Quest
for Glory V: Dragon Fire
Review by Kristophe
March 2006
"Game publishing decisions are being made by marketing
research and committees. No one seems to be saying 'How do we
entertain people in a way that no one has seen before?' Companies
are competing based on 'Who has the prettiest graphics?' instead
of on 'Who can build a game that is incredibly fun to play?'"
Sierra Founder/CEO, Ken Williams, Adventure
Classic Gaming interview dated March 28, 2006.
Those very thoughts were the mainstay of Sierra's gaming and business
philosophy ever since Ken Williams started On-Line Systems (later
to become Sierra Online) back in 1979. It was a philosophy that
would produce some of the finest games ever made, from the earliest,
Mystery House (1980), all the way through to S.W.A.T.
3 (1999). Of all the Sierra classics (and I've played almost
all of them at one time or another), it was the Quest for Glory
series of gamesauthored by the very talented team of Corey
and Lori Colethat I most dearly loved. And, needless to say,
of the five games that comprised the Quest for Glory series,
it was Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire that proved to be (in
my opinion) the best of the best (unfortunately, it was also slated
to become the last game of the series as well).
The game opens with you as the ever-wandering "Hero"
(you can play either as a thief, a magic user, a fighter, or a paladin)
being summoned by your old friend (the wizard Erasmus) to Silmaria,
nestled within the enchanting island of Marete, where turmoil and
trouble abound. It seems that the King of Silmaria was recently
assassinated, Marete is under both foreign invasion and involved
in a war with the Tritons, and a number of related and sinister
events have or will be occurring. These events indicate some really
dastardly and nefarious plans are underway even as you and a few
other heroes get ready to compete in the Rites of Rulershipa
series of tasks that will determine just who the next king of Silmaria
will be. And if that wasn't enough to daunt most heroes, in this
particular game the designers decided you'd been a bachelor for
too long and are doing their level best to "hook you up"
with a bride.
One of the nice things about any of the Sierra classic series of
games is the fact that you do not have to play through the entire
series to get a feel for the games. The Quest for Glory series
is typical of the kind of games Sierra put outthe graphics
would hardly be called "top-notch" by any stretch of the
imagination when compared to the kinds of graphics we see in the
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivions of today; however, the excellent
storyline, memorable characters, and capricious humorcoupled
with some minor new innovations (e.g., swimming and pickpocket skills
were unique to the game, while the skills of "weapon use/parry
and dodge" were simplified to "offense" and "defense")
and finalized with its legendary musical soundtrack as composed
by Chance Thomas and performed by the Salt Lake City Session Orchestra
(and a few other musicians)more than make up for anything
the graphics lack. And while the musical score is legendary, the
same (unfortunately) could hardly be said for the voice acting (of
course, there wasn't a "Voice Actor's Guild" back in those
days, either). Compounding some of the technical issues with the
game are poor camera control with no zoom feature (which can be
very critical to a point-and-click type of game) and the lack of
any kind of quest log to remind you where you left off in your last
play session.
Though the world of Silmaria is not overly large, the continuing
and updated series of eventscoupled with that fact that you
have quests in game that are unique to the type of Hero you choose
to playensure that gameplay ran at a continually smooth and
interesting pace. Then there are the Easter eggs and the rather
slapstick (albeit sometimes risqué) humor and situations
that kept me laughing throughout the game, and, as indicated above,
the soundtrack. The music contributes greatly to the overall gaming
experienceso much so that I even ordered the separate CD soundtrack
for the game from Sierra (which I still listen tomy favorite
track being "The Dance of Mystery and Intrigue"). Interestingly
enough, the game runs smoothly on my present computer system (which
is hardly an old system)I've never had to use DOSBox to continue
enjoying the same gameplay now as I had originally done some eight
years ago.
As an interesting sidenote, Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire was
not originally meant to be. When Sierra released Quest for Glory
IV: Shadows of Darkness back in 1993 as one of the earliest
PC game "talkies," it didn't do as well as expected due
to the numerous flaws and bugs inherent with venturing into new
territory gamingwise. It was only when fans of the series realized
that it was ending and began their obviously successful campaign
for another game from Sierra that Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
came into being. Sierra shipped it as a single-player game only,
with plans to ship a multiplayer version of the game at a later
date. Unfortunately, that never came about, as Yosemite Entertainment
(the game's developer and a subsidiary of the Sierra On-Line family)
shut down operations in early 1999. Incidentally, should anyone
happen to ever find a reasonably good copy of this game in any given
bargain bin, I'd highly recommend you snatch it up immediately.
The last time I checked, Amazon.com had five copies of it available,
ranging in price from $37 on up (I've seen it go as high as $70).
Be that as it may, whenever I become bored with the currently available
gaming fare and want to be entertained, inevitably I pull out my
Quest for Glory V disk
I still get the same sheer
pleasure and gaming satisfaction playing today as I did when the
game was new. Some might call it timelessI like to think this
particular game fits into the old adage that, "like a fine
cask of wine, gentlemen just get better with age." Thank you,
Corey and Lori Cole (and Sierra)! 
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The Verdict
The Lowdown
Developer: Yosemite Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra
Release Date: November 30, 1998
Available for: 
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System Requirements
Windows:
Windows 95/98
Pentium 166 MHz (200 MHz preferred)
6x CD-ROM drive (8x preferred)
32 MB RAM
350 MB free hard disk space
SVGA 640x480 at 16-bit high color (DirectX-compatible)
DirectX-compatible sound card for audio
Macintosh:
120 MHz Power Macintosh
System 7.5 or higher
32 MB RAM
465 MB free hard disk space
16-bit video
6x CD-ROM drive
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