Space Quest II: Chapter II - Vohaul's Revenge

The Good
Following the footsteps of its seminal predecessor, Space Quest II borrows its template for a linear, yet dynamic and energy-loaded adventure. It multiplies the hazards and increases the danger, resulting in an interesting example of an adventure game that comes very close to conveying the emotional tension of an action title.

The gameplay of Space Quest II is fluent, uncomplicated, and just right in terms of difficulty and pacing. Some of the puzzles in the game are, in fact, quite imaginative and elegant. They mostly serve as elementary protections against death. For example, you enter a swamp and get eaten by a monster; so you have to figure out how to avoid this. Some puzzles still belong to the good old epoch of text input, and would be hard to recreate in games with modern interfaces. Such puzzles are simple, but not always obvious to figure out, and require real imagination instead of mad clicking on everything you see. I remember how I was constantly dying while attempting to dive and didn't think of a simple solution: what people usually do just before they dive?.. Such realistic, extremely simple, yet interesting and even (in their own way) challenging puzzles ceased to exist after text interface was replaced by point-and-click.

Space Quest II is built like one big trip through a hostile environment, sustaining the feeling of danger from the beginning to the end. There's little in games that can be compared to the feeling of being lost and trapped among hostile creatures and other hazards. There's hardly anything that stimulates the player more to keep playing. Every time Roger dies you are interested to discover what could have prevented his death and what other terrible encounters will happen. The nerve-tickling, tension-loaded atmosphere of the game curiously reminded me of a later masterpiece that is not exactly dissimilar to it.

Yes, you die too much in this game, but this creates tension that contributes to the realism of being unwelcome in a strange, alien world. In fact, dying is the whole point of the game, which is about surviving. And what could have suited the game's plot and setting better than the constant mortal risk? The whole story of the game deals with Roger's attempts to escape from Vohaul and his henchmen. He is in an unknown, possibly dangerous world, where death lurks at every corner. I find it fascinating how the game always requires you to be careful, using this to immerse you into its world.

All this makes Space Quest II the most intense, atmospheric experience within the series. When you are always near death, you start paying attention to everything - every stone, every tree might contain possible danger. You walk around carefully, trying not to step on suspiciously looking plants or come too close to dangerously looking bizarre alien organisms. The game has two main locations (planet surface and Vohaul's asteroid), both very detailed, both full of traps and hazards, and both menacing in a strange, alien way, perfectly fitting the sci-fi setting of the game.

The Bad
Space Quest II can be an exciting game, but it doesn't feel like an exciting Space Quest. The first game wasn't exactly a hilarious comedy, but it did have Ulence Flats. This is just the kind of thing missing in the sequel: a nice little area with funny establishments and creatures. Otherwise, the game is very similar in structure to its predecessor (up to the division into planet-exploring and enemy base-infiltrating parts), but it lacks the one relaxing, humorous segment needed to make up for all those dangers.

This is manifested in the gameplay as well: there are no friendly areas in the game, no "civilized" locations at all; it's either hostile wilderness or equally hostile enemy base. Even the latter is underpopulated compared to the Sarien dreadnought of the first title. Though the Labion-exploring part is reasonably large, it occupies more than half of the game; the somewhat underwhelming asteroid section follows right away, concluding the game. Space Quest II is actually smaller and shorter than the first episode, which is not a good thing to say about sequels.

You also die a bit too much here, and much of the gameplay is based on dying. When you perish, you usually receive messages such as: "You are beaten again to a bloody pulp. Will you never learn? Come on, other people are looking at you and seeing what a bad player you are". I know it was supposed to be funny, and it really was the first couple of times, but since you die so many times in this game and receive similar messages every time you do that, it can get on your nerves.

The Bottom Line
Space Quest II is certainly not as charming and humorous as the other games in the series; combined with short length, this makes it the generally least beloved installment of the floor-mopping, planet-hopping tale. That said, its suspense, atmosphere, interesting puzzles, and a genuine feeling of adventuring do a good job compensating for its flaws.

The Good
The game has basically the same three acts/scenes as the first game, home space station, wild alien planet and enemy space fortress. I thought the planet was the best stage in Space Quest II, some very nice screens, nice in a dangerous sort of way. There is certainly a variety of obstacles you have to go through to get back to the landing pad and escape the planet and possibly foil Vohaul's plans. I actually got stuck for at least a month on one part, trying every solution I could think of and finally hitting the right one, but I'm not too resentful about that.

I thought your final confrontation with Vohaul on the bridge of his asteroid fortress was well done as was the escape through the fragile glass tubeway on the asteroid exterior.

I thought the ending was a necessary touch, not just another standard finish.

The Bad
Well I think it would've been nice if they'd had a home space station stage, more like the first game. Not necessarily an alien hijacking, but some more things to do before moving on to the planet stage. I think Vohaul's asteroid was a letdown too, the problems and their solutions not so impressive, made up for in part by the confrontation with Vohaul and how his defense against you provides a way for you to defeat him.

The Bottom Line
Well again, it's lowly janitor becomes a hero by clever manipulation of his environments. It's good in the way that it progresses to meeting the supposed mastermind behind the Sarien assault/robbery of the first game, though it STILL isn't clear if Sludge Vohaul is scientist Slash Vohaul from the cartridges' message in Space Quest 1, corrupted by some sort of failed experiment, or if he's his evil brother or clone(he's clearly supposed to be like Darth Vader without his mask).

Because Roger had already performed such an amazing feat of bravery, cunning and luck, defeating the Sariens in the first game, I think it made his feats in this game seem less important. Also important was that after all he'd done, he was still a janitor and treated like one. I suppose one would still feel inclined to do what had to be done, regardless of rewards, but there is a slight hollowness about it, knowing what you know now about the people of Xenon.

The Good
Everybody loved the original Space Quest. It was original and humorous, and it contained lots of exploration and adventuring. Sales of 200,000 copies were enough to convince Sierra to release a sequel to the game. I got Space Quest II right after I completed the fourth game in the series, and I have to admit it was one of the favorite SQs, right up there with number five.

The game comes with a small comic which I enjoyed reading. It chronicles the events after the original game and, although I lost the comic ages ago, I think it also introduces Vohaul, the antagonist of the game and tells the story of Roger being interviewed on Letterdroid, which you get to watch in the remake of the game. People illegally downloading this game won't have the pleasure of reading it.

SQ2 follows on from the original game. Roger Wilco managed to steal the Star Generator back from the Sariens who were planning to use it for evil purposes. Here, we get to meet the mastermind behind the plan. As revenge, he plans to unleash deadly life insurance salesman onto Xenon and, to make sure that his plan proceeds, dumps Roger on Labion where he is doomed to spend an eternity working in the mines.

The game is slightly better than the original Space Quest, because it ups the ante a bit. What I mean by that that you have to perform unexpected things you never did in an adventure game before. For instance, right from the start - when Roger is on-board the XOS4 - the way you can make Roger walk sideways on the wall and upside down is a stroke of genius.

The majority of the game takes place on the planet of Labion. It is a jungle planet, which makes it all the more exciting. When I first played this game, I was always curious to see what is on the next screen I have to go to. SQ2 has a few puzzles here and there, but they are quite easy to work out. I think the most challenging one would be navigating through the vine monster without touching any part of it.

You can die many times in this game, and I enjoy doing so in this game just to see how Roger dies. The root monster in the aforementioned paragraph will devour Roger if he touches any part of its vines. There is probably a clip on YouTube that shows all of Roger's death, so if you are a fan of adventure game deaths, you should take a look.

Since the game is made in the mid-Eighties, Sierra still used their old AGI engine which displays graphics in a 160x200 resolution. Also, sound only comes through the PC Speaker and there is no mouse control, meaning that you have to type commands at a parser. You may think that this is crap today, but back then it was all we had. When it comes to graphics, I often ignore its chunkiness and just focus on what objects are on the screen, and its shape and color. I liked what Vohaul's asteroid looks like. It kinds of reminds me of that planetoid in Universe, with the lights coming out of it.

The sound comes through the PC Speaker only as soundcards weren't invented back then. It is improved if you own a Tandy Computer; you will be able to hear three voices instead of just one. Actions are performed by entering commands at the parser. This is great because you can experiment with different commands, and quite often the game will generate a funny response.

Finally, there are multiple solutions to some puzzles, meaning that SQ2 can be played again, allowing you to take a different path to what you took before. The only one I can think of has to do with the Labion Terror beast that you have to get past.


The Bad
Space Quest II can be quite short, depending on how well you go at the game. If you know what you're doing, it will take you well under three hours to complete. Also, I don't like the way that the cover reads "Space Quest II" in the usual SQ font, yet it reads "Chapter II" right underneath. So calling this game "Space Quest II: Chapter II - Vohaul's Revenge" is downright pathetic.

The Bottom Line
Space Quest II is the sequel to the original game, starring one of my favorite villains from the SQ universe, Sludge Vohaul, who dumps Roger on the planet of Labion while he plans to infest his home planet with life insurance salesman. The game may be short, but there are enough puzzles in the game to keep you occupied, and Labion itself also provides plenty of exploration. Why didn't I talk about the game's humor? Because there isn't any at all.

The Good
Another Sierra game with all the jokes & frustrations that entails. Sludge Vohaul kidnaps Roger Wilco, space janitor, in revenge for defeating his evil plot last game. Evade traps, beasts, guards & finally Vohaul himself to stop an army of door-to-door insurance salesman clones from ruining your world forever. By this time Sierra had the presentation of their games down pat so they are instantly recognizable by anyone who ever played one. This is not a bad thing since they are good by 80s standards. This time around the puzzles & game play are well done so it provides a fun experience with several references for sci-fi fans. Everybody should know not to be kissed by the alien!

The Bad
Some of the solutions to the puzzles rely on typing the proper action in the exact way the programmers want. This can be very frustrating if you use a different word than what is required. Semantics can be annoying in real life & in games apparently. The sound effects are not the best from Sierra when compared to their other games from the same era. Several items can be missed & since there are points where you cannot go back to previous screens this can make the game unwinnable.

The Bottom Line
A fun sequel to a fun game even though it is just more of the same. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

The Good
Well, any Space Quest is good Space Quest (even though my critique of this one may seem to suggest otherwise!). As always, there’s some good challenges mixed in that will make you think to solve them, and everything has that “heyday of Sierra” feel about it.
There’s good use of solving puzzles by manipulating objects in a certain way via the text input. For example (SLIGHT SPOILER), at one stage, you’re crawling in a dark series of tunnels, where you have a glow-in-the-dark gem to see but need both hands to crawl; the solution is to "hold gem in mouth". Exactly the sort of puzzle that would be lost when the “point and click” (no typing) interface took over in later Sierra games.
It’s also quite satisfying how you can complete puzzles and the game, but not using the best or full solution, leaving you short of points and giving you something to go back to and try again – much better than several later Sierra and LucasArts games, where everything was pretty much linear and there was only one way to do everything.
Whilst having played the first game will help get the full grasp of things (such as just why Vohaul wants you captured in the first place!), there’s no real need to have played the first one to get into this one – it stands up on it’s own.
Oh, and one other thing – the comic that came with the game. Ahh, for the days when wonderful extras like this were thrown in. Maybe not in the same league as the later LucasArts’ classic Sam & Max comic manual, but still really good, and a welcome extra.

The Bad
Well, a few things didn’t quite click for me with this one. I did like this game, honest! But…
Being released a mere few months after the original Space Quest, there are maybe a few signs that this was a somewhat rushed sequel.
The graphics and interface are virtually identical to the first one; normally in Sierra adventures, there at least some small tweaks between games at least. In fact, the initial opening screen is identical to that in Space Quest 1 – when I first played it, for a moment I worried that I’d somehow got a copy of SQ1 by accident!!
The sound is average to what you’d from the era, but it did seem to me to be very sparse in places.
My main gripe is that there are only two real areas to explore – the jungles of planet Labion, and Sludge Vohaul’s asteroid base. Much of the enjoyment of the original was that there was much leaping from planet to planet. But in this one there isn’t really much of that, making it seem rather limited compared to just about every other SQ instalment. Being stuck on a single jungle planet for much of the game is rather static for a Space Quest outing; and the majority of it, to me, felt like it could just as easily have been out of one of the ‘Kings Quest’ games.
The other key SQ ingredient – lots of bizarre, strange beings to meet and interact with, is also notably lacking in this one. And what few characters there are, are basic compared to those that grace other entries in the series.
There are some good puzzles, but most of them are overcome with one single action, and seem rather undeveloped.
This game is definitely the most humour-light in the series – aside from having the odd quip here and there, much of it is pretty ordinary, with no real laugh out loud material like so many other SQs in the series. (Much of this is to do with the lack of characters to interact with). Oh, and Vohaul’s plan to fill planet Xenon with evil clone salesman – (semi) amusing maybe, but it’s never strong enough nor developed enough to hang the entire plot on.
There’s no glorious ending with this one – it leads well into Space Quest III, but on it’s own it is pretty flat, with the adventure finishing quite abruptly (I actually re-played the ending over several times, thinking I’d missed out something. I hadn’t).
The original had so many great little bits, such as finding the best spaceship to buy, and then the best robot to co-pilot it; SQ2 has no really nice touches like that. Thank goodness the designers flair returned in SQ3, which was much closer in concept to the original.

The Bottom Line
This game is too good to associate with the word “weak”; but if I had pick the weakest instalment of the Space Quest series, this one would probably be it. It doesn’t really have anything to make it instantly memorable. After all the planet hopping and crazy situations of the original, the programmers seemed to run a little short of inspiration on this one – thank goodness it returned in Space Quest III, where the series really came into its own!
But all that said, don’t think that Space Quest II is BAD – it’s still a good game in it’s own right.

The Good
Very humorous. The different locations were well designed, and the game was easy to lose yourself in.

The Bad
Two things:

• There's this maze that you kind of have to explore, and there's not really any kind of map (so in other words it's very likely that you'll die a few times before you find your way out).

• I finished it in one day, and I'm not all that bright. I can't tell if the game was supposed to be longer, or if I just got a burst of divine insight.
  
  The Bottom Line
  Worth playing, but if you're not familiar with the story from Space Quest I, you'll probably be quite confused.

The Good
This is just a darn funny game. You have "planet of the apes" moments, "alien" moments, and "star wars" moments. You even have a brief cameo by a "Tasmanian Devil" type creature. The list could go on forever.

The Bad
Some tedious sections, like climbing through tunnels with a glowing rock in your mouth, come to mind.

The Bottom Line
A very funny space action game.

The Good
Um, replace that one-line summary with a quote from a song you (or anybody else in the world) actually KNOW. I'm just trying to get the concept across here - there's nothing else to this game than dying. You get a funny comment every time you do so, and every time you do so you will also gain the knowledge of how NOT to die. Which is the purpose of the game in fact, so it's kinda self-defeating since you essentially have to solve a game by methodically taking all the steps which are antithetical to its basic premise. If that sounded too pretentious to you, then basically the only way to solve most of this game's puzzles is by dying repeatedly and thus becoming aware of how to stay alive. That's learning how to survive the hard way, eh? For example, in one screen you have a very vaguely drawn rectangle on the ground - when you step on it, you fall inside a trap and you die. When you reload the game, and type "look at trap" in the parser, the game responds "What trap? I don't see any trap! Hey guys, do you see any trap here? Nope, no trap here!" It IS funny, yes, but it's kinda sad that the only means for these folk to do something creative and involving in this game was by thinking up of funny, unexpected ways to die and then writing humorous little good-bye messages (many of which, btw, were quite surprisingly derisive towards the player - not that I was offended, which I easily could've been, I'm just wondering whether that sort of slipped by the Sierra Quality Assurance there a bit).

Aside from that, this is just average Sierra adventure fare. Most probably one of the other guys who reviewed the game was right, it was probably a bit of a cash-in for Sierra, slapped together with no idea or original conception. I remember enjoying the first game in the series (some years ago), but this one just seems so dull, so totally regressive - even in the intro, it just states, "well, in the first game you became a hero, but now you're back to being a janitor". This is already well past the line dividing irony from total cynicism, in the wrong direction. I didn't get very far in the game (I stopped in the maze with the ladders), so maybe I missed out on something, but I doubt it: a bunch of screens thrown together with the usual suspects of man-eating mushrooms, hostile swamp creatures, goons, people with clubs and little innocent creatures you have to "help" does not give much promise for any later sections. The puzzles sucked, stunningly being incredibly obvious and mind-bogglingly illogical at the same time - like a dead tree just by the side of a canyon I have no way of crossing. No no, you don't have to PUSH it, or kick it or shove it. You have to CLIMB it. A dead tree, obviously liable to break at any moment, precariously positioned right beside a bottom-less pit. Climb it. What were you expecting to do at the top of it, TAKE IN THE SIGHTS?

And what about other characters, or an interesting setting, or a plot, or - hey, an explanation for there being an underwater cavern beneath the swamp in the middle of nowhere with a glowing gem in it. Nah, don't bother. Space Quest 2: the pinnacle of that philosophy of "ironic" game design where the game being crap was in fact considered to be the most sophisticated of all jokes.

The Bad
Er, was that the "good" section? Sorry.

The Bottom Line
imitates staring morosely and dull-ly at a computer screen, only to be distracted by a passing fly or a speck of dust falling from the ceiling, or ANY INCREDIBLY UNINTERESTING THING AT ALL

(Explanatory note to Moby readers who have never written a review here: this section is currently being hyped to me as my answer to the question, "How would you describe this game to others?", despite the fact that it appears under a different heading currently as you read it. Therefore the seeming discrepancy between what you expected to read and what I in fact have written there. Much like, to get back slightly to the original topic, this very game: you expect to find something entertaining, but instead you get something which was originally, in some bizarre historical context, supposed to be "hip" and "with it", and, not coincidentally, totally fails to be entertaining.)