King's Quest III: To Heir is Human

Roberta Williams’ King’s Quest series is one of the best adventure game series ever produced. The series is known for its great storylines and beautiful imageries. One of the best titles in the series is King’s Quest III: To Heir is Human. Published in 1986, the game not only stands as a technological revolution for its time in the competitive genre of adventure and role-playing games, it is also a most enjoyable title to play.

This is an undeniably attractive game on the ST. The graphics are bright, the gameplay simple but compelling, and the parsing quite adequate for this sort of quest. It is however of a slightly childish appeal - which means that it will probably appeal most to older children over 30 or younger kids under 15. Those in between may find the role of wizard's apprentice a little beneath them.

I see King's Quest III as the start of the maturity of the series. The storybook lands and interactive fairy tale adventures of the first two are somewhat charming, but this is the first time Roberta and crew actually put a story together. Having it reinforced by gameplay mechanics is a master stroke. While it doesn't try to be bigger than its technology can handle, it's admittedly an early and limited engine that gets more frustrating as greater pressures get put on you. Arguing with the parser over semantics when you're minutes away from a game over can easily sour just about anyone. It's also going to take a few months of saving and loading to beat it without outside help. Still, moving the focus away from the graphics and back onto the story and game is unquestionably a step in the right direction for this series.

King's Quest II closed with a wedding, a joyous homecoming, and a promising future for the humble King Graham and his beautiful bride. But all good things must come to an end, and King's Quest III takes this old adage to heart. The third game in the series adopts a darker tone than its predecessors, starting off with a bang as lightning bolts and a wizard's foreboding face are superimposed beside the opening credits. These fade to reveal a dark-haired teenager dressed in rags, gazing down upon the lush Llewdor countryside from his isolated perch atop a rocky mountain. The accompanying text boxes tell us that he is Gwydion, slave to the evil wizard Manannan. The youth has no memory of his past and no hope for a future beyond his grueling servitude. As long as the wizard lives, Gwydion will be forced to attend to him in this remote house on the mountain, with no chance of ever exploring the forbidden landscape so many miles below…

You must explore every corner of the house in search of forbidden knowledge that will help you get away from the sorcerer. This may sound easy, but believe me … it is NOT! King’s Quest 3 is probably the most difficult game in the entire series. Death comes quickly and unexpectedly in this game, to the point where it becomes annoying. The game has some highlights too; for instance, the graphics are much better than in the previous two games. KQ3 still uses the same number of colours, but the designers have learned how to enhance their use.