King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella

"A nice game with an array of interesting locations"

In King's Quest IV, King Graham has fallen ill, and Rosella travels to the land of Tamir to find a magic fruit which will save him. After arriving in Tamir, she meets Genesta, the fairy queen on an island near a shark-infested ocean. Genesta has had her magic talisman stolen by the wicked queen Lolotte, and only has one day to live if the talisman is not returned. As with other games in the series, a large amount of effort has gone into portraying a whole series of characters based on various myths, legends and fairy stories. Unicorns, ogres and ghosts all play a part in this game, and as with the previous games, all characters blend into the story and atmosphere brilliantly.

As with most adventure games made by Sierra around the time KQIV was released, a typing interface is used to control the character and interact with the various locations. The game understands a wide variety of verbs, such as look, get, open or move. The verbs can then be combined with objects in the game, so to get a ball for example, you would simply type ''get ball''. Although this is more difficult than the simple icon interface seen in later games, it allows for a significantly more realistic feeling as players must decide for themselves which verb suits the situation. The parser is versatile, allowing various different ways of saying the same thing: ''Get object'' can also be typed as ''Pick up object'', ''Get the object'', etc.

Much of the game involves helping the friendly characters and tricking the unfriendly ones. This normally involves solving puzzles, most of which are incorporated into the game extremely well. One puzzle has you exploring the land of Tamir in search of a worm, which when found must be used on a hook to catch a fish. The fish is then thrown to a pelican to receive a whistle, the whistle is used to find a dolphin, the dolphin is used to return to Tamir, and so on. The puzzle format is far better than in the previous Kings Quest games where one puzzle would be solved, but in most cases didn't lead on to another puzzle. As for the difficulty of the puzzles, it's below average. Most experienced adventure players will be able to breeze through this game in a matter of hours, and it's only the vast amount of locations that increases the difficulty.

Many of the locations in the game are based outside in Tamir: This consists of forests, waterfalls, and beaches. Some interior locations are featured, including an ogre's house where a hen must be rescued, a spooky mansion where strange sounds are heard, and Lolotte's massive castle on top of a high mountain. The first 60% of the game is based in daytime, where the land of Tamir seems a friendly place with beautiful beaches and creatures like the unicorn roaming the land. The final 40% is based in nighttime, where the atmosphere in Tamir has changed. Zombies walk around in a graveyard, trees come alive and attempt to grab Rosella as she walks past, and ghosts are found wandering about in a haunted house. Both the daylight and nighttime locations in Tamir are superbly done, with each having it's own distinct atmosphere.

The game involves a large amount of exploring, far more so than in any of the previous games. While this isn't a bad point, some of the items and important characters randomly appear in a specific place, so what at first may appear to be an empty location may be vital to the completion of the game. Death animations are frequent in this game, and vary from being caught by a zombie to being bitten by a shark in the ocean, from dropping off the edge of a high path to falling in a murky swamp. Though most of the deaths in the game can be avoided by a simple case of saving and then restoring, some are far harder.

One such example is when a large troll chases Rosella through a dark cave near the swamp; The troll seems to appear at random intervals throughout the cave, and only after restoring many times does Rosella manage to sneak through. Toward the end of the cave, a large, invisible chasm is evidently there when Rosella tumbles down it. Trial and error (and many restores) must be used to pinpoint the exact location of the chasm so that Rosella can use a plank to cross it. While these minor occurrences do tend to detract from the fun of the game somewhat, most dangers in the game are obvious and easy to avoid.

KQIV is similar in size to KQIII, though involves a great deal more exploring than in any of the previous games. Points are once again awarded when the player accomplishes certain tasks in the game, which can range from simple tasks like picking up an item to the more difficult tasks of defeating enemies like Lolotte. As it can be difficult to find all points on the first time through the game, this feature definitely adds to the replay value, even though no special award is given for gaining all 230 points. Overall though, King's Quest IV features a variety of characters and items, vast atmospheric locations and numerous items, making it one of the best games of the series.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/03, Updated 07/26/03