Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail

The Good
Everything from the music to the graphics (though limited to 16 colors, the game had real artistic talent behind the sprites and the animations) was fantastic.

The game features a lovely mix of action and adventure. The action elements aren't a main focus in the game and aren't too involved (think Space Quest), so people who love adventure games shouldn't be turned off.

The puzzles in the game can be challenging but I managed to get through the whole game without being really stuck more than once. The only time I got stuck was a part that involved yelling, which was an action you didn't have to do at any other point in the game.

The game also has multiple endings based on some of the decisions you make, just like with Conquest of the Longbow (another exquisite adventure game).

Someone mentioned the riddles in the game as a bad part. For me, they were some of the most interesting puzzles in the game. The riddles are masterfully written in a way that anyone should be able to solve them given enough time and thought. I first played the game when I was 13 and managed to solve every riddle I encountered, and I played the riddles section multiple times to see every riddle. Anyway, some people might be turned off and may want to immediately progress to the next section. For those people, the riddles might have been pretty frustrating.

The Bad
I didn't like the part in the game where I got stuck. Like I mentioned earlier, it involved yelling which was something you didn't have to do throughout the whole game up until then, so I never even thought to try it. I imagine lots of people got stuck on the same part for the same reason.

Every single puzzle is still very logical. Unlike too many games, there's no brute force strategy to figuring out what to do where you run into parts where you have to just try every single action you can think of with no sense of direction. Looking around each environment gives clues as to what you do, and just about everything should be obvious. If not, you'll probably hit yourself on the head when you figure it out because the game really does a great job of filling you in.

The copy protection puzzles are probably the most annoying thing. I didn't even think to look in the manual when I first played the game with the riddle of the flowers.

The Bottom Line
I would say this is one of the greatest adventure games ever made, not just for aesthetic reasons (though it certainly is among the best in this department as well), but for the straight-forward adventure gameplay with some entertaining action moments.

To me, Quest for Glory, Conquest of Camelot, and Conquest of the Longbow offer the best Sierra has to offer when it comes to the adventure department because they offer some of the most straight-forward (but not necessarily easy) puzzles, often with multiple approaches.

The Good
The feature that most distinguishes Conquests of Camelot from other Sierra games of the period is that you (via King Arthur, your in-game cypher) are required to partake in many more challenges than simply solving item-manipulation puzzles. At one point you must slay wild boar; at another, you're dueling with a saracen; at still another, you're jousting. This, coupled with a fairly logical puzzle system, makes Conquests of Camelot a gem worth seeking out if you can configure your system to support it.

The Bad
The one feature that is guaranteed to irritate a fair number of gamers are the riddles. At one point, Arthur must solve a number of riddles to advance. If you cannot answer even one, you're stuck. Luckily, the riddles themselves rotate, so if you're stuck on one, leave the screen and return to get a new, possibly easier one.

The Bottom Line
King Arthur must venture out to recover the Holy Grail. Along the way, he undergoes a variety of challenges, physical, mental and spiritual, that make up the core of the gameplay. Imagine King's Quest with combat and a semi-historical flavoring and you've got the core of Conquests of Camelot.

The Good
A review I read before buying, said the game was the best production of Sierra for 1990. I realised why.

The game can stand next to each other Sierra games and be judged as superior, almost for all its aspects. It's a real, serious, epic production, encompassing many elements that will satisfy the player. There is much travelling to many places, battles, choices to be made (affecting the course of the play), and much lore.

The graphics are really exceptional compared to the main corpus of Sierra. The sprites are richly animated, and there is much interaction with them (eg. you can kiss Gwynevere before leaving). The introductory scenes are well drawn, and resemble those that will be used in the cutscenes, much later in the Sierra VGA games.

The game is really atmospherical. Not only due to the graphics (I noted some anachronisms), but mainly because of the descriptions and dialogues. The messages are not the 'narrator's speech', but Merlin who communicates with you telepathically. All descriptions are supposedly personal views and knowledge of Merlin. Some scenes contain many objects and if you examine them, you will get immersive folkloric knowledge.

Interactivity is also rich. Almost everything you will try (like the F... word to people) will give you Merlin's appropriate reply. The designers have tried to predict as much of your thoughts as possible, often surprising you.

The game design also presents some differences. Here it's not easy to overlook something needed much later. Some choices you can make (Eg. not saving Lancelot, or giving the hag money instead of the artifact she wants) will affect something much later, but they are things that you know they are wrong, made only deliberately. In cases you will overlook or lose an artifact, its use would be only to make your life easier. The point where you will need it, you can also pass by trial and error

The soundtrack is one of the first I loved in games. I remember myself recording medieval melodies in my tape recorder!! So atmospheric that will put you in the position you should be. Medieval Britain, or the oriental Jerusalem, themusic is what you want to hear to put you in Arthur's shoes.

Last but not least, the package of the game is also one of the best I have seen. The box is beautifully drawn. It contains an also beautiful map of Europe (I am not not to decide it's historical accuracy), and an also beautiful manual, book of lore with information both educative, and useful (copy protection is based on it).

The Bad
People seem to dislike only one thing in this game: The riddles. Indeed the creator is overconcerned about piracy. Not only she gives a moral lecture on it in the manual, but there are also 3 points in the game where you will need to consult your manual for folk lore. Personally, after I grew up, I could solve them without help, because of my personal knowledge but the problem exists.

There is also a point where you must solve 'guess what' riddles, not with knowledge of the manual. This is indeed a hard part, and sometimes even today I get stuck. However you can exit and re-enter the screen to try for an easier random set of riddles.

There was another thing I didn't like. The game is called Conquests of Camelot. Not only Camelot is seen only in the start, but the game has nothing to do with the conquests, the reign, the history, enemies or victories of Camelot. After a point the game changes feel and atmosphere, and you forget the Arthurian concept altogether and start learning lore and explore catacombs. The game for the most part is not more Arthurian than any other medieval game is. It could be called 'Medieval Indiana Jones' and still be credible.

Well, a tiny part that I didn't like are some historical inaccuracies. AFAIK the labarum was never a symbol of Mithras.

The Bottom Line
This game is an ideal travel to the middle-ages, a taste of the spirit and folklore of those times, when the old and new world coexisted. Just 'look at' everything you see.. Travel many places, battle with foes, read about legends of medieval england, and you will experience a rich, full and satisfying adventure.