Space Quest IV

Last updated
Space Quest IV:
Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
Space Quest IV cover art.png
Cover art by Terry Robinson
Developer(s) Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s) Sierra On-Line
Director(s) Bill Davis (creative)
Designer(s) Scott Murphy
Mark Crowe
Programmer(s) Scott Murphy
Doug Oldfield
Artist(s) Mark Crowe
Composer(s) Mark Seibert
Ken Allen
Series Space Quest
Engine SCI
Platform(s) DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Amiga, NEC PC-9801
ReleaseMarch 4, 1991
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers is a 1991 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the fourth entry in the Space Quest series. The game was released originally on floppy disks on March 4, 1991, and later released on CD-ROM in December 1992 with full speech support; an Atari ST version was announced via Sierra Online's magazine, Sierra News Magazine, but was later canceled. [1] The game sees players assume the role of Roger Wilco, who is thrust into a new adventure across time and space where he must thwart the plans of an old foe that is seeking revenge against him.

Contents

The game was developed with 256-color hand painted graphics, motion capture animation, and a switch from the text parser system to a more traditional point-and-click interface. The overall cost of the game was far greater than previous titles, but proved a commercial success, receiving positive reviews from critics for its humour, voice cast, and presentation. A sequel, Space Quest V , was released in 1993.

Gameplay

In contrast to the first three games, Space Quest IV uses a point-and-click interface, similar in function to that of King's Quest V . In the game, these actions can be used to interact with objects to either examine them, talk to them, use/pick them up, and taste and smell them (the latter two mainly for comedic purposes). Objects can be examined in the inventory and selected as an action to use in the environments. Like other Sierra games and previous games, the player will need to deal with deadly situations quickly to avoid a game over sequence.

Scott Murphy preferred keeping the original parser interface in Space Quest IV, believing it added depth to the game. During development, he and his co-designer Mark Crowe were asked by president Ken Williams and creative director Bill Davis to consider adopting point-and-click. Despite their preference for the parser, management later overruled their decision, emphasizing the company's strategy to maintain a consistent point-and-click interface across its modern games portfolio. [2]

Ms. Astro Chicken

Ms. Astro Chicken: Flight of the Pullet is a video game embedded within the Latex Babes of Estros portion of the game, in a mall arcade. It is a sequel of sorts to Astro Chicken, an arcade game that appeared in Space Quest III . The game's name is a parody of the actual arcade game Ms. Pac-Man . The Astro Chicken theme music is a variation on the Chicken Reel, a traditional folk song best known for its use in animated cartoons.

In the game, the player controls a flying chicken, whose enemies include flying squirrels, windpumps, shotgun-wielding hunters and hunting dogs. Dropping eggs on enemies immobilizes them and increases the player's score. After playing the game for a while, the arcade cabinet explodes, though this has no effect on the player or broader game.

Plot

Setting

Space Quest IV takes place in a universe that parodies notable science-fiction franchises. The story itself parodies the game's numbering system as it delves into time-travel. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a lowly janitor who has been on three adventures and is now seeking to head home, only to find himnself travelling between the past and the future to thwart a new threat.

Story

Following the events of Space Quest III , lowly janitor Roger Wilco is heading back to his homeworld of Xenon, aboard the Aluminum Mallard. Stopping at a bar for drinks, and retelling his heroics to the customers, Roger is approached by two androids. Taken outside by them, they reveal themselves to be under the employment of Sludge Vohaul, the villain of Space Quest II , who has been reborn in the future and is now seeking revenge on him. Before the androids kill him, two soldiers rescue Roger, one of whom opens a rift in time and instructs him to escape through it. Travelling through it, Roger winds up on Xenon in the near future, devastated by a major disaster (in which the game claims its Space Quest XII: Vohaul's Revenge II).

Exploring the ruins of the planet's main city, Roger finds a recording which reveals that Xenon developed an AI supercomputer to run everything, but that it was infected with a virus, Vohaul's mind digitized, that waged war on the inhabitants, killing or enslaving most of the population. Finding he must stop him, Roger sneaks a ride to Vohaul's base, and steals a time-travel ship to find some way of combatting the problem. Taking himself back several years, he winds up on the Planet Estros during Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros (a parody of Infocom's game Leather Goddesses of Phobos ), where he encounters his future ex-girlfriend. After rescuing her from trouble, he joins them on a shopping trip, acquiring further items to assist in his quest.

After Vohaul's androids track him down, Roger outwits them and steals their time-travel ship, proceeding to track down additional items (including a visit back to Space Quest I ), before eventually returning to Xenon. Infiltrating Vohaul's base, Roger finds the soldier who rescued him is actually his son from the future, and that Vohaul captured him. After initiating the supercomputer's reformatting process, he proceeds to confront Vohaul. Defeating him and rescuing his son, Roger liberates Xenon once again, and inquires about his future. His son provides only minor details, including information on the woman whom he will have a child with. Learning he will not recall much of the adventure, Roger bids his son farewell, and returns to the present.

Reception

According to Sierra On-Line, combined sales of the Space Quest series surpassed 1.2 million units by the end of March 1996. [3]

In 1991, Dragon gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. [4] In 1992, they gave the Macintosh version of the game 5 out of 5 stars as well. [5] Computer Gaming World 's Charles Ardai stated in 1993 that "the CD-ROM version is even more filling than the original. It accentuates and improves all of the game's strong points", with the voice actors providing much better voice acting than in King's Quest V . While noting that the CD-ROM did not change the brevity of the gameplay, Ardai added that "there are better adventure games than Space Quest IV [but] there are few games that are more entertaining. Fewer still are improved so much in the transition to CD-ROM". He concluded that "Space Quest IV is the perfect multimedia game: it looks and sounds great and it offers an experience one could not get from a floppy-based game". [6] In April 1994 the magazine said that the CD version's voices "bring Roger Wilco's campy world to life ... one of his finest and funniest adventures". [7]

The Amiga release was not as well received as the original PC one, with a number of reviewers citing the poor quality of the conversion, and some Amiga magazines grading the game with a score as low as 19%. [8]

In 1996, Computer Gaming World named Space Quest IV as the funniest game ever made. The editors wrote that it "transformed every sci-fi time-travel cliche with Gary Owens' voice ... providing the perfect comedic counterpoint." [9]

In 2011, Adventure Gamers named Space Quest IV the 48th-best adventure game ever released. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Space Quest</i> Video game series

Space Quest is a series of six comic science fiction adventure games released between 1986 and 1995. The games follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named Roger Wilco, who campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice, and really clean floors".

<i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure</i> 1989 video game

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphic adventure game, released in 1989 by Lucasfilm Games, coinciding with the release of the film of the same name. It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.

Mark Seibert is an American musician, composer, and producer best known for his work on various video games from Sierra Entertainment.

<i>Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire</i> 1990 video game

Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire is the second video game in Sierra On-Line's Quest for Glory series, and the sequel to Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero.

<i>The Adventures of Willy Beamish</i> 1991 video game

The Adventures of Willy Beamish is a graphic adventure game developed by Dynamix and published in 1991 by Sierra On-Line. The player takes on the role of nine-year-old Willy Beamish in a game that somewhat parodies the adventure genre. The game pioneered the use of in-game graphics drawn to resemble classic hand-drawn cartoon animation. It was initially released for MS-DOS and the Amiga and was ported to the Sega CD in 1993. CD versions of the game complemented the in-game text with speech, and included a few other cosmetic changes. A sequel was reportedly planned starring Willy Beamish as a late teenager, but the project was canceled.

<i>Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist</i> 1993 video game

Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist is a comic Old West adventure computer game created by Al Lowe and Josh Mandel and published by Sierra On-Line in 1993. It was dubbed "the Blazing Saddles of computer games" by Computer Gaming World.

<i>Kings Quest I</i> 1984 video game

King's Quest: Quest for the Crown is an adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line and published originally for the IBM PCjr in 1984 and later for several other systems between 1984 and 1989. The game was originally titled King's Quest; the subtitle was added to the games box art in the 1987 re-release, but did not appear in the game.

<i>Kings Quest II</i> 1985 video game

King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne is the second installment in the King's Quest series of graphic adventure games by Sierra On-Line. It was originally released in 1985 for PC DOS/PCjr, and later made available for the Apple II/IIGS, Atari ST, and Amiga. It uses the same AGI game engine as King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown and features King Graham as the player character. The title is a spoof of the 1984 film Romancing the Stone.

<i>Kings Quest V</i> 1990 video game

King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! is a 1990 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line. Originally released in November 1990, it featured a significant improvement in graphics. It was also the first King's Quest installment to replace the typing user interface with a point-and-click user interface. The title is a spoof on the proverb "Absence makes the heart grow fonder".

<i>Kings Quest VI</i> 1992 video game

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.

<i>Hillsfar</i> 1989 video game

Hillsfar is a role-playing video game for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. It was developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations in 1989. It combines real-time action with randomly generated quests and includes elements of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A port to the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in 1993. Hillsfar received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>Plan 9 from Outer Space</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Plan 9 from Outer Space is a point and click adventure game adaptation of the film of the same name. It was developed at the Irish office of Gremlin Graphics for the Amiga and Atari ST, and was released in 1992. The game was published by Gremlin in Europe and by Konami in the United States. A DOS version was also developed, though only released in the US and Europe. Two editions of the game were made available at retail; the more common version was packaged with a VHS copy of the film, while a rarer version contained only the game.

<i>Heart of China</i> 1991 video game

Heart of China is a 1991 adventure game developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line. The game follows the exploits of pilot Jake "Lucky" Masters as he tries to rescue nurse Kate Lomax from a ruthless Chinese warlord.

<i>Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness</i> 1993 video game

Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness is an adventure game/role-playing video game hybrid. It is the fourth installment of the Quest for Glory computer game series by Sierra On-Line. It was the first and only game of the series to drop the numerals from the title.

<i>Space Quest I</i> 1986 video game

Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien Encounter is a graphic adventure game, created by Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, and released in October 1986 by Sierra On-Line. It is the first game in the Space Quest series, and sees players assume the role of a lowly janitor on a research ship, who becomes involved in stopping an alien race using a new form of technology for evil purposes.

<i>Space Quest II</i> 1987 video game

Space Quest II: Chapter II – Vohaul's Revenge is a graphic adventure game released on November 14, 1987 by Sierra On-Line. It is the sequel to Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter, again using Sierra's AGI game engine, and sees players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a simple janitor who is soon drawn into a new adventure involving thwarting the culprit behind the events of the last game.

<i>Space Quest V</i> 1993 video game

Space Quest V: Roger Wilco – The Next Mutation is a graphic adventure game, created by Dynamix, and released by Sierra On-Line for MS-DOS on February 5, 1993. The game is the fifth entry in the Space Quest series, and the first game to be only designed by Mark Crowe. The story, set within a spoof of the Star Trek franchise, focuses on players taking control of Roger Wilco, who achieves his dreams of becoming a star captain but winds up involved in saving the galaxy from a deadly threat posed by a man-made virus.

<i>Space Quest 6</i> 1995 video game

Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1995. It is the sixth and final game in the Space Quest series.

<i>Space Quest III</i> 1989 video game

Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a 1989 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the third game in the Space Quest series. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a lowly space janitor, who becomes involved in rescuing a pair of computer programmers from a sinister video game company. The game received positive reviews from critics, and contributed further to the series' commercial success for Sierra. A sequel, Space Quest IV, was released in 1991.

<i>Take a Break! Pinball</i> 1993 video game

Take a Break! Pinball is a 1993 pinball computer game collection by Dynamix/Sierra On-Line. It contained several individual boards based on various Dynamix or Sierra series such as King's Quest, Space Quest, The Adventures of Willy Beamish, Leisure Suit Larry, and Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon. It is the second game in the Take a Break! series of casual Windows games. It was designed for Windows 3.x.

References

  1. ↑ "Sierra Product Information: Atari ST" (PDF). Sierra News Magazine. 4 (1). Sierra On-Line. Spring 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Cris Skelton, Philip Jong (2006-11-10). "Adventure Classic Gaming". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  3. ↑ Sierra On-Line Form 10-K (Report). Bellevue, Washington. March 31, 1996. pp. 7–9. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (September 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (173): 55–60.
  5. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (March 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (179): 57–62.
  6. ↑ Ardai, Charles (April 1993). "Sierra's CD-ROM Version of Space Quest IV". Computer Gaming World. p. 34. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World. April 1994. pp. 20–42.
  8. ↑ "Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers : Hall of Light - the database of Amiga games".
  9. ↑ Staff (November 1996). "Fifteenth Anniversary Special: The 15 Funniest Computer Games". Computer Gaming World . No. 148. p. 113.
  10. ↑ AG Staff (December 30, 2011). "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games". Adventure Gamers . Archived from the original on June 4, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.