myth:TFL and SB (actually, I played them backwards, so I always think of them as SB and TFL, but that's another story).
I feel like a lot of the effort went into things that I didn't care about, and very little effort went into the things I did care about. I also think I would have been less upset if it hadn't been so hyped up as something the community was going to rave about. My revulsion to the game was in direct proportion to the BS I was fed about it.
I don't know if I went on record as saying this before the game came out, but I do happen to think that, storywise, prequels are inherently challenging to make. Having played Myth:TFL as a sort of prequel (since I played SB first), I really enjoyed it. But I doubt you can successfully conceive of a prequel ex nihilo having already constructed the 'post-quel(?).' E.g., I loved Star Wars; HATED Episode 1.
I think Myth III should have gone forward in time from SB, and information about the past could have been revealed--if it added to the story. We could have learned about the Head and anything else interesting in a way that made sense. I feel like M3 was created as the boring punchline to all the wonderful mystery created by the first two Myths.
But we didn't even have to find out who the Head is! Great stories are not about rushing to give you the answer. Sometimes mysteries are best left so. Ambiguity is OK! Hell, it's the lifeblood of this site!
In my appreciation of the story of Myth, I take the identity of the Head to continue to be a mystery. I can't bear with the ridiculous tales woven in Myth 3. And it's not just the Head.
For an example, Bungie managed to make the myrkridia one of the most frightening creatures I'd ever seen in a game. That awful whooping noise! The speed! I shivered playing that level in Myth 2 where you first meet them.
By contrast, the myrkridia in Myth 3 are pathetic and laughable. I've had them look at my troops while they slowly filled them with spears. I yawn when they run onto the screen, bored with the thought of having to dispose of them, like a janitor drearily performing his duty.
Myth III may be a fine game in its own right. The problem is that it's not a game in its own right. It's got a heritage, and one that it embraced voluntarily. It made claims that it couldn't cover, and it deserves to be ridiculed and debased for that.
Again, if you want to like the game, I'm not interested in taking away from you something you like. I hated the game so much I don't even take it as part of the Myth series. It's like the sequel that woman wrote to "Gone With the Wind." Not really a sequel.
