Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero
Description official descriptions
The little town of Spielburg is populated mostly by beer-drinking humans and some centaurs who like working in the field. Spielburg is surrounded by forests and mountains, where all kinds of weird creatures dwell: ogres, goblins, talking foxes, stupid magicians, and others. Lately, Spielburg has been assaulted by brigands; besides, the witch Baba Yaga is not to be trusted. The town has everything it needs--even a Thieves Guild--except a strong, brave hero who would protect it. So when a wandering adventurer enters the town, he quickly realizes that his skills might be of use.
Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero is a hybrid game that contains Role-Playing and Adventure elements. It is visually very similar to other Quest titles by Sierra (such as for example Space Quest), but the gameplay--besides the usual exploration, conversations with characters, and the solving an occasional puzzle with the help of inventory items--also involves combat and character development. In the beginning of the game, the player chooses a character class for the protagonist--either a Fighter, a Mage, or a Thief. The choice of class will influence not only the combat, but also many other events in the game. Puzzles might have different solutions depending on the class and the amount of ability points in various categories.
The main character's skills and abilities are raised directly by repeatedly performing appropriate actions, e.g. fighting enemies, practicing, climbing, throwing objects, etc. Many of those activities are necessary to perform in order to successfully complete the game. Combat takes the player to a separate screen (represented by the enemy's picture) and involves timed selection of commands such as Attack, Parry, etc. The interaction with the game-world is performed by typing verb commands or conversation topics.
The game features a day/night cycle, which also includes character schedules. The main character can get hungry and tired, so feeding him and getting some rest is essential.
Spellings
- הרצון לעוצמה - Hebrew spelling
- クエスト・フォー・グローリィ - Japanese spelling
- 英雄傳奇 - Traditional Chinese spelling
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Credits (DOS version)
19 People
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 85% (based on 17 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 149 ratings with 13 reviews)
The Good
It has a great battle sequence which isn't that hard once you get used to it. The gameplay is fun and it is full of humor and the various ways to finish the game with different character classes increases the replay by a lot.
The Bad
I bought the game used and it didn't come with an instruction manual, it took me forever to figure out what to do.
The Bottom Line
It's a great game, far better than the next games. The first release is better than the re-release by far.
DOS · by fake (2) · 2002
The perfect meld of Sierra kitsch and roleplaying fantasy
The Good
"So you want to be a Hero" is Sierra (with co-creators Lorey and Corey Cole) at the top of their game. Within the valley of Spielburg you are given an impressive amount of freedom to wander, fight, chat, and quest; the lack of time limits and open structure make the game far more satisfying than, say, the linear Space Quest Series. The humor is fun, the characters delightful, and there's a certain "x-factor" at work which pushes it even further ahead of any competition.
The Bad
There are only two things in "So you want to be a Hero" to complain about, really more like one and a half. The first is that there are several important items/elements which can be missed and not retrieved. It's not fun to be on Day 20 and still wondering where "item x" is...
The second is more personal. Some people simply don't like cheesy Sierra humor, and people who are turned off by bad jokes and smartaleck comments will be annoyed by parts of "So you want to be a Hero".
The Bottom Line
"So you want to be a Hero" is that rarest of games, one which doesn't need nostalgia to hold it up today. It's still one of the most enjoyable and perfect games ever made.
DOS · by Colin Rowsell (43) · 2002
The first and quite possibly the best game I've ever played.
The Good
The game is great mix of RPG and adventure. Its well drawn and has good animation for its time. The Quest for Glory series is one of the funniest I have ever played and this is no exception. The combat system is simple and fun, and the story carries you along. With three uniques character options the game is very replayable.
The Bad
Beside a few moments when there was nothing going on in the story, as in most adventure games, I didn't dislike anything about it.
The Bottom Line
If you're looking for a good RPG or adventure game look no further, Quest for Glory is what you want. Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero? is the best place to start.
DOS · by Ryan Prendiville (689) · 2000
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Problems with keyboard using DOSBox? | Matt Neuteboom (976) | Dec 26, 2009 |
Trivia
Balancing
Some people preferred to complete the game using this version -- opposed to the
Development
From Hero's Quest I Hint Book:
You may be interested to know what goes into a game like Hero's Quest I: So You Want To Be A Hero. Development took over a year, with up to four programmers and four artists, a musician, and a designer-director. Hero's Quest I contains:And you thought this was easy!
- 111,000 lines of source code (well, so 30,000 of them are blank!)
- 535,000 bytes of background pictures
- 1,560,000 bytes of animation
- 1,980,000 bytes of program code
- 375,000 characters of text messages
- 314,000 bytes of music and sound effects and over 200,000 bytes of compiled system code
Gags
- The book that Kaspar, who runs the dry Goods store, is reading, is titled "Quest for Glory: A Hero's Death"
- If you're a thief, try picking your nose with the lockpick.. but make sure you save your game first!
- Attack the Antwerp with your sword and it will bounce high above your head and out of the area. However, when you leave the screen and enter a new one, a shadow will appear over you from above. Things aren't looking too good! If this Antwerp has it's way then he's gonna flatten you.. so, quickly pull out your dagger\sword and hold it above your head. the Antwerp will land on your blade and explode into lots of little baby Antwerps!
- If you right-click on the scorpion walking across the main menu the message: "Congratulations! You have found the first bug in this game." will appear.
Title
Quest For Glory was originally named Hero's Quest, but the name was later changed due to a conflict with Milton Bradley over their board game Hero Quest.
References
- Erasmus' house contains many 'relics' from other Sierra games:
- A suit of armor bequeathed by Colonel Gulden Dijon (a reference the first Laura Bow game,
The Colonel's Bequest ). - A little chopper from the Lytton Police Department (a reference to
Police Quest ). - On the sarcophagus is a hieroglyph starring Rosella from
King's Quest 4 . - There is also a shield in the room that belonged to one of those "Once and Future" kings (a reference to the famous King Arthur novel "The Once And Future King" by writer T.H. White).
- A suit of armor bequeathed by Colonel Gulden Dijon (a reference the first Laura Bow game,
- The moose head and 'Maltese Falcon' appear in this game, as they do in each Quest For Glory title (Courtesy of the Sierra prop department).
- The Three Stooges make a minor cameo appearance in the game.
- A creature called "Antwerp" appears in this game, which is the name of an actual city in Belgium (Europe).
- The guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild, Wolfgang Abentuerer, mentions "two guys from Andromeda" when you ask about the antwerp trophy. It is a reference to the two designers of
Space Quest , another Sierra game - If you visit Mirror Lake twice a submarine will emerge on your second visit. This is a plug for the Sierra adventure
Codename: ICEMAN . In the VGA remake the submarine is replaced by Delphineus (the dolphin fromEcoQuest ) and the monster of Loch Ness (a plug forConquest of the Longbow ).
Awards
- Amiga Joker
- Issue 01/1991 – #2 Best Role-Playing Game in 1990
- Computer Gaming World
- September 1990 (Issue #74) – Adventure Game of the Year
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #73 in the “150 Best Games of All Time" list
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #15 Most Innovative Computer Game
Information also contributed by Belboz, Boris Stovich; Itay Shahar, Jiguryo, PCGamer77, Roedie, Roger Wilco and Timo Takalo
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Related Sites +
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Quest for Glory Interactive
A page offering fan fiction in the Quest For Glory universe. -
UHS: Quest for Glory I Hints
Set up in question and answer format, this guide will give you nudges in the form of hints before the final solutions are revealed.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Eurythmic.
Amiga added by POMAH. Atari ST, PC-98 added by Terok Nor.
Additional contributors: Trixter, Ryan Prendiville, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, formercontrib, Cloudschatze, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, roy guy.
Game added July 18, 1999. Last modified May 5, 2024.