Fan-made King’s Quest will finally be released

Once upon a time, some fans who were disappointed with the final game of the King’s Quest series (and really, who wasn’t) decided to produce their own final game under the name of Phoenix Online Studios to provide some closure and spur interest in the adventure genre.  They got a cease-and-desist order from then King’s Quest copyright holder Vivendi Games, Inc, but worked out a deal for a fan license so that the game could be released.  Then Vivendi merged with Activision, who subsequently revoked the agreement made by Vivendi, effectively killing off the game once again.  Until this week, that is, when common sense seems to have prevailed, and Activision gave the developers a non-commercial license to release The Silver Lining.  I guess the story will have a silver lining after all.

It’s easy to be cynical and say “what’s Activision’s angle?”  Activision hasn’t made many friends lately.  But I’d rather just say HOORAY!  The first chapter of the first episode of The Silver Lining is scheduled to be released July 10th, with the rest released later in 2010.

Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire

After many years of wait, AGD Interactive‘s point-and-click VGA remake of Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire is finally here!  It’s a painstakingly crafted update to Corey and Lori Ann Cole’s 1990 adventure game classic.

If you are not familiar with adventure games, well, shame on you!  You’ve missed out on so much in life.  Adventure games are games based on puzzle-solving, exploration, and character interaction.  Twitch-reflex action not allowed!  Games like these got me through college, and the Sierra On-Line games like Hero’s Quest/Quest for Glory, King’s Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, et al. were high on my list of favorites.

AGD Interactive is a non-profit established by Britney K. Brimhall and Christopher T. Warren to remake older AGI or SCI parser-based Sierra games.  Under the studio name of Tierra, they did the excellent remakes of King’s Quest 1 and King’s Quest 2+ which are both highly regarded by Sierra fans.  They also founded Himalaya Studios, dedicated to new, original, point-and-click adventure games with high-resolution graphics.  They released a commercial game in 2006 called Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, which I think I might order.

Download the excellent free remake of Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire now!