Quest for Glory III: Wages of War
Encyclopedia
Quest for Glory III: Wages of War is a hybrid adventure
/role-playing video game
released in 1992 for the MS-DOS
PC
and Apple Macintosh. It is the sequel to Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
.
Quest for Glory II hinted that Ad Avis would return in this installment of the Quest for Glory
series. However, the game begins by just hinting at the whereabouts of Ad Avis and saving that particular plotline for the next game in the series, Quest for Glory IV.
environment that mimics the central African
ecosystem
.
Tarna is on the brink of war; the Simbani, the tribe of Uhura, are ready to do battle with the Leopardmen. Each enemy has stolen a sacred relic from the other tribe and refused to return it before the other does. The Hero must prevent the war and then thwart a demon who may be loosed upon the world.
The Hero earns membership in the warring tribes, and leads his newfound allies into battle against the demon wizard. As soon as the battle is won, the Hero suddenly disappears into darkness.
. In the finale of the previous game a Warrior character who has proved honorable enough is named 'Paladin' by Rakeesh, and can be imported to Quest for Glory III as such.
However, any saved character of any other class can be imported as a Paladin as well, preserving all of his skills acquired in the previous games. Such system allows to create a cross-class characters, so that Paladin for instance can use his own specific abilities along with the spells intended for Magic User without any penalties.
The Magic User character is given the opportunity to create a magical staff. While it is summoned, the player can't move and retain the staff, but the spells don't cost mana points (yet their skills don't raise either).
As for Thieves, the game's reliance on combat and tests of physical strength leave this character underdeveloped in this sequel. Furthermore, Quest for Glory III is the only game in the series to feature neither a single house to steal from in the main town nor a Thieves' Guild in general in which the Thief can fence stolen goods, hone his skills, and upgrade his equipment.
In a departure from the first two games, Quest for Glory III features an "overworld" viewscreen where all important cities and landmarks are represented in miniature. While traveling from one landmark to another, time passes rapidly, and the player is prone to random encounters, most of which are hostile. The stealthy Thief character is less prone to these encounters. Some random encounters are not hostile, and others are downright silly yet nevertheless helpful in one way or another, such as the Awful Waffle Walker (meant to save the Hero from starvation), and Arne the Aardvark (possible to question for hints).
Each Quest For Glory title usually had a cameo by a comedian or a comedy team: the designers put Sanford and Son
in this game, as merchants (i.e. junk dealers) in the Tarna marketplace.
It is also possible to randomly meet Stan Laurel
and Oliver Hardy
in the savannah, as French Foreign Legion soldiers.
Due to a programming oversight it is impossible to achieve a perfect score in Quest for Glory III. Also, due to an unforeseen glitch early in the game, it's possible to make the game unwinnable if the player misses a key event.
#192 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
/role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
released in 1992 for the MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and Apple Macintosh. It is the sequel to Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire is the second video game in Sierra's Quest for Glory series, and the sequel to Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero .-Gameplay:...
.
Quest for Glory II hinted that Ad Avis would return in this installment of the Quest for Glory
Quest for Glory
Quest for Glory is a series of hybrid role-playing/adventure computer games designed by Corey and Lori Ann Cole. The series combined humor, puzzle elements, themes and characters borrowed from various legends, puns, and memorable characters, creating a 5-part series of the Sierra stable.Although...
series. However, the game begins by just hinting at the whereabouts of Ad Avis and saving that particular plotline for the next game in the series, Quest for Glory IV.
Plot
Rakeesh the Paladin brings the Hero and Prince of Shapeir to his homeland, Tarna, a jungle and savannaSavanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
environment that mimics the central African
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
.
Tarna is on the brink of war; the Simbani, the tribe of Uhura, are ready to do battle with the Leopardmen. Each enemy has stolen a sacred relic from the other tribe and refused to return it before the other does. The Hero must prevent the war and then thwart a demon who may be loosed upon the world.
The Hero earns membership in the warring tribes, and leads his newfound allies into battle against the demon wizard. As soon as the battle is won, the Hero suddenly disappears into darkness.
Gameplay
Just like the previous installments, this one offers three 'standard' character classes: Warrior, Magic User and Thief. However a 'hidden' class can be opened: a PaladinPaladin (character class)
The Paladin is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and many later computer and pen and paper role-playing games - many of which were influenced by D&D...
. In the finale of the previous game a Warrior character who has proved honorable enough is named 'Paladin' by Rakeesh, and can be imported to Quest for Glory III as such.
However, any saved character of any other class can be imported as a Paladin as well, preserving all of his skills acquired in the previous games. Such system allows to create a cross-class characters, so that Paladin for instance can use his own specific abilities along with the spells intended for Magic User without any penalties.
The Magic User character is given the opportunity to create a magical staff. While it is summoned, the player can't move and retain the staff, but the spells don't cost mana points (yet their skills don't raise either).
As for Thieves, the game's reliance on combat and tests of physical strength leave this character underdeveloped in this sequel. Furthermore, Quest for Glory III is the only game in the series to feature neither a single house to steal from in the main town nor a Thieves' Guild in general in which the Thief can fence stolen goods, hone his skills, and upgrade his equipment.
In a departure from the first two games, Quest for Glory III features an "overworld" viewscreen where all important cities and landmarks are represented in miniature. While traveling from one landmark to another, time passes rapidly, and the player is prone to random encounters, most of which are hostile. The stealthy Thief character is less prone to these encounters. Some random encounters are not hostile, and others are downright silly yet nevertheless helpful in one way or another, such as the Awful Waffle Walker (meant to save the Hero from starvation), and Arne the Aardvark (possible to question for hints).
Each Quest For Glory title usually had a cameo by a comedian or a comedy team: the designers put Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
in this game, as merchants (i.e. junk dealers) in the Tarna marketplace.
It is also possible to randomly meet Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
and Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
in the savannah, as French Foreign Legion soldiers.
Technical information
Wages of War marked the first game in the series to use the VGA graphics engine which would be used for the next game of the series (the fifth, Dragonfire, utilized 3D graphics). Instead of a text parser interface to control the hero, the use of the mouse to point and click was the main input device. Many diehard fans were disappointed with this change, complaining the game was too "restricting" of its options.Due to a programming oversight it is impossible to achieve a perfect score in Quest for Glory III. Also, due to an unforeseen glitch early in the game, it's possible to make the game unwinnable if the player misses a key event.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1993 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#192 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.