the 5 best sierra online adventure games
written by daroff on 07/03/07

we here at overtime have a loyalty to the nintendo. there’s no denying the pure joy of defeating a complex game with only five buttons at your disposal. however, some of us wanted more. some of us turned to unmatched drawing power of sierra online. there was a time when sierra dominated the computer gaming world. then there was that playstation thingy (or whatever). so, in an attempt to bring attention to this gone but not forgotten gaming company…

i give you the five best classic sierra online adventure games.

5) lighthouse: the dark relic

after sierra said “no” to the acquisition of id software, who created wolfenstein and doom, they realized the error of their ways and clamored to create a first person adventure game. this game is a beautiful example. lighthouse opens in a regular, little new england town, but quickly you realize the lighthouse is a portal to another world, a world of amazing machines turned evil by a self-obsessed demon. the game play feels a lot like myst, but the machines in lighthouse are a lot more complex and a lot more fun to figure out.

4) king’s quest VI: heir today, gone tomorrow

yes, king graham is the king the series is named after, but it wasn’t until the series focused on his royal family that the king’s quests really took off. in this game, his son alexander travels over four warring islands, and even the afterlife, to save the woman he met at the end of king’s quest V from the hands of the evil vizier. upon further research, i discovered there are actually multiple endings based on what challenges you complete. and the voice of alexander is the same guy who voiced j.t. marsh on exo-squad. amazing.

3) space quest IV: roger wilco and the time rippers

there really is absolutely nothing better than time travel. correction: the only thing better than time travel is a game that can make fun of the entire concept of time travel. this game nails everything. the bar at the top of the screen that shows you the name of the game changing as you travel back and forth through time. this game follows space janitor roger wilco as he travels from the post-apocalypse of space quest XII to the mini mall of space quest X. that’s right, you heard me, a major part of the plot revolves around a mini-mall. roger even travels back to space quest I, where all the graphics are still in crappy ega. i love this game, but not as much as…

2) gabriel knight I: sins of the father

you are an aspiring writer, voiced by none other than tim curry, who gets caught up in a voodoo murder mystery to inspire you to write the novel that will get you out of your crummy new orleans back room apartment. you explore a lush world more complex than any king’s or space quest, and you do it in jeans and a t-shirt. you also learn about the knights templar in a way that makes the da vinci code look like the berenstain bears and the history of catholicism. you chase women, drink heavily, ride a sweet motorcycle. gabriel knight is strictly adults only.

1) quest for glory IV: shadows of darkness

originally, i wanted to list the entire quest for glory series. this game combines king’s quest with final fantasy with classic colloquial storytelling and the best sense of humor i have ever seen in a video game. this is the first game that actually made me laugh out loud while i was slicing up a demon with my flaming sword. shadows of darkness was my first and favorite. most role playing games had long intro sequences explaining in great detail the point of the game. in shadows of darkness, you just wake up in a dark cave made entirely of giant bones. from there you just have to figure it out while you explore the land of mordavia, a transylvania-like valley teaming with the undead. and it’s narrated by john rhys-davies from sliders. there’s nothing like hearing professor arturo repeat the phrase “after some rest, you feel better.” i cannot even begin to explain to you the unbridled joy of playing this game. i cannot stress more how much you should play this game.

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3 comments

  1. Jenni Powell Jul 3

    Oh man, this totally inspires me to write both a 7th Guest article and a Phantasmagoria article.

  2. Roseanna Jul 14

    I thought hardly anybody had played Lighthouse!

  3. daroff Jul 14

    not nearly enough of us have. sierra forever.

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