King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human

"A game where danger can find you anywhere, and only the best of timing allows you to live"

Kings Quest III: To Heir is Human is the adventure had by the kidnapped son of King Graham, the protagonist of the two previous Kings Quest titles. Gwydon (the name of Graham's son) was kidnapped by a wizard and used as a slave by him. Gwydon's goal: to remove himself from the wizard's control and claim his right as King Graham's heir

For game play, Kings Quest III is still as fresh and fun in many was as when it was first produced in 1998. The game requires problem solving to find a way to remove the wizard, timing to avoid the wizard's gaze while solving the problem, bravery in daring to do things that may very well get the main character turned to stone, dust, eaten alive, or polymorphed into an animal, and skill to navigate precarious pathways and dangerous stairs.

Other aspects of the game seem to be from another age. Violence is discouraged as a means of advancing the game. More points are awarded for finding a creative solution to a problem rather than using force. The controls of the game are also old and archaic. Gwydon is controlled completely through the use of directional arrows and a command line interface. This sometimes proved difficult. Misspelling in the game resulted in the command being disregarded, and many times a play may find that he has to consult a dictionary before continuing the game. Also, there were time-based events where speed and skill at typing were required. Finally, there is (refreshingly, I might add) an absoluteness in death in Kings Quest III. Gwydon had only one life, and when it is spent the programmers included a humorous little piece of text, and then the title screen loaded. There were no continues, no extra lives. The only means of protection was a good saved game.

Graphically, Kings Quest III was mind blowing at the time. VGA graphics? You must be kidding me! Seriously, though, from looking at other games of the time, this game was superior, especially when compared to its predecessor. For the hardware available at the time (I believe I ran a 286 Tandy 1000 with an 8 megabyte hard card), the game was stunning. Some environments actual looked like a trial at 3D isometric projection. Keeping a frame of reference to 1988 is difficult though.

The game music was nothing other than an occasional mood setting (when the wizard returns home) and game play noise. It did not go much beyond beep-boop.

Overall, this game is a solid part of gaming history, and a member of the classic gaming cannon that all gamers should experience if they have access to it. It should be played just to get an idea of where video gaming came from.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/22/02, Updated 12/22/02