QUEST FOR GLORY IV: SHADOWS OF DARKNESS from Sierra On-Line

         Computer    Graphics    Memory     Disk Space 
Minimum   386        VGA         4 MB       17 MB 
Max/Rec.  486

Control: Mouse (w/ some keyboard equivalents) 
Sound: Sound Blaster, Adlib, PAS/PAS 16, MT-32, MS SND SYS, GEN MIDI 
Notes: Can install as DOS or Windows program.

Reviewed version 1.1 on: 486/33, 4 MB RAM, Sound Blaster
    Reviewer recommends: 486/20, 6 MB RAM, DOS version

8:00 AM: Awaken gradually to the sound of the DJ telling you that traffic is backed up on the highway and there's a 50% chance of rain.

8:00 AM - Hero: Leap out of bed, stroll into town where the inhabitants inform you that the town gravedigger has been accosted by werewolves and that you're the only one who can help.

8:30 AM: Creep through rush hour traffic.

8:30 AM - Hero: Unlock puzzles of wit and pass tests of skill to gain entry to the lair of the secretive mad scientist.

11:30 AM: Happy meal for lunch.

11:30 AM - Hero: No time to eat! -- too busy fighting venom-spitting, winged demons.

1:00 AM: Find out you've been passed over for a promotion -- again.

1:00 AM - Hero: Receive unanimous cheers and praise from the townsfolk for your latest selfless heroic act.

If you prefer the hero's schedule above, the idea of living vicariously through an on-screen hero may just appeal to you. QUEST FOR GLORY IV: SHADOWS OF DARKNESS provides an excellent opportunity to do just that. As the name suggests, this is the fourth in the Quest for Glory series. (The first was originally called Hero's Quest but the name was changed due to a legal snafu.) This series of graphic adventure games was designed by the husband and wife team of Lori and Corey Cole, and along with Roberta Williams' KING'S QUEST series formed the foundation of Sierra On-Line's success. The Quest for Glory series distinguishes itself from King's Quest and competitors such as Westwood Studio's LEGEND OF KYRANDIA in many ways. In the article that follows I will discuss these unique features as well as the storyline of the game, the graphics, the sound, the interface, the playability and some important technical advice.

In the first Quest for Glory game there were three character types: the fighter, the magician, and the thief. In each of the subsequent games the fighter was given the chance to be dubbed a Paladin if his actions were deemed pure and noble. Hence the fourth, or 'bonus' character type. Eac h must use slightly different methods of solving the puzzles he will be faced with. So, in theory, the game can be enjoyed four times with four different characters. Unfortunately, much of the game is exactly the same for all the characters so by the last one you are just going through the motions and waiting for the new parts. Also, veteran characters have been given the opportunity to learn skills not normally associated with their particular character type. This makes them much more imp ressive and flexible but allows several characters to use the exact same method of solving many of the puzzles which somewhat defeats the purpose of having different characters in the first place.

Another notable difference between Quest for Glory and other adventure games is the addition of personal statistics (often found in Role Playing Games) which describe your character's level of expertise in various areas. For example, doing strenuous hero work will gradually increase your strength a nd performing random acts of kindness will boost your honor level. These character statistics have their pros and cons, as well. Your hero's abilities (his 'personality') is shaped by how you choose to guide him, therefore he is a unique individual potentially unlike any other player's character. And the ability to import your hero from one game to the next adds a special sense of continuity lacking in other adventure games. But while the stats give your characters their own identities, it requires you to perform the mundane and repetitive task of practicing your skills. If you want your throwing skill level to be high, you must throw a lot of rocks or daggers. If you want to improve your lockpicking acumen, you must open safes until your fingers go numb even though there may be nothing inside. As a result, seasoned players who may be able to solve the game faster will actually have weaker characters to import to the next game unless they put their character on a daily skill-building regimen. Luckily, the story and atmosphere are compelling enough to make it worth your while.

The setting of the game is the dreary but perilous land of Mordavia. You awaken in a dark cave with no idea where you are or how you got there. Throughout the game, the answers are slowly revealed. Of course, the world is threatened and, and course, you alone must save it. An evil entity of monolithic proportions, which was placed in a limbo state by a powerful mage, is being unleashed by a pair of clever but hostile (and thoroughly evil) sorcerers who are planning to use you for their own horrific means. You must uncover their plans, follow your destiny -- however difficult -- and...well...save the world. While you're preparing to save the day, there are a remarkable number of subplots in which you can flaunt your heroic prowess. There's a ghostly swamp, a graveyard, a band of gypsies, a castle, a nude female zombie and plenty of other mysteries you must unravel in the creepy Transylvania-esque land of Mordavia.

The sights of Mordavia are presented in nice, 256-color, hand painted VGA screens. The graphics are shown full-screen with the exception of a tiny status line across the top of the screen showing your strength, stamina, and magic levels. The scenes range from genuinely spooky paintings to rounded off, children's-book-style illustrations. The muted grays and browns of most of the scenes add to the dreary atmosphere of Mordavia but are not as viv id and arresting as the saturated colors of games such as Legend of Kyrandia. The full screen close-ups of the odd characters you talk to are a very nice touch. As is the gradually darkening, purple dusk and the stars coming out as night descends. The animation of the hero as he walks, runs, or sneaks is fairly natural looking and a nice feeling of depth is provided by the character's decreasing in size as he heads 'away from the viewer.' Many other special actions are also animated realis tically such as the throwing, jumping, rope climbing and fighting. Because of the this, other actions which are not afforded the same attention to detail stick out like a sore thumb. For example, a hero peering through a keyhole will bend over nicely but may not face a door at all. But for the most part, the animations are excellent. The music in the game is another strong point. The tunes very effectively add to the mood of the various adventures you face. I discovered that I could tell exactly where the character was without ever looking at the screen just by the music and I soon found myself humming the songs to myself at work. The sound effects work well to provide punctuation to the events that occur. Overall, the graphics and sound are excellent and account for a large portion of the game's appeal.

The game's interface has undergone an amazing evolution from the first Quest for Glory game to this one. The first game used the cursor keys to move your character and pr ovided a box in which to type your commands. That was basically it. The new interface (which is pretty much the same as the one in QG3) requires no typing at all. All actions are performed by clicking icons on areas of the screen. Clicking the lips on one of the local inhabitants will give you a list of things to ask him about. Clicking the lips on your hero will pop up a list of things you can say. The eye icon will provide a description of the object on which you click and the hand ico n will attempt to use the object clicked. The right mouse button will cycle through the icons and the middle button will toggle between the last icon you used and the feet icon which tells the character where you want him to walk. Moving the cursor to the top of the screen will cause an icon bar to pop up with icons to switch the cursor to the above mentioned modes and other special icons which let you do things such as run, sleep, check your stats, check the time of day, or, if you have the appropriate skills, sneak or jump. Another icon allows you to cast one of your magic spells if you have magical ability. This icon bar also accesses the save, restore, and quit options and allows you to set the speed, detail, and difficulty levels. On each icon bar there is a question mark icon that will cause the other icons, when clicked, to display a brief description of what that icon does. But the icons are fairly self explanatory so this feature is probably not often used. There are a few keyboard short cuts to do things such as look at your character's inventory or quit the game but the game cannot be played without a mouse (or joystick, I suppose.)

Simplicity, in most things, makes the learning easier but limits the possibilities. The simplicity of this game's interface is no exception. In the old days, you would enter a room filled with odd people or interesting objects and were given a blank box in which to type. The rest was entirely up to you. With the new system, clicking the lips on a person will give a choice of a few things to say. You can almost always just go down the list, clicking on each choice and everything will work out fine. To me, this gives the feeling of being more of a spectator than a participant. But the new mouse-driven interfaces are found on all of the new adventure games and are here to stay. Luckily, the storyline of Quest for Glory IV is engaging and the graphics and music are enjoyable enough to make up for this lack of control.

Other factors that help add to the fun factor of QG4 are the increased number of quests to solve and the new, much-improved combat scenes. Quest for Glory III had one main plot and a few sub-plots to keep you occupied. Its sequel has a more interesting main plot and has probably twice as many puzzles to test your wits. By puzzles I don't mean the kind of Rubik's Cube style brain teasers found in games like SEVENTH GUEST but missions on which you are sent. For example, the e vil witch Baba Yaga threatens to kill you unless you return with an elderbury pie. (This pun is typical of the silly humor that fills all the QG games.) You must find out what goes into making such a pie and retrieve the ingredients using the skills and items in your possession. Some of the puzzles, such as the ones outside Dr. Cranium's lab, are fairly childish but most require a reasonable amount of cleverness. The more brain-teaser-like puzzles are bypassible and their difficulty level c an be set via the control panel. This level also affects the difficulty of the combat scenes. This is another area that has come a long way since the first QG game where the monsters could be defeated by merely randomly tapping on the arrow keys. In QG4, the hero can move forward or back, duck, slash, parry, cast spells, throw daggers or make impressive acrobatic attacks. All of these can be controlled using the mouse or the keyboard. (Except for the dagger throwing which seems to have no keyboard equivalent.) Both take a little getting used to but are fairly effective and fun. Unfortunately, they are not user customizable. If wrist straining tests of hand-eye coordination are not for you, the fight scenes can be fought automatically by the computer. Using this mode, you can set the levels of aggressiveness, magic use, defense, and the frequency of special attacks that the computer will use in fighting for you. So, whether you live to pick fights with monsters or you'd rat her get on with the quests, this game will fit your playing style.

There are a few other warnings, comments, and suggestions I'd like to make. The game is one of the first Sierra games which use a new technology involving a 32-bit DOS extender. This caused a lot of new problems to creep in that they weren't expecting. The release was originally set for Halloween of 1993 but the game finally put out just before Christmas (for obvious reasons) despite the fact that it was a LONG way from b eing ready. As a result, those of us who received version 1.0 were frustrated by so many bugs that three separate patches were required just to get the game to work properly. So, when you rush out to buy this game, please be sure it is version 1.1 or later. I wouldn't wish that kind of frustration on my worst enemy. Another word to the wise: the game takes up over 17 MB with the saved games. And these files are already compressed, so on my hard drive, compressed with DOS 6.2's DBLSPACE, t he game needed close to 40 MB free to install! The game is shipped on 9 high-density floppies and the installation process takes around 15 minutes but the text screens you are shown as you install the game are funnier than the game itself so it seemed not to take that long. (Corey Cole says that Sierra may begin distributing their games in CD-ROM versions ONLY as early as fall of 1995) Also, the game can be installed as a DOS or Windows program but the Windows version is strongly discourage d by everyone including Sierra itself and should only be used if you're trying to play it secretly at work and need to switch back to your spreadsheet when the boss comes in and I'm sure none of you have that need.

Overall, Quest for Glory IV offers a fascinating story, nice graphics and animation, excellent music and many other special features that set it apart from other adventure games. It provides many more hours of playing enjoyment than other games as well. (My girlfriend and I fin ished King's Quest VI in less than four days.) It's certainly not perfect in every way, but the limitations are easily outweighed by the strong points. I would definitely recommend this game to all adventure game aficionados or to anyone to whom the idea of living the life of a storybook hero appeals.