Return to Space (Part 6)

At a glance, this restaurant in space feels like a non sequitur.  Roger can buy a burger, eat it and get a seemingly useless decoder ring, but that's about it aside from an arcade cabinet off to the side.  The arcade game is "Astro Chicken," a rather whimsical take on a real game called Lunar Lander.  If the player wastes enough time and money on this game, a coded message will eventually appear on-screen.  Using the decoder reveals this to be a plea for help from none other than the Two Guys from Andromeda.  They are being held captive on a small moon in orbit around Ortega by the evil ScumSoft Corporation.  Left with nothing better to do, our hero must come to the rescue.  

Getting to the moon of Ortega is a bit tricky due to a energy forcefield preventing access.  Thankfully, the generator is on the surface of Ortega.  After playing a little game of the floor is lava, Roger stumbles upon a geological research site.  Stealing a seismic survey charge from this location allows Wilco to disable the generator and gain access to the moon's surface.  Using the invisibility belt he picked up on Phleebhut, Roger is able to infiltrate the bunker-like ScumSoft base undetected.  As one might expect, the invisibility belt runs out of juice rather quickly forcing our hero to improvise a new form of disguise...thus he enters the ScumSoft offices dressed as an ordinary janitor.  Cleaning out wastebaskets on the way, so as to not blow his cover, Wilco manages to find out where the Two Guys from Andromeda are being held.  In classic fashion, no sooner has he released the two from their imprisonment than all three of them are caught by security guards.  The CEO seems to take personal offence at Roger's foiled rescue attempt and, rather than simply disposing of the prisoners, decides to humiliate Wilco in a ritualized one-on-one duel...of Rock'em Sock'em Robots while the Two Guys from Andromeda watch helplessly from the sidelines.  

Well...it's not exactly like Rock'em Sock'em Robots, but the feel of the sequence is pretty similar.  Two towering machines with cockpits in their heads punch and block each other until one falls down.  If it is Roger who is defeated, the game ends.  However, if it is the CEO then his giant robot collapses against the side of the arena creating a hole from which our hero and the Two Guys from Andromeda can make their escape.  Blasting off in the Aluminum Mallard, Roger's rescue attempt seems to have ultimately been a success.  However, one last challenge remains - several ScumSoft Skull Fighters are in hot pursuit.  Luckily, the Aluminum Mallard has weapons and shields which can be used to fend off attackers.  After this final action set piece (really best described as a simple turret sequence), Roger and his companions make a clean getaway.

In a final twist of fate though the FTL drive malfunctions causing the spacecraft and its occupants to plummet into a nearby blackhole.  When they re-emerge back into normal space the three travelers find themselves near a blue/green planet covered with irregular patches of white clouds.  Upon landing in a forested region not far from the west coast of one continent, they find themselves in none other than Oakhurst, California...and in the parking lot of Sierra On-line's Redwood Studio, no less.  Out comes Ken Williams, co-founder and head of the company.  After a brief conversation the Two Guys from Andromeda are hired on as game developers, but poor Wilco is left in the cold.  Apparently, Sierra was quite content with their current janitorial staff.  Having no desire to explore Earth further, our hero sets off once again into space - destination unknown.

I would say this is a fourth-wall-breaking ending, but I think demolishing the fourth wall entirely would be a more accurate way to put it.  In past installments this kind of joke was funny because of the subtle execution (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).  This time around though it felt a bit too on the nose to me.  It's also an ending that (thematically speaking) got recycled when Leisure Suit Larry 3 was released just eight months later.  In that case, Larry happens to meet with Roberta Williams (the other co-founder of Sierra) at the end of the game and lands a job as a programmer.

One last thing, I'd like to say is the ending to Space Quest III feels like a bit of a downer in hindsight.  Sierra moved out of their beautiful Redwood studio not long after the game launched, the real Two Guys from Andromeda (Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy) actually did spiral into obscurity as the ending narration text jokingly predicted...and perhaps saddest of all both of the guys are divorced despite putting a message thanking their wives for being patient and understanding in the ending credits...c'est la vie.  As you can probably guess, I didn't enjoy Space Quest III as much as the previous two entries in the series.  That said, parts IV and V did a lot to reinvigorate my interest in the franchise, but more on those games in future blog posts.