Terrifying Tunes

 

Return to Space (Part 8)

The planet "Estros" (based on what little we get to see of it) is an arid world made up of stairs and platforms supported by tall stone spires rising out of a clear blue sea (or possibly a big lake...). For some reason it reminds me of a Dr. Seuss drawing. Pretty quickly after arriving, Roger gets picked up by a pterodactyl-like creature and then is promptly dropped into it's lofty nest...along with an unfortunate sequel police...man...robot? See...here's the thing...unlike Wilco, who gets dumped into the center of the nest, this jackbooted thug comes down on the rim and is impaled on some very sharp branches. The color is clearly red, which implies blood...maybe they just wear masks that make them look and sound robotic, but underneath they're actually people? I was never clear on that point...

Anyway, it doesn't take long for our hero to escape from the nest by jumping down into the water below.  No sooner has he scrambled onto dryland though than a trio of women spring a trap on him.  They are dressed in sleek one-piece swimsuits and armed with harpoon guns.  These are apparently the "latex babes" of Space Quest X.  The previous Roger Wilco, that is to say the one of this timeline, must have departed under poor circumstances because these three ladies are not happy to see him.  In fact, they decide to take him prisoner.  Loaded aboard an awaiting submarine, Roger is brought to an underwater base.  Here, the latex babes decide to torture him, or maybe just shave his legs...I was never clear on that point either.  Regardless, a massive "sea-slug" interrupts the proceedings by emerging from the base's central moon pool.  Roger's captors quickly scatter, but Wilco is trapped in a restraining chair.  Luckily, taking advantage of the chair's built-in features (and a nearby compressed gas canister) allows our hero to defeat the sea-slug.  At this point the latex babes have a change of heart, deciding that they like Roger after all, and choose to celebrate their reconciliation with him by going shopping...yeah...the storyline is kind of all over the place...departing Estros in a starship, the game suddenly cuts back to Space Quest XII.  One of the soldiers that rescued Roger back at the beginning of the game has been taken prisoner by the sequel police.  Brought before a huge holographic projection of Sludge Vohaul inside his red tower, it is revealed that this "rebel," as the sequel police call him, is actually Roger Wilco's son!

Meanwhile, back in Space Quest X the latex babes and our hero have arrive at a domed space station.  The central part features a zero-g skating rink while the outer ring-shaped promenade is lined with shops.  These consist of an arcade, a monolith burger, two clothing stores, a software retailer and a "Radio Shock" (actually a parody of the real life electronics chain "Radio Shack," the name was changed to "Hz. So Good" in the CD-ROM version due to copyright infringement).  The latex babes are quickly lured away by a sale leaving Roger to his own devices.  Using an ATM card that one of his former kidnappers accidentally dropped, Wilco is able to acquire a small amount of funds.  From here there's a number of things the player needs to do in order to progress, but to make a long story short the sequel police arrive and our hero has to franticly and desperately escape by hijacking another time pod.  Passing through a rift, Roger finds himself in none other than Space Quest I...at the outpost on Kerona no less...

After a close call involving a trio of hover bikers (who don't like Wilco because he's in VGA while everything else is in EGA), Wilco finally makes his way back to Space Quest XII.  Here, he can finally gain entrance to the interior of the red tower.  The inside of this massive structure looks very similar to something out of an H.R. Giger painting while the layout is vaguely reminiscent of the asteroid base in Space Quest II.  Getting through this section of the game is relatively painless compared to that one though...and upon penetrating the inner sanctum our hero discovers that his son is not only being held prisoner, but has Sludge Vohaul's digital consciousness downloaded into his brain.  Thankfully, Roger is able to reverse the process and erase Vohaul by literally dragging and dropping his mind data in the waste basket of an OS screen.  Actually it's a toilet icon, and it's also possible to erase some other data including copies of "Leisure Suit Larry 4" and "King's Quest 43"...under no circumstances should the player erase Space Quest 4 though, because doing so causes the game to close, dumping the player back to their computer's real OS.  It's a mean joke, to say the lease, but mercifully doesn't actually erase anything.  After making a quick escape, Roger Wilco and his son (to be) have a brief conversation.  Roger's son shows him a holographic image of his mother (Wilco's wife to be), but doesn't elaborate on who she is except to refer to her in the past tense as "Beatrice Wankmeister."  Refusing to divulge any more information Roger's son once again opens a time/space rift and asks our hero to jump in. 

So ends Space Quest IV with Wilco plunging through a rainbow tunnel back to his own timeline.  It a very eclectic game, but I enjoyed it anyway...mostly because it was the first Space Quest title I managed to finish without consulting a hint book.  Well...there is actually a hint book in the game itself, but it's not meant to be taken seriously...for the most part.  Regardless, it's certainly more approachable than previous entries in the series.  Next up is my favorite in the entire franchise.

Return to Space (Part 7)

Outside of the opening cutscene, Space Quest IV isn't actually the fourth entry in the series.  That might sound like a strange thing to say, but it's technically true.  Looking at the full title of the game (Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers), it's perhaps easier to see why this is the case.  The story, in this installment, is centered around time travel.  Unlike most time travel adventures though Roger doesn't journey to some arbitrary date in the future or past.  Instead he visits earlier or later entries in the Space Quest franchise (specifically, Space Quest I, III, X and XII).  Aside from a very unconventional storyline, Space Quest IV introduces VGA graphics, live-action rotoscoping, and a tool bar in lieu of a text parser.  Rather than the player typing in simple keyboard commands, they use a mouse to select from a list of eight functions.  Aside from game options and inventory, there are cursor icons for walk, talk, use/obtain, look, taste and smell.  It should be mentioned that the last two are really only included for humorous reasons.  The CD-ROM version of Space Quest IV also features a full voice cast and narration by Gary Owens.

As the story begins, Roger is sharing a drink with some aliens in a dive bar on the planet Magmetheus.  In come two jackbooted robotic looking soldiers who demand that Roger speak with them outside.  Once Roger has been escorted out of the drinking establishment, one of the armed soldiers presents a handheld holographic device from which projects an image of Wilco's old nemesis - Sludge Vohaul.  After doing his trademark gloating he orders the "sequel police" to dispose of Roger once and for all.  Apparently, that's what the robotic soldiers are called.  Before they can carry out their orders though, a pair of human soldiers get the literal drop on the three of them.  The sequel police are knocked to the ground and Roger is hastily brought to some cover behind what looks like a sand crawler from Star Wars.  Energy beams start flying so without time to explain one of Roger's rescuers uses a device he's carrying to open up a rift in space/time.  As instructed, Wilco jumps in and finds himself falling through a rainbow colored tunnel.  Moments later he drops into a desolate urban landscape that is none other than Space Quest XII: Vohaul's Revenge II.  

Here, our hero quickly realizes he's on his home planet, Xenon, but not as he remembered it.  The place looks utterly desolate and war-torn.  A massive red tower dominates the skyline, distant thunder can be heard, and a zombified cybernetic person roaming the streets will let loose a bloodcurdling scream if Roger gets near him.  This in turn calls a patrolling hunter/killer robot that quickly dispatches Wilco.  The sewers offer a means of getting off the streets, but are also home to a green ooze that must be avoided.  With a little effort though it's possible to discover the location of a hidden underground lab.  In here Roger finds a holographic recording that explains what happened.  This isn't the Xenon of now, but rather one in the future.  It has been subjugated by what was initially thought to be an invasive computer virus that infested the planet-wide administrative AI, but is in fact a digital backup of Sludge Vohaul's mind.  The sequel police must have some inkling of our hero's whereabouts because a dropship sets down on the street intersection just above where Roger is sheltering.  After Vohaul's thugs have disembarked, Wilco can pop out of a nearby covered manhole and stowaway in the landing gear.  This allows him to hitch a ride to the red tower.  The place is crawling with sequel police though so from here the only option is to jump into a time pod parked in an adjacent landing bay.  Despite looking like a hovercraft, or possibly a flying car, the only way to operate the time pod is by punching six digit codes into a control panel.  Aside from the "ENT" button, all the symbols on the keypad are weird so there really isn't any option other than to try stuff at random.  After several unsuccessful attempts the game will (regardless of what nonsensical sequence the player enters) activate the pod and take Roger to Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros.      

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.   

Return to Space (Part 5)

Continuing my retrospective of the Space Quest series, we've now arrived at the third entry in the franchise, Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon.  First off, a tip of the hat to John Shaw for making what, in my opinion, is the best box art cover in the entire IP.  "Roger Wilco" becomes the canonical name of our hero (with there no longer being an option to change it).  Also, the "Chapter" label disappears from here on out...possibly because it was causing unnecessary confusion. These little details aside, the general consensus seems to be this is one of the best (if not the best) in the series.  I can see why a lot of people might feel that way.  Roger gets his own spaceship in this one, giving the player an increased feeling of freedom compared to previous titles.  There are some cool action set pieces, and improvements to the game engine allow for better quality music and sound, as well as a higher screen resolution.  Referred to as "SCI0," it's the same engine that was used for Quest for Glory 1 and 2, Leisure Suit Larry 3, and Gold Rush!  One of the biggest quality of life improvements compared to older engines is that it automatically pauses when typing commands into the text parser.  A problem with earlier Sierra adventure games (especially when you're young or are slow at typing) is the inability to enter commands fast enough to avoid a failed state...and believe me when I say there's no shortage of game over situations here.  In fact, Space Quest III is famous for having the most gory deaths in the entire franchise.

As we rejoin our hero, Roger Wilco, we are informed by the text narration that he has been asleep in suspended animation for an indeterminate amount of time.  Much like the beginning of "Aliens," Roger's drifting escape craft is picked up by a deep space salvage vessel.  Unlike that film though, the salvagers aren't human, but rather robots with little regard for organic life.  Jarred awake during the salvage operation, Roger emerges from his escape craft to find himself in a cavernous junkyard.  After a bit of poking around, it becomes apparent that Wilco is in a massive garbage-filled cargo bay with no real way out aside from a relatively intact starship bearing the name "Aluminum Mallard" (no relation to the "Millennium Falcon").  All it needs is a few parts (including an FTL drive) which can be found by doing a little dumpster diving.

Once the Mallard is made space worthy again, the player only needs to blast a hole in the hull and slip out into the void of space.  At this point we enter a non-liner section of the game.  There are three places Roger can go: the barren world "Phleebhut," the volcanic planet "Ortega," or a "Monolith Burger" deep space station.  Not having any thermal protection or money, means that there isn't much that can be done at the latter two locations yet...so, Phleebhut it is!  No sooner has our hero made the jump to FTL than another vessel decloaks off the stern.  Inside, is a droid with only one thought in its synthetic brain: terminate Roger Wilco.

As it turns out Phleebhut is a dangerous place with small, but highly poisonous and aggressive "scorpizoids," huge and hungry rattlesnakes, freak lightening storms and what I can only describe as the barnacles from the Half-Life series.  The only point of interest is a tourist trap, complete with a gigantic, eye-catching statue.  It's actually animatronic, but closed for repairs due to some mechanical issues.  At the base of the statue though is a novelty giftshop, operated by one Fester Blatz.  This country yokel of an alien, tries to sell Roger a variety of souvenirs.  Having no funds though means our hero is out of luck.  However, under the glass case that makes up the store countertop there is a small collection of stones similar to the one Roger found back in Space Quest II.  Since this particular item carried over from the previous game, and is still in Wilco's inventory, it can be sold here.  The cash...excuse me..."buckaziods" can then be used to purchase Fester's wares.  The only crucial item is a pair of thermal cooling underwear (needed to explore Ortega).  Regardless of what Roger purchases, he's ambushed the moment he leaves the store by the hunter/killer droid seen briefly earlier.  Suspended in the air in a vice-like grip, our hero is forced to hear the reason that he is a wanted man.  Apparently, the whistle that Roger obtained by redeemable voucher in the previous game, wasn't free after all.  In fact, due to accumulated interest the amount owed to his previously unknown debtor is far more than he could ever possibly pay off.  As such he has become the target of this robot repo-man.  Weirdly enough the droid decides to give wilco a chance to escape back to his ship so it lets him go and proceeds to count to ten.

In fact, escape from the planet is not possible.  Any attempt to board the Aluminum Mallard will result in Roger being twisted into a pretzel by the lurking droid.  Wilco's only choice is to defeat his stalker by one of two possible methods.  The first is to lure the droid into some machinery found inside the broken down statue.  The other option is to kite the droid into those barnacle creatures mentioned earlier.  Either way the droid is reduced to scrap and our hero can even pick a personal cloaking belt out of the wreckage.

Having both money and thermal protection, Roger can go with confidence to either of the two remaining locations.  One would think that Ortega is the next logical destination, but as it turns out this isn't the right direction at the moment.  Rather the place our hero needs to go next is Monolith Burger.