Saturday, September 3, 2011

HeroQuest (Hero Quest)

I remember a Christmas when I was only a child. We were visiting some friend of my mom and decided to celebrate together as well. Snow was falling outside the window, music was playing on the radio and we had just finished one of the biggest turkeys I have ever seen. Slowly it dawned upon us that the time for giving out our presents had come. For the most part my brother and I got the standard gifts; new socks and some jumpsuits, but the last package made this particular Christmas the best one to this date! Hidden behind all the others there emerged a big square bow-tied present for the both of us. As we ripped of the paper we suddenly saw that it was a game. Not any kind of game, though, but one of the earliest RPG-type games ever made: Hero Quest - The board game! Me and my brother stayed up all that night (and many of the following nights as well) playing this game from start to end. We had never seen anything like it before, and I have been hooked to RPG’s ever since. If I can look at any game on Abandonia and say: “That game changed my life!” then it would have to be this one.

Of course since this is the PC version of the board game there are certain differences, but they are all for the better. For instance you can only see the view from the person you are playing, instead of seeing everything on the table. Makes the game more realistic. And also the intro is much cooler in the PC version. As for the rest of the game it is just as the board game. So those of you who are familiar with the game can just download the game straight away. The rest… read on.

You can play any combination of four heroes, a barbarian, a dwarf, an elf and a magician. This means that you can in fact play the game in hot-seat mode if you want to play it together with a friend. At the beginning of each mission you are given a brief description of the story behind, and what you will need to do in order to progress. A tip is to start with the easiest missions and start earning some quick money so that you can buy some needed equipment. Also you should check everywhere for hidden treasures and secret doors as there are plenty of both in the game. It is also worth mentioning that the game is completely mouse controlled. The graphic and sound is nice too, and re-creates the feeling of the board game to the smallest detail.

The plot in the game is, however, nothing special. It is a standard story in which the world is in danger, and only you can save the day… that is IF you can prove your worth…

As a closing let me just say that I still have the board game in my closet, and that I do enjoy to bring it out once in a while. For me this game will always mean something special.