Timequest

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: 1991
• Genre: Adventure
• Style: First-Person Graphic Adventure
• Similar Games: Eric the Unready (IBM PC Compatible), Death Gate (IBM PC Compatible), Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All the Girls (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

In TimeQuest, your mission as a private in the Temporal Corps, the 21st century agency responsible for monitoring time travel, is to hunt down the villain Zeke Vettenmyer, a rogue Lieutenant who has repeatedly slipped back in time to subtly alter and destroy the historical timeline. You'll have to follow him to eighty locations and across 3,000 years of history to undo the potentially catastrophic changes he's made to the timeline in various critical historical situations. If repairs are not made and the time criminal is not stopped, these timeline changes will drastically alter current and future history. TimeQuest is an adventure game that uses text coupled with static screen displays (with minimal animations) to advance the story with either a keyboard or mouse driven (recommended) interface.

Roots & Influences

Designer Bob Bates bases many of the historical scenarios in TimeQuest on unexplained historical anomalies (e.g., why did Hitler allow the British to pull out troops in Dunkirk with his 3-day cease fire or how did Cortez overcome an entire Aztec nation when he was vastly outnumbered?). He draws some of the in-game dialogue on actual quotations and makes informed plausible speculations in many areas where historical records are insufficient to emulate. The style of this Legend software is a progression from the all text games of early computer days and infuses the updated method of providing word lists instead of parser guessing.

Review: Overall

Anyone who has played one of the many Legend Entertainment Company's adventure games from the early part of the decade (1990's) will be familiar with the style of TimeQuest. The unique design has a distinctive interface and is made up of a windows type environment. The tool of choice to play TimeQuest is the mouse, however, screen "radio" keys can be emulated by keyboard strokes. The main screen is divided into several sections which mesh and create a smooth operating game experience. The main action window is the Graphics Window (which normally is a quarter screen but can be enlarged to nearly full screen) where static artwork (with occasional animation) is displayed and represents the player's location. Beneath this is the Status Line which textually lists location and the local time of day. The Story Window is below the Status Line and serves to further the action through various uses, such as text descriptions or a command line where you either type in commands or build them via various available word lists. The left side of the screen (when not in full-screen mode) displays several word lists including verbs, prepositions or the object menu (consisting of game related objects you've encountered) which is a great step up from the old parser text games that caused frustrating parser guesses as to word syntax. At the top of the screen on the left side is the Compass Rose which can be used for directional commands and a list of Command Buttons that emulate the function keys (see Controls section).

As to game play in TimeQuest, the storyline is both rich in substance and detail. The story is absorbing, text intensive and is well supported by the artwork. Using an Interkron time machine, you must follow the protagonist's Zeke Vettenmyer trail using the coordinates reprogrammed by the Temporal Corps Headquarters technicians. It has been programmed to go to six historical locations and nine different years that Vettenmyer visited -- all years corresponding to a significant historical event during the last three thousand years. Ostensibly this gives you 54 possible choices but in reality only 49 are available since visits to Cairo, Baghdad and Mexico are limited. The game logic puzzles are a mix of easy-to-difficult and some are interdependent on objects or equipment collected in other places and times. During your travels you will meet an astonishing array of historical figures (e.g., Hitler, Mussolini, Attila, Napoleon and many more) and visit many of the world's greatest locations and structures, such as Stonehenge, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Great Pyramid and others. TimeQuest is a huge step forward from the early computer days of text only adventures. Although an enormous amount of text (supplemented by terrific artwork) is encountered during the game, instead of being detracting it is the core of the game. Veteran gamers who remember and enjoy the old text games will feel very comfortable with TimeQuest and fans of the adventure genre in general will appreciate the subtle yet tasteful mix of text and graphics.

Review: Enjoyment

For those with a healthy interest in historical situations, people, times and events that have shaped our current societies, TimeQuest is a terrific diversion. Be aware that you must enjoy intensive text-related games to get the most out of this one. The major flaw in the game is the lack of a quality ending as it is too abrupt and probably won't satisfy those who crave splashy rewards for completing computer games. But, in this case, just getting there is most of the fun anyway.

Review: Graphics

VGA 256-color, high-res artwork is well done with an impressive level of detail.

Review: Sound

Music score supports game play in an unobtrusive yet complementary way. Sounds are well done.

Review: Replay Value

Nothing much will change in a subsequent replay.

Review: Documentation

Detailed instruction manual plus very informative (and important) Mission Briefing Papers supplement.

Production Credits

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