Quest for Glory III: Wages of War

The Good
Quest for Glory III: Wages of War was released around the time when adventure games from Sierra were getting better and better. The game has the same mechanics as the previous games, but introduces a few nice features that I really like.

After the Prince of Shapeir dealt with the likes of Ad Avis, he and his friend Rakeesh the Liontaur, along with Uhura and her son, travel to Rakeesh's homeland to learn of a war between the Simbani and the Leopardmen, two tribes who are at war for taking a sacred relic from each other and refuse to give these relics back before the other one does. The Prince is sent on a mission to bring peace between the tribes, and thwart a demon who is loose upon the world. Ad Avis was going to be the villain again, but since Wages of War is designed to be introduced to new players, he is reserved for Shadows of Darkness. Having said that, it is nice that Lori Ann and Corey Cole decided to do a re-cap of the second game's ending within the introduction.

Inside the box, you have five 3.5” floppy disks and some advertisements. You also have a technical manual, which is not really technical at all, but just some information about the game mechanics (particularly the interface, classes, and the combat system). If you're new to the QFG series, you should read it. The “Famous Explorers' Correspondence Course” gives you information about the locations of Fricana, its people, and so on. Ironically, the user manual mentions an Amiga and Macintosh versions of the game, but no versions exist for the machines.

Wages of War delivers a same point-and-click interface, and this interface is the same as the remake of the first game. Besides the icons for “walk”, “touch”, “speak”, etc., you also have a secondary interface allowing you to sneak, run, rest, find out the time of day, and check your stats. When you talk to a character in a game, you have a list of topics you can talk about, as well as any supplementary ones.

There is a nice, new feature in the game. If you choose to import your character from one of the previous QFG games, the game detects the class you chose in the previous game and gives you the opportunity to select another one if you are not happy with it. I chose to play Wages of War as a Paladin, a class which you only earn by doing good deeds during the game. There are many benefits of becoming a Paladin in this game, most notably your sword will erupt in blue flame during combat and you can do greater damage to enemies.

Combat sequences are twice as good as the ones in the previous games. You get to fight apes, giant ants, and lizardmen, each one carrying a certain amount of health. A big difference is that you always know which one you will fight, even before they appear on screen. The music in these sequences are unique to the monster you're fighting, and you can use magic prior to fights, in an attempt to reduce their health and make it easier for you. Fighting monsters is a great way to pass the time.

Wages of War is the first game to introduce an overhead map. The map of Fricana (where Tarna and the Simbani village is in) spans a few screens. There are five locations you have to visit in the game, and the rest is only savannah and jungle, where you do combat with monsters. Just like the music when you do battle with a monster, the music is unique to each of the map screens. I like how you have an opportunity to play Awari (eg: Oware). It is a strategy game that is played throughout West Africa and the Caribbean. Your opponent explains how you play the game. It is not necessary to play it to win the game, but you boost your Intelligence skill by winning a game.

The hand-painted backgrounds look fantastic, especially when you are exploring the sights of Tarna and the savannah in general, and particularly, The Pool of Peace. The game introduces sprite scaling, where the characters became smaller as they walk away into the distance. I noticed this in Gold Rush!, and even then, I was amazed that Sierra could pull this off considering the engine they were using at the time was inferior. Anything coming from the south would scare the pants out of me, especially the giant ants.

The soundtrack is brilliant, and it really blends well with the African setting. My favorite is the Welcome Inn and the Apothecary. Intense soundtracks are reserved for much later in the game when you have to deal with the Leopardmen and the demon. The soundtrack is much better if you use General MIDI rather than Sound Blaster, since it gives it a more African feel.

As always, near the end of Wages of War, you are encouraged to play the game again with a different class, so that you experience different puzzles and solutions. Fighters/Paladins will have to undergo some test before they make the way to the Lost City, something that Magic Users and Thieves miss out on.

The Bad
When the game automatically takes you to the savannah for a monster fight, you cannot run away from it and get back to the overhead map, even if you are standing near the border of the screen. Also, the red dotted line indicating your movements is pointless. I can understand if that line is shown in the savannah/jungle since it can be used to get your back to the map, but it's not.

The Bottom Line
Everyone has their favorite game in the QFG series; and for me, it's Wages of War. The Prince is sent on a quest to restore peace between the two tribes, and meets a lot of characters that are important, most of them friendly. The game packs a lot of features that the previous games do not have, and I ended up putting these features to good use. The graphics are fantastic, and the soundtrack is brilliant. If you are new to the series, the first two games is not a requirement. Just don't start on game number four.