MoE is Roberta Williams' latest contribution to the King's Quest series and is probably the most controversial, due to the rather unexpected addition of combat. There are several different oppinions as to why she chose to include this, in a game that had seemed so family oriented in the past. The most popular reason, (I believe it's also the official one), is that the team working on MoE, found that there were spaces inbetween the puzzles that needed to be filled, so they used combat. Others believe it is due to the sudden downward fall in the popularity of Adventure Games, and it was an attempt for people to turn their attention back to the genre. If this is the case, it didn't particularly work to well.
Another point that raised many an eyebrow, was the addition of a new character, someone NOT related to the Royal Family, Conor. Personally, I very much disliked this move and having the game draw away from the Royal Family, who we'd all grown to know and love made the game feel almost non-King's Quest.
As for the story of MoE, as usual it is original and inovative. A horrible enchanter breaks the Mask Of Eternity, a sacred object that keeps the balance in the worlds. (Basically.) Everyone in Daventry is turned to stone, except one commoner, Conor, who just had the luck to get hit by a peice of the mask. (Actually it landed at his feet, but being hit by it sounds SO much more dramatic!) This is where you take over, following a Raven, (and kicking monster-butt on the way), you soon find an aging wizard, who is only half stone. He tells you what's happened and it's up to you to set things right, by collecting all the mask peices and restoring the order of Daventry and the rest of the world.
As you've probably gathered, I havn't actually played too much of MoE, I didn't like the adventurer-warrior combination, much, it made me feel like I had to constantly worry about running into monsters and not about solving the puzzles. You're probably thinking, "Man, what a loser!" And I admit, that I have very little experience with combat games, but that was just my opinion!
Many people are predicting that MoE is the final installment in the King's Quest series, and in a way I'm hoping it's true. (Please do not shun me!) King's Quest has come a long way from where it began, and it has great potentional, but I would like to see Ms Williams exploring her unique tallent for story-telling in a different genre, perhaps another Laura Bow game, or a third Phantasmagoria? It's up to her, but I'm sure whatever she does will be absolutely wicked, very successful, and will possibly pull adventure games out of the current "recession" it has gotten into.
Walkthrough
Easter Eggs
Back To King's Quest
MoE is Roberta Williams' latest contribution to the King's Quest series and is probably the most controversial, due to the rather unexpected addition of combat. There are several different oppinions as to why she chose to include this, in a game that had seemed so family oriented in the past. The most popular reason, (I believe it's also the official one), is that the team working on MoE, found that there were spaces inbetween the puzzles that needed to be filled, so they used combat. Others believe it is due to the sudden downward fall in the popularity of Adventure Games, and it was an attempt for people to turn their attention back to the genre. If this is the case, it didn't particularly work to well.
Another point that raised many an eyebrow, was the addition of a new character, someone NOT related to the Royal Family, Conor. Personally, I very much disliked this move and having the game draw away from the Royal Family, who we'd all grown to know and love made the game feel almost non-King's Quest.
As for the story of MoE, as usual it is original and inovative. A horrible enchanter breaks the Mask Of Eternity, a sacred object that keeps the balance in the worlds. (Basically.) Everyone in Daventry is turned to stone, except one commoner, Conor, who just had the luck to get hit by a peice of the mask. (Actually it landed at his feet, but being hit by it sounds SO much more dramatic!) This is where you take over, following a Raven, (and kicking monster-butt on the way), you soon find an aging wizard, who is only half stone. He tells you what's happened and it's up to you to set things right, by collecting all the mask peices and restoring the order of Daventry and the rest of the world.
As you've probably gathered, I havn't actually played too much of MoE, I didn't like the adventurer-warrior combination, much, it made me feel like I had to constantly worry about running into monsters and not about solving the puzzles. You're probably thinking, "Man, what a loser!" And I admit, that I have very little experience with combat games, but that was just my opinion!
Many people are predicting that MoE is the final installment in the King's Quest series, and in a way I'm hoping it's true. (Please do not shun me!) King's Quest has come a long way from where it began, and it has great potentional, but I would like to see Ms Williams exploring her unique tallent for story-telling in a different genre, perhaps another Laura Bow game, or a third Phantasmagoria? It's up to her, but I'm sure whatever she does will be absolutely wicked, very successful, and will possibly pull adventure games out of the current "recession" it has gotten into.
Walkthrough
Easter Eggs
Back To King's Quest
Back To King's Quest