.com
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The bestselling adventure series of all time returns! In Roberta
Williams's King's Quest: of Eternity, you'll return to
Daventry and explore seven exotic worlds as you search for the
scattered pieces of the of Eternity to restore peace and
order to the kingdom. This all-new adventure features rich,
immersive story, the latest 3-D technology, and camera control
that lets you switch between first-person views and cinematic
third-person views.
Review
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King's Quest: of Eternity, the latest in the venerable
series from Sierra On-Line, is a noble effort, an adventure
inside an RPG wrapped in an action game. From every angle, this
game is a vast, sprawling experiment that, while falling short of
its goal to be all things to all players, is enjoyable and
noteworthy nonetheless.
I won't go into the details about the storyline, except to say
that the fundamental premise is to retrieve five pieces of a
, reassemble them, and, in the process, defeat the forces of
evil. Pretty straightforward, really, and slightly disappointing
for those of us hoping for a more plot-driven adventure.
Nonetheless, recovery of the requires a journey across great
spans of space and time, through strange realms that are home to
bizarre creatures and unusual characters. There's definitely an
epic feel to the game, permeating and penetrating throughout, and
somehow making all the searching, and fighting, and dying
worthwhile.
Yes, dying. While its gameplay and graphics are clearly intended
to compete with the likes of contemporary releases like Tomb
Raider, the spirit of of Eternity is much more ancient,
closer to now-distant adventures like Zork or even Sierra's
Mystery House. Which is to say - for those of you who were spared
the primal days of computer gaming - that it's cruel and
unforgiving and occasionally borders on the sadistic. Death
awaits literally at every turn: drink the wrong potion, step in
the wrong direction, pick the wrong camera angle (more on that
later), and you'll find yourself on your knees, ping for
breath, and finding none.
Not that dying is all you'll be doing in of Eternity.
You'll be doing your fair share of killing as well. Almost
everything that moves is fair game, and as the game progresses,
you'll find that you have a variety of weapons at your disposal
with which to dispatch your enemies. Combat is a rather
rudimentary affair - there is no defensive component and
attacking involves little more than clicking the mouse at regular
intervals - but it adds an element of excitement and - if I can
say it without sounding too ironic - "life" to the game in the
sense that you must respond in real time to the challenge at
hand. Combat is also important because with each victory, your
character gains strength and skill (this is the game's RPG
element), both of which are necessary to have more than a prayer
against the later bosses in the game.
But as significant as combat is in of Eternity, the balance
of the game is spent using your head, not your . There are
literally hundreds of puzzles to be solved, ranging from the
relatively simple to the fiendishly complex. Many are "means"
puzzles - you know exactly what you're supposed to do, and the
problem is figuring out how to do it - while others involve the
manipulation/combination of objects resulting in unexpected but
favorable consequences. While one could argue that some of the
puzzles are too tough or too obscure for the typical player, they
are certainly consistent with those of previous King's Quest
games and Sierra adventures in general, a fact that will no doubt
please many old-school adventure gamers who have long protested
the dumbing down of their favorite genre in recent years.
What may not please these hard-core adventurers is the heavy use
of action-oriented puzzles throughout of Eternity. Many
sections of the game require more than a little dexterity to
complete, and some - particularly those that involve a series of
sequential jumps - may even have console gamers pulling out their
hair. As mentioned previously, the frustration level in the
action-oriented sequences in the game never quite gets to the
point of no return, but it does come close at times. This is
unfortunate, because in many cases, the problem isn't with the
design of the sequences themselves, but rather with your own
inability to position the camera with a satisfactory view of the
action.
That's right, the player controls the camera in of
Eternity. You can choose from either first-person or third-person
perspectives, and your choice matters, as in some cases, you can
only advance if you select the proper view. In addition, when in
the third-person perspective, you have total control over the
angle and height of the camera and can change it almost at will.
The upside is that if you find your view blocked by a tree or
obscured by an enemy, you can quickly shift the perspective to
something more useful. The downside is that you must do so to
complete the game. By putting the control in the player's hands,
the designers essentially washed their own of any responsibility
for an "intelligent" camera, and if you don't take command, you
will quickly fall prey to its stupidity. While offering control
over the camera is a great boon for players, requiring them to
master it is not. It's somewhat akin to having to edit a movie
when all you want to do is watch it.
Otherwise, the graphics engine is very solid, fast, and often
impressive when used with a 3D accelerator (the software-only
renderer is far less attractive). It handles outdoor and indoor
scenes equally well and, when combined with the very detailed
character animations, offers a believable depiction of the world
it portrays. The only real problem with the graphics lies in the
details: There's a certain sense of barrenness throughout the
game, and long stretches of look-alike terrain are common. You
also see some rather pronounced pop-up in the more complex areas,
which is a little distracting. And then there are the load times,
which can last up to two or three minutes between realms - which
is simply too long.
Fortunately, there's enough going on in the audio department to
make up for any graphical missteps. of Eternity has a lush,
orchestral soundtrack that greatly enhances the gaming
experience. The dialog, while occasionally campy in its
presentation, is well written and generally well read. And the
sound effects are uniformly excellent.
As you can see, of Eternity is really a game of contrasts,
a game that takes two steps forward, but just as quickly takes
another step back. Its gameplay is enjoyable, but occasionally
maddening. Its combat system is welcome, but too simple. Its
camera control system is advanced, but almost to a fault. Its
design attempts to attract all players, but in doing so, may just
as easily alienate them.
In the final analysis, the most important thing about of
Eternity is that even with all its faults, it's a fun game to
play. It's recommended to those who want something out of the
ordinary, and who can appreciate a grand and ambitious effort.
And Sierra should be applauded for trying something new, even if
its reach somewhat exceeds its grasp. --Vince Broady
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review
