kings-quest posts

The King's Quest series of classic adventure games is getting a new official installment via Telltale Games, as we reported on Friday. However, as some of you may know, a small amateur deve team had been working for a long time on their own revival of the series. In 2010 the first of five free episodes of the King's Quest-based game The Silver Lining was released by Phoenix Online Studios; the third episode was released last Thursday.

In a statement on the game's official web site, Phoenix Online Studios states, "We have heard about Telltale's announcement, and we're excited to see where it goes! It's great that the series will be getting an official continuation, and TTG has made some great adventure games that have been reviving not only classic franchises but the genre overall. We love the work they're doing, and of course our own game has been influenced by their episodic model." The statement adds that Phoenix Online Studios will release the remaining episodes of The Silver Lining as planned.

King's Quest, one of the most popular and revered fantasy adventure game series of all time, will soon get an official revival courtesy of Telltale Games. As reported by our sister site Joystiq, Telltale has announced it has gotten the rights to create new episodic games based on the property. More details on Telltale's plans are due to be revealed at E3 in early June.

The King's Quest series started at Sierra Online and spanned eight games (not including spin-offs) from 1984 to 1998. All of the games were designed by Sierra Online co-founder Roberta Williams. Currently the rights to the King's Quest series are owned by Activision. It's currently unknown if Williams will be participating in this new revival.

In 2010, the development team Phoenix Online Studios started releasing their own free episodic continuation of the King's Quest series, The Silver Lining, after receiving permission by Activision to do so. The third episode in the five chapter series was released on Thursday.

This week the new PC game releases take a bit of a breather but that's likely because the following six weeks are packed with major games being released or launched. So enjoy this little break while it lasts because starting the following week your and your wallet will likely be screaming "Mercy".

The Silver Lining Chapter 3 - There is a new game release due out this week and its totally free. The third episode of developer Phoenix Online Studios, due out on February 17, promises to be the longest and darkest yet of this free revival of the King's Quest adventure game series.

A couple of weeks ago we reported that the third installment of the free episodic adventure game The Silver Lining had its release date pushed back to February. Today we received word that the third chapter for the King's Quest revival will now be coming out on February 17.

The game's developer Phoenix Online Studios has promised that this third chapter will be the "largest, darkest, and most exhilarating Silver Lining episode" yet. It deals with King Graham's journey to the Isle of Mists to find out answers to why his wife Valanice is dealing with some "dark visions". Look for the third chapter to have "more intricate and difficult puzzles, a centerpiece action sequence, more beautiful cutscenes, another Isle to explore with new scenes and characters, and much more."

The King's Quest adventure game series continues to inspire its many fans to create projects related to the games. We've reported on the fan-created continuation of the game series with The Silver Lining. Now another fan development team, AGD Interactive, has announced plans to release a graphical remake of the third game in the series under the title King's Quest III Redux.

The same team did a graphical revamp of the first two games in the series along with another Sierra Online title, Quest For Glory II. King's Quest III Redux, which the team has been working on for the past eight years, is currently planned for release later in February and will include full voice acting, hand painted backgrounds and character portraits and more. The game will be released for free for both the PC and Mac. This will also be the final King's Quest remake project for the team as it plans to develop original game projects from now on.

January 29 was supposed to be the day that the third episode of the free and unofficial King's Quest revival The Silver Lining was supposed to be released via download. However it looks like the development team at Phoenix Online Studios wants to give the third installment a little more time. On the game's official web site a news update states, "Though Episode 3 is technically playable and does look nice, it still needs that extra layer of polish to really make it go from good to great. "

That's why the decision was made to delay the episode's release to sometime in early February. On the plus side the development team states that the third installment will be much longer than Episode 2 " ... packed with more intricate and difficult puzzles, a centerpiece action sequence, more beautiful cutscenes, another Isle to explore with new scenes and characters, and much more!"

It's been a couple of months since the release of the second chapter of The Silver Lining, the free episodic adventure game that's based on the classic King's Quest series. Today, the game's developer Phoenix Online Studios has announced that the third chapter, My Only Love Sprung from My Only Hate, is due out on January 29.

Details on the episode's storyline are yet to be revealed but if the above screenshot is to be believed a giant bird-like thingie is likely involved. In related news, the development team have released the first volume of the game's soundtrackr for free. There's also a new site where people can send holiday themed Silver Lining e-cards to others.

Gallery: The Silver Lining Screenshots

As promised, the second chapter in the unofficial but "approved by Activision" revival of the King's Quest adventure game series has been released by developer Phoenix Online Studios. The free download of The Silver Lining Episode 2: Two Households is now available at the game's official web site.

As we have reported previously this second chapter, where King Graham is trying to save his two children from evil forces, takes into account suggestions made by fans after they played the first episode in this series. Two Households has a longer gameplay experience, an improved UI and more. The developer is also running two new contests in relation to the release of the second chapter. The prize for the first contest is access to the soundtrack for Episode 1 and 2. There's no word on what the prize for the second contest is but apparently you need to have a mailing address to receive it.

Telltale Games' big Adventure Game Bundle 2010 deal is coming to a close on Monday but before it does the developer has decided to unlock the sixth and final game for everyone who has or who will purchase the bundle. It's Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space, the second "season" of Telltale's episodic game series. Telltale was going to wait to add Sam and Max until it sold 5,000 bundles but apparently decided to unlock the final game ahead of time.

Besides Sam and Max the bundle has the following games, all of which are available for the bundle price of $19.95: The Whispered World, Jack Keane, King's Quest Collection (with several games in the King's Quest series), Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 1, and Puzzle Agent. 25 percent of the proceeds will still be going to several charities including Child's Play, The World Wildlife Fund, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Nyota e.V., and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The free revival of the King's Quest adventure game series started earlier this year with the release of the first episode of the planned five chapter series. Today the game's developers Phoenix Online Studios announced that the second episode of The Silver Lining will be released for free on Saturday, September 18.

Sub-titled The Two Households, the second chapter follows King Graham as he ventures out to The Green Isles to find out how to break the spell that affects his two children. The second chapter features a number of improvements compared to the first episode based on gamer feedback. In addition to Episode 2 a new version of Episode 1 with the player-suggested improvements will be released on September 18. You can check out a trailer for Episode 2 after the jump: