King's Quest VIII: Mask Of Eternity Developer: In-house Publisher: Sierra Category: 3D Adventure System Req: P266, 64Mb Ram, 400Mb HD, D3D/3dfx card, Win95/98 Might look like: KQ in 3D! Date posted: 18 April '99 Written By: Bjorn - This game was tested on P166, 32mb Ram, Voodoo Graphics, Win95 - A little Introduction In a time long ago, magic and myth is embodied in every living creature roaming the world. Unicorns graze in forest meadows, wizards concoct mystical spells and kings and queens manage thriving kingdoms. In the kingdom of Daventry, inhabitants enjoy peace and prosperity under the rule of the majestic King Graham. But one day, the kingdom's serenity turns to disorder. An evil being takes up quarters in the sacred sanctity of the Mask of Eternity - the global icon of truth, light and order. With arms thrust upward, he summons a dark spell. The skies darken and bolts of lightning converge on the temple. With a powerful burst, the mask explodes into pieces that fall to the world below. Meanwhile, in Daventry, a young townsperson named Connor is about to become the most important person in the world's history. As the Mask of Eternity rains down on the land, one piece lands at Connor's feet. Just as he picks it up, the supernatural spell reaches ground. In a flash, every inhabitant of the beloved kingdom turns to stone. That is, every inhabitant but one. With the sacred mask piece in hand, Connor is somehow protected from the consequences of the omen. Playing the role of Connor, you must gather strength and courage and set out on the ultimate quest: reseat the Mask of Eternity and restore law, light and order to your world. Only then can global order be restored! The Manual! This adventure game comes with 2 manuals. That's right. Two manuals, one cd insert manual and the other is a straight big sized boy which has approximately 48 pages. The Cd insert one is just 'a quick get started' manual. It has only 5 pages and the sections: Installation, Graphic modes and the Credits are just the ones that are described. This may be useful if you're a gamer that doesn't need all that certain information about a game. But when you play an adenture game it's always better if you read the most important sections. The second manual is big sized. Around 48 pages so I may say that you'll find everything that you want to know about this adventure game. There are some pictures included, however no in-game shots. Instead they (Sierra) has included tons of cool monster pics with a short description. The interface is also well explained with some shots. How it all began It all started back in the year 1984. In that year Roberta Williams' King's Quest was released on the IBM PC and Tandy 1000 computers. That game was the first one that really supported the new EGA color card and it demonstrated the 16-color capabilities of that card. The player directs the game action by text-based commands like 'OPEN DOOR', 'USE KNIFE' and so on. The keyboard arrow keys were used to control the hero's movements on the screen. However, an updated version which was called King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown was released and it allowed the user to use icons instead of those annoying text-based commands. It had also updated graphics and sound so it could keep up with those other games. A year later, in 1985 'King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne' arrived. Again, you played the role of King Graham of Daventry and it was a much bigger hit then the original. Even other designers from the Space Quest series joined the KQ development team. From that time many other King Quest episodes followed but the most impressive King Quest serie was of course episode 5: 'King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder' (from 1990) because it was one of the first adventure games that was put on a CD. The player could also control its character with the mouse and the game itself made the jump to the 256-color VGA graphic resolution. Fifty voice actors were hired, the animations/backgrounds were handpainted and the characters were super fluid. It wasn't a surpise to everyone that King's Quest V was 1 of the best adventure games to date.    After a few more installments the last 'King's Quest, VII (7): The Princeless Bride' which was released back in 1994 didn't really sold good. Some gamers said that it was the worst King's Quest installment ever made and I bet that most of the KQ freaks were really considered about its future. Now after a long silent period, designer and Sierra co-founder, Roberta Williams' is back with the eight installment of her own King's Quest adventure, named 'King's Quest VIII: Mask Of Eternity'. After many years in development this game could be the best King's Quest adventure . Whether Roberta has done her homework or not, we will try to find out in the following, like always, in-depth bits. Installation, just 300Mb! It has been a while since I played a King's Quest game. What I can remember of is that it delivers a 'real' adventure game to the player. Unlike other so-called adventure games the King's Quest installments are well known everywhere. So are the Space Quest series and the Leisure Suit Larry episodes. Now, Sierra has released KQ 8: Mask Of Eternity and I was really interested in reviewing this game because I wanted to know if this eight installment got anything new to offer or not. Beware because when you install this game you can't decide how much MB will be stored on your hard disk. That's a bit annoying since the setup program will install around 300 Mb. So if you just have a 2.1 Gig HD and you have other big-mofo's installed then you might have to erase something vital before you can play this game. Mask of Eternity also needs a swapfile when it loads a new level/world. That's another 100-150 Mb. I suggest that you better purchase a new HD first and then buy this game. :) Just kidding! Next Page Up Previous Page If you want to review your favorite game, or if you work with a computer game company and want your products reviewing, mail info@playdevil.com. All contributions are welcome. Any problems and/or suggestions are always appreciated on webmaster@playdevil.com Nothing of this entire Site, animation & logo's included, may be reproduced, stored, saved, transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, written or otherwise without the prior permission of PlayDevil. Other Logos & Names are Copyrighted Material of its respectful owners. All Rights Reserved. PlayDevil Productions © 199/8-199/9 "rip your own stuff"