King’s Quest III Redux: To Heir is Human Review

In a recent surprise, the Anonymous Game Developers over at AGD Interactive announced they were about to release their take on King’s Quest 3: To Heir is Human. I thought they were done with remaking old classics for various different reasons. King’s Quest 3 is one of my favorite games. In terms of storytelling in the adventure genre, this is the first time Roberta Williams got it perfect. I was excited about seeing their take on it and they gifted me with a review copy.

The Setup
For those of you who have played the original King’s Quest 3, in this game you’ll enter the shoes of Gwydion, a slave of the evil wizard Manannan. Gwydion is coming up on his 18th Birthday and has never known a life beyond service to the wizard. He is starting to wonder if there is life beyond his meager dwellings. Can you help Gwydion escape the evil wizard and discover the true secret of his identity?

Along the way you’ll learn some of the wizard’s magic and battle with pirates, spiders, tricky mountain paths, the Abominable snowman, and the three-headed dragon that has terrorized your homeland. So, strap on your bottomless backpack and start exploring the countryside.

Game Extensions
When AGD Interactive recreated King’s Quest 2, they took a lot of the disparate plot elements and tied them together in a story taking inspiration from the original King’s Quest 2, but also from some of the future games by bringing in plot elements from future games. King’s Quest 3 Redux is not the detraction from the original that KQ2+ was, however it is not a one-to-one recreation either. I always worry when someone starts to mess with important influences from my childhood.

The game expands on the relationship between Gwydion and Manannan. It is a subtle addition, but very strong and adds depth to the story not in the original implementation. Gwydion’s time on the pirate ship is also expanded and he gets to play cabin boy, mirroring much of the chores he did for the evil wizard. I found this a nice parallel that, even when Gwydion is moving forward with his adventure, he is still held back.

One of the biggest challenges of the original game was creating the magic spells. There was a lot of typing and if you had a single typo or were not exact, things could end disastrously for you. This game makes it a little easier while also retaining some sense of frustration. It’s still pretty easy to die in the heat of spell-making, although the point-and-click interface is much preferred over the frustrating typing approach.

A few of the changes didn’t ring true to the original game. In the middle of the game there is a whole new section which feels out of place, stylistically, with the original game. It’s nice to come across some new puzzles and settings, but this feels very much like it was tacked on at the last minute. This side adventure does allow you to get an inventory item that is important at the very end of the adventure.

Sound and Graphics
The graphics are beautifully done for a free game. They won’t match the standards of some of today’s game blockbusters, but they are a great upgrade from the original. The animation and cut scenes are simple but effective. Most of the game plays out through the puzzles and exploration of the land.

The background music fits the game nicely and adds to the ambience in such a way that you’d only notice it if it were gone. I do give a bad mark for the voiceovers. The voices struck me as grating at first, but I quickly adjusted and after five minutes into the game I wasn’t bothered anymore.

Final Thoughts
The games coming out of AGD Interactive are great fun and they are an enjoyable way to spend a few nostalgic hours. I am thankful for the work they do to help me relive some fond childhood memories. They obviously have a lot of care for the original subject material. However, why not focus your time on creating something else? Instead of drawing so heavily on the past, I’d like to see them focus on creating new characters, in new locations, with different challenges. Focus your talents on creating some new, original, adventures for us to enjoy instead of hanging out at remake alley.

System Requirements:
None Available