The joyful news that King’s Quest returns – for free – warms the hearts of all game-nostalgics out there. Question is: When will Roger Wilco and co join us?

Admittedly it’s not called King’s Quest, but that’s more a trifle, since it’s as a result of a legal battle former Vivendi led against enthusiasts of Phoenix Online in 2005. The latter developed the game without holding the license to it and as a purely fan-based adventure. Eventually, they agreed, were one of the requirements was to drop the King’s Quest from the name. The game is now called The Silver Lining.

Since 2002, the enthusiasts has been working on the game, and besides the problems that occurred in 2005, they also experienced problems with Activision (they merged with Vivendi in 2008) earlier this year, but it is thus solved now. King’s Quest is back in episode-based form, in similar form as the new Monkey Island, which came last year and Sam & Max-seasons that have emerged in recent years.

The 10th of July the first episode will be available for download, I will gladly join the queue on www.tsl-game.com. The trailer is like a nostalgic hint of the 80s, only with better graphics …

But what about the rest of the heroes of the old Sierra On-Line Universe?

When the old LucasArts-classics came back to the great success at Telltale Games, there most definitely should be hope for Sierra classics too? For us that now enters the thirties and couldn’t care less about online this and that – we yearn more for yet another journey into Silmarien and other famous places – do we have something to look forward to?

I’ve taken a stroll on the world wide web to check. But first a little history, in case you are wondering what happened to our beloved Sierra.

Sierra On-Line, from the gaming giant to shutdown

1979 is perhaps best known for my own birth, at least in my little head. It was the year Ken and Roberta Williams gave life to On-line system, the company that three years later changed its name to Sierra On-Line. In the 80′s they fortified themselves as adventure genre kings, alongside LucasArts, with titles such as King’s Quest, Space Quest, Mystery House, Leisure Suit Larry and Police Quest which captivated many of us young gaming nerds. In the 90′s the company grew more and had new franchises like Quest for Glory and Gabriel Knight added to their repertoire. The future looked bright, worse was with schoolwork for us young gaming-addicts. But then came the sale.

When Ken and Roberta sold Sierra for $1.5 billion to CUC International in 1996, it was the beginning of the end for all of the fantastic game-series. Sierra began a wild journey between several companies, a journey so complex it’s like following a drunk in a maze. CUC merged with HFS Incorporated in 1997 and became Cendant Corporation, which was later involved in money-scandals. In 1998 Cendant sold Sierra to Havas Interactive (part of Havas SA). In 1999, Sierra cut 250 positions, and laid down their Yosemite department, which was responsible for most of the classics. People like Al Lowe (Larry) and Scott Murphy (Space Quest) got laid off.

This was the beginning of the end for Sierra as developer, while it was the start of the Sierra with a focus on distribution.

In 2000, Havas SA became Vivendi and in 2002 Sierra on-line was renamed Sierra Entertainment Inc. In 2004, a further cut was done at Sierra, several hundred lost their jobs. As mentioned earlier, in 2008 Vivendi merged with Activision and Sierra was closed down, for a possible sale in the future.

Do you follow? No? Neither am I,  despite the fact that I write this.

All of this mess, combined with developments in the gaming industry in general, buried classics for over a decade. Now it’s time to shovel the crap aside and bring them back in the light again, if you ask me. What’s the status of the game series? Let’s take a look:

Leisure Suit Larry

Larry, my mentor in both sex and flirting! How I ended up with a girlfriend and even kids at a young age, is still a riddle to me. Having Larry as inspiration is somewhat like having Mr. Bean as a driving instructor. You will get to where you want, although not in the traditional way. The trip, however, becomes something of a legend.

The ingenious game that started with an “age of protection”-test, where you must answer correctly a series of questions to get permission to play, mesmerized, of course, all young boys. Not only was it game over if you forgot to put on the condom, you were also game over if you forgot to take it off. All one had to keep track of!

Larry, the desperate and horny guy who always ends up with bad luck in a lucky streak,  contributed with his name in two games in recent years. But not with Larry as the main character, but his nephew. Or something like that, I couldn’t give a crap. The awfull games do not deserve further comment, but I’d like to see how it goes with the real Larry, preferably with Al Lowe behind the helm. There’s unfortunately nothing scheduled, although there will probably come more games carrying the Larry name.

Al Lowe is the guy who created Larry, in case you wondered. He’s now retired, he attempted to publish a game called Sam Suede: Undercover Exposure in 2006, with little luck. He now relaxes with playing Saxophone and adding humorous comments on his page Al Lowe’s Humor Site. He strongly disapproved of  Magna cum laude and didn’t even bother to try Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust. It didn’t prevent him from stating that it, based on reviews, was even worse than Magna cum laude.

Why continue to defile such a great game-series? There should exist a shameful corner for those doing such a perversion to our dear Larry, and what were once created. There is obviously a commitment to bring out new games, but for some incomprehensible reason they are not in the style of the old ones.

These things make me really hate the corporate powers at times. If one is to spend time and money, for Larry’s sake do it properly!

Gabriel Knight

Gabriel Knight was Sierra’s answer to Indiana Jones, only more mysterious, gloomy and intense. It is as if Dan Brown had made games, including a comprehensive exploration of the greatest myths and legends. Where other Sierra games were usually interspersed with much charm and humor, Gabriel Knight had the ingredient of seriousness spiced with a little creepiness.

The three games had an amazing atmosphere and stories so rich in detail that they alone are the reason I want to travel to places like Rennes-le-Château. Unfortunately, a sequel looks dead here too, the author Jane Jensen is working on another project. More on that below.

One of the most remarkable thing about the series was how it stands again as the fingerprint of the time they came in, with the constant changes in the game industry. The first is a traditional 2D, the second was live-action with real actors, and the third went for 3D.

Perhaps more than any other game-series it tried adapting to the new landscape of the gaming-media. Unfortunately, there never came a number 4, even though the third clearly suggests that. The end, which really left us waning for more, was like a good TV-series that never got its last season, but left us on the edge of the chair uncertain about how it would all end.

Jane Jensen has re-published books with the stories, and has recently worked on the game Gray Matter, which has a planned release-date of October this year. It is not Gabriel knight, but I think it could be a hit. Check out the website and you will get a familiar sensation. Or be lazy and watch the trailer:

Let’s hope a possible success may get Activision to open their eyes and green-lit a new Gabriel Knight.

Police Quest

What about Sonny Bonds? My favourite police officer haven’t been spotted in his own game since 1991, although Police Quest continued without him in a 1993-game. Everything looks dead for this series, we’ll just have to take comfort with what we’ve got. Too bad, in these CSI-times a police game should have more potential than ever.

The SWAT franchise was a form of a spin-off, where Sonny occasionally appeared. He was a playable character in SWAT 2, in SWAT 4 he was the leader. His wife was in SWAT 3. I’ve only played the first of those games, but think I should try out the others. If for nothing else, just to get a reunion with Sonny.

However, SWAT was not the same genre. I’d love to take a game with an old Sonny solving mysteries. Maybe he and his wife have raised a young recruit?

The man behind the first three games, Jim Walls, isn’t doing much, he left Sierra a long time ago, and Daryl F. Gates took over (and changed the whole series). Gates died in April this year, the fight against cancer took another victim.

Concerning Police Quest, it doesn’t look like there’s anything going on, either with SWAT or the traditional Police Quest. If you want more, I recommend testing Codename: Iceman, a Sierra game that never became a hit. Although I loved it.

Quest for Glory

My favorite series of all time, Quest For Glory, in a sense, ended. But I want more! I remember there was a fan-based project here, Hero 6, which has been ongoing since 1999. But in March of this year, it was stated that “Hero 6 is dead“, before it was followed up with a post stating it was not dead, but on “life support”. There was also Quest for Glory 4 1 / 2, made by fans. Never played it, if I can find it maybe I’ll give it a try. Anyway more of a rogue streak of a game.

It has also been some remastered versions of the old ones that are worth trying. Some official, some more unofficial. Check for example the remastered version of the second one, done by AGD.

Hope is that Activision sees the gold mine they possess. With the exception of King’s Quest I doubt that any of the old classics have greater potential. It has both RPG elements and traditional adventure aspects, subsequently there have been several games that have “stolen” ideas from this pioneer.

Lori Ann Cole, one of the creators, is currently working on a text-based game about “Famous Adventurer’s School For Heroes,” which were mentioned in the QFG games. The project can be best described as interactive literary fictional, it should be exciting to see what it is. Not exactly a new Quest for Glory, but better than nothing. The world still needs heroes and I hope that Activision will soon ask us: So You Want To Be a hero?

The answer is definitely YES.

Space Quest

In the late 1980′s, I think it was in 1989, I received for Christmas my first PC game. It was Space Quest 3. What a wonderful world I was introduced to! The absurd humor and creativity sucked me right in and I was from that moment a gaming nerd. I quickly went from worst to best in English in my class and was totally immersed in computer games. Space Quest will always have a very special place in this game’s heart. Right now I’m playing them again with my two sons, aged 7 and 10, and they love them as much as I did. The series defines the concept of timeless.

Of all the classics to Sierra guess this has been the closest to an official sequel. In 2009 Space Quest Collection was released. There’s also been three game created by fans; Space Quest 0: Replicated, Space Quest: The Lost Chapter and Space Quest IV.5 Roger Wilco and The Voyage Home. I haven’t tried any of them, feel free to comment on whether they are worth my time.

Otherwise it doesn’t look like anything new about the janitor who constantly have to clean up the garbage of the universe, is coming our way. He’s probably sleeping in a closet somewhere until  either a Sarien attack, or large amounts of Buckazoids are thrown Activisions way.

In summary,

It doesn’t look bright for the gaming world’s greatest heroes, no mercy shown and retirement seems to continue. Sierra is in coma, Activision seems to have no interest in it and the small attempts at continuation are shameful Larry games which is nothing close to the old. Fan-made games are small thrills, but it’s just not quite the same. I hope our heroes return, but it’s probably not until Activision sees that there is money to be made.

Meanwhile, we’ll enjoy ourselves with the old games. If you haven’t tried them, check them out. WOW can certainly wait a few hours while real games are tested. If you know something more about our dear heroes, feel free to tip in the comment-section.

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