Let's take a look back into the adventure games of yore to give some clarity on this remake. There were two primary graphical adventure game companies, LucasArts and Sierra, and they competed fiercely. Sierra had such classics as the Quest games (King's Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory) and LucasArts had the more eclectic games, like Indiana Jones, Sam& Max, and Maniac Mansion. For the most part, they were straightforward adventure games. That is, until Quest for Glory was released, which brought RPG elements to the genre. Fast forward quite a few years, and you'll bump into AGD interactive, who decided to work on old Sierra games, remaking them with better graphics and more intuitive interfaces. First they did King's Quest 1 and 2, and then started Quest for Glory 2. It was delayed multiple times until it was finally released 2 weeks ago.

Quest for Glory, for those that are unaware, is an adventure game series that has the traditional scoring mechanic of old adventure games. On top of this, it also has an in-depth RPG system with multiple stats, actual combat, and training mechanics. The mix of adventure game puzzles, RPG combat, and an excellent story made it an instant classic. Quest for Glory 2 follow our intrepid hero as he journeys from his homeland, which is inspired by German myth, to that of an Arabic empire. The game itself takes place entirely in the Arabic setting, with a variety of different locations to visit, people to interact with, and enemies to defeat.

The adventure portion of the remake replaces a lot of the original's frustrations. The interface has two options, parser or point-and-click. You'll definitely want to go with point-and-click. On top of that, there are also improved interfaces for talking to people, which was much needed from the original. The puzzles and story themselves are fairly standard old adventure game fare, with mind-bending puzzles and a grandiose story. The best part, though, is the subtle instances of humor mixed in with the epic storyline. It's witty and charming and makes the game much more enjoyable.

The combat portion of the game is a bit better as well. You have a copilot that assists your timing on certain actions, and you can choose to do your regular RPG actions such as attack, defend, or flee. It definitely has a very action flavor, and the best part is that your attributes gain points as you do them. This applies to every mechanic as well, not just combat, and it adds a lot of depth to a relatively straightforward adventure game.

The graphics are much like the later games in the series, and (along with the vastly improved interface) are the main draw for the game. While some of the animations are incredibly awkward, like the Hero's walking animation, they are all very detailed but still retro, giving the game a very nostalgic air. The environments are all extremely well done also, showing the superb sprite work that was done on this project.

There's a million things I could go into, such as how time progresses instead of being static, or more detail into the complexities of your inventory and interactions with other characters. But like most adventure games, there's an allure that can't really be described. The original game was excellent, and this remake only further reinforces what a classic title it is. You can download it off of our wonderful Big Download servers or from the AGD Interactive website.

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