Quest For Glory II Remake - the most keenly anticipated freeware release of the year!
Sep 13 '08
The Bottom Line The freeware game release of the year? Almost definitely!!
The freeware gaming release of the year, to me, was always going to be Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire, released by AGD Interactive. It was a game I'd been waiting for a very long time. I never actually played the original (hadn't really been much of a Sierra fan back in the 16-bit days) but AGD's remakes of Kings Quest I and II (initially under the name "Tierra Entertainment") were fantastic, so this one just had to be good. Didn't it?
Well, I admit that initially I didn't find the game very impressive - sure, the retro graphics were cool and the music was very good, but there seemed to be endless, pointless wondering around in the town getting nowhere, and the battle system seems very cumbersome. Somehow though it felt like a game that was going to be very rewarding if I did but persevere a little, and anyway I had a huge amount of anticipation invested in this from right back when it was first announced to be in development, about two years ago I think. So, I persevered - and am extremely glad that I did.
Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire is a true remake, but it also has a lot of extra options to make life easier for the modern gamer, and also a lot of extra content hidden away. Anyone used to Sierra's games will know the score - amazing locations, mind-bending puzzles and terrible (but somehow funny for that reason) jokes and dialogue. The difference with this game though is that it's one of the few games to attempt to truly fuse the adventure game and RPG genres - and one of an even smaller group of games to actually succeed in this endeavour. The adventure game element is very nicely done, and a lot of the initial frustration both in town and in the desert will be undone by conversations with characters that you can have on the first night.
This is a complex game and there are many routes you can go down depending on your choices, though of course the basic plot remains the same. As with all RPGs you start out by creating a character. There are three classes - Warrior, Magician and Thief. The three offer drastically different styles of game. Also at a point during the game you will have the option of following particular career paths, which again will take you into various different possibilities. The game has been designed in such a way that replaying the game in a different way is not only possible, it's practically obligatory!
If you like the old Sirera games, retro games in general, adventure games, or RPGs (or any combination of the aforementioned) then Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire is a must - and of course, it's absolutely free. The more you get into the game, the more the game envelops you. Even the combat system is much more complete and versatile than it seems at first. If you get frustrated with it, I'd encourage you to persevere with it - it's very well worth the effort.
To find out more about the release and download the game, visit http://www.agdinteractive.com/downloads/thegame/downloads_snd.html
The King's Quest I & II remakes by the same company can be found on my Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games list. The original Kings Quest I to VII have been released as the Kings Quest Collection.
You might also want to have a look at their commercial game, Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine, visit http://www.alemmo.com/. (I haven't got it yet but it's on my wish list... if it's as good as their free games, it's worth paying for! If you see what I mean...)
(Please note - Vista doesn't support 320x200 resolution, so you'll have to run it in 640x400... the graphics won't actually look any different, but the game won't run at all in 320x200.)
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