Quest update for nostalgic gamers; sleeper hit Ethan Carter goes console
Sierra has recreated the magic of the Quest series for consoles, while Ethan Carter detective story has lost none of its gothic horror in transfer to PS4
Nostalgic 1990s gamers rejoice - your prayers have been answered. After many years without an adventure to truly challenge us - without many games to excite and entertain our moderately puzzle-hungry minds - we've been rewarded with a new quest. Long-time fans of publisher Sierra will remember the many Quests that once kept us glued to our boxy, glaring PC monitors: the Police Quests and Space Quests, the EcoQuests and Quests for Glory.
All paled in comparison though, to the fittingly named King's Quest, the jewel in Sierra's crown. A Knight to Remember, the opening chapter of a five-part series available for the PC and Sony and Microsoft consoles, is the first game in the series in nearly 20 years. It's really a reboot of the series' first release from 1984, with our players once again following the eager adventurer Graham as he mentally battles it out against wannabes for the role of knight. Sierra and developers The Odd Gentlemen have cleverly kept things classic while simultaneously updating the series for a generation that's long forgotten good storytelling. There's the obvious graphical update, current-gen at its finest but with cartoon-like flair that ensures everything feels both realistic and animated.
There are puzzles, of course, the key gameplay component behind any good adventure game. These are challenging, but with ideal levels of humour and panache, each fitting for the tale that's being told. Veteran actor Christopher Lloyd narrates this adventure as the elderly Graham, relaying his tale to smarmy young granddaughter Gwendolyn, and it's here where the full flavour of the series comes rushing back. Whether it's the back-and-forth banter throughout or the humorous backtracking as you plummet meekly to your death, it's all delivered with the right sense of relatability, an old-school charm that never feels too put on.
That's what we all remember, though: the endless magnetism behind these games. Sierra has recreated that magic again, at least for this first chapter, and we're confident that this quest will lead to glory.