| Quest
for Glory I : So You Want to be a Hero? Released 1988, 1992 (256 color) |
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| Background Originally released under the name Hero's Quest, this game was a true original. Players could choose to be one of three character classes - warrior, wizard, or thief. Each class had its own special skills and abilities, and your skills determined your path through the game, increasing replayability. A thief would solve a puzzle in a different manner than a fighter, and a wizard might have an entirely different puzzle to solve altogether. The Sierra Adventure Game Interpreter behind other games of the era (such as Kings Quest IV ) was enhanced with a combat component, so that would-be heroes could battle monsters and gain experience and treasure with each victory. Hero's Quest's interface was based on the popular text-parser of the time, but also included some new twists. For the first time in a Sierra game, hot keys were available to recall frequently used phrases, such as "Look at" or "Ask about." Computer users with a mouse, still a relatively rare peripheral in 1989, could use the pointing device to control some game sequences. Quest for Glory I was the
proud recipient of Computer Gaming World's 1990 "Adventure Game of the Year"
award. So popular was this first game that it was updated and re-released in 1992 under
the name Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be A Hero. The 256-color graphics of
the new version were created by the combination of hand painted backgrounds and
photographed clay models. You began your Quest for Glory as a graduate of the Famous Adventurer’s Correspondence School for Heroes. A poster in your local Adventurers’ Guild said a Hero was needed in the barony of Spielburg. You were particularly attracted to the phrase, "No Experience Necessary." This was your big chance to prove your worth. You arrived in Spielburg valley just before the passes were cut off by a late spring snow. The Hero job seemed straightforward enough. They just needed a few brigands driven off. Unfortunately, the brigands were being led by a canny and brilliant leader. Monsters were everywhere, and you had to fight for your life anytime you tried to go anywhere. This shady character called Bruno kept giving you bad advice which nearly got you killed. Maybe you didn’t want to be a Hero after all. There were other things wrong in the region as well. The Baron was missing his daughter and son, and seemed to be under some sort of curse. According to the Wizard, Erasmus, the way to end this curse was to fulfill a prophecy:
Well, you did come from the east, so this seemed a promising start. You managed to find the Baron’s son and release him from the enchantment that had turned him into a bear. You learned that the curse was cast by the Ogress Baba Yaga. Getting rid of her proved tricky, as she kept turning you into a frog. Eventually you discovered the location of the brigand band. Then you had to find the child and remove whatever spell she was under. Only it turned out that the child had grown up. The leader of the brigands was Elsa von Spielburg, the Baron’s daughter. Once Elsa was disenchanted, she turned out to be a lovely and competent ally. In a final confrontation, you defeated Baba Yaga by turning her magic against her. With that feat, you knew you were a real Hero. The Quest for Glory series combines the character development of fantasy role-playing games, high action combat and the basic adventure game concept of exploring a world and solving its puzzles. Among the many new features of Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire are real time 3D characters developed in SoftImage and 3D Studio Max, high quality, 3D pre-rendered, panoramic backgrounds using Silicon Graphics technologies, 3D sound effects and a full, TV/Film quality soundtrack. Dragon Fire is the fifth in the series and has kept some of the traditional Quest for Glory attributes such as being able to choose from three basic character types: the strong fighter, the mysterious magician, or the wily thief. Each has the same goals, but set about accomplishing them in a different way. The magician may use spells to overcome some obstacles, but might not survive a pitched battle with a monster. The thief must find a crafty way around the same problem that the fighter or magic user would approach directly. Day will turn to night. Your food and money will eventually run out if you don’t find a way to get more. Experience becomes an important factor and your skills improve as you practice them. The more things you do, the better you get at doing them. You will be able to accomplish things by the end of the game that you would never have been able to do at the beginning, simply because you have improved your skills. You’ll meet many strange people and creatures. Like your character, the beings you meet will have distinct personalities and knowledge. You’ll need to ask specific questions and find out all you can. Heroes must deal with the monsters they encounter. There are all sorts of awesome and sometimes overwhelming monsters in this world, so it’s important to learn when to fight and when to run away. Each battle will provide you with valuable experience, and sometimes your victories will yield treasures you’ll need in order to buy food and equipment. Just don’t forget to search the bodies after you’ve slain the monsters. A hero’s life isn’t always serious. Between the desperate encounters with terrible monsters and the life and death decisions lie many light-hearted and downright silly moments. This way, you can enjoy the high action excitement and have some fun as well. |
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