Timequest

The Good
Well, for starters, TimeQuest was one of the first adventures by Legend, and one of the best ones as well. It was created by Bob Bates, one of the founders of Legend (who previously worked for Infocom), and one of the most talented adventure designers ever.

TimeQuest has everything in it: intriguing story, rich, literary language, smart puzzles and lots of interaction with surroundings. To explain the general concept, it looks alike other adventure games by Legend that came out in early 90th. These adventures can be described as a mix between IFs and graphical adventures. Along with very smart text parser, they have all the necessary attributes of graphical adventures, like the pictures of the places you visit (the objects on which could be clicked with a mouse to interact with) and the mouse-driven interface, where you can make sentences by making different commands from given verbs and nouns. But, like in any IF, the detailed description of every place you visit is given to you in a great literary language. All in all - one of the most suitable interfaces for adventure games.

In the beginning of the game you find yourself in the near future, in the role of a cop of some sort who works for the Temporal Corps - organization which was created to control time travels (using time machines, of course, which are called "interkrons"). One of your mates, Vettenmyer, being an evil person, decided to put an end to the world by traveling to the past and changing different historical events, so that this'll create a time paradox. Your mission from now on is not only to stop Vettenmyer, but also to repair all the mess the evil guy managed to create.

And that's the beginning. In your journey you'll travel to all six continents, to 6 different countries, from Mexico and Dover to Peking and Rome, in ten time periods beginning from 1361 BC! How do you like this premise?! And more than that, you'll take part in different historical events, like chariot races in Rome or World War II. You will also meet a lot of famous persons, like Ceaser, Cleopatra, Napoleon and Hitler. Yes, the game, apart from its excellent adventure part, also contains a great educational value, as you'll get information on many historical subjects (but, unlike in awful Cryo games, in a very appealing manner).

Puzzles in the game are also very unique and well constructed. Many of them require you to find objects or information for one epoch in the other one, while others are the result of changes in different time periods. Just one example: when you take part in chariot races in Rome, you'll get acquainted with Cleopatra, who was a special guest of Ceaser. The other time you'll meet her in Cairo, she'll remember you and invite to her private apartments... The principle of time changes was used later in a game by Lucas Arts - Day of the Tentacle, but in a much less appealing form, though it's usually considered to be unique (the result of the lack of popularity of Legend games :( ).

The other aspects, like graphics and music, are also very well done. Pictures, while usually motionless, are beautifully drawn, and in-game map is usually also presented like a beautiful picture of the area, being unique for every country you visit. The music is also nice, especially one melody that is played in a small garden with an old bench, which you'll find in Rome - it is so beautiful!

The Bad
Well, I just loved everything about this game. The only things that might frustrate new gamers is a quite high level of difficulty and the lack of graphics-cutscenes (which can't be called a problem by real adventure lovers, only by those who consider Syberia and other similar games "the only true adventure games").

The Bottom Line
The game is a true gem. It has everything to be called an all-time classic and one of the top adventure games ever created. It's just the lack of popularity (as with other Legend games), due to the modern standards that demanded "less words, more graphics". If you want to experience a classical graphic adventure that is played like IF, this one would be the best choice. And if want just to play a great game - TimeQuest is also for you.

The Good
Clearly this is a very clever and original game. On paper all that time-travelling through history sounds amazing. I enjoyed playing it for 5 or 10 minutes, but after that my concentration strayed. Problem is, for my taste it was just too clever.

The Bad
I have simple needs when it comes to gaming. I like adventure games that tell stories, and have characters that you care about and can believe in. Timequest is too dry and humourless, puzzle-driven not plot driven. In fact there is a plot, but its so implausible it doesn't work as a plot, rather it is just a premise for a series of history-themed puzzles. In the end I didnt care what happened, I lost interest, and went and played something else.

The Bottom Line
If you like an intellectual challenge this game is for you, if you like old-time text adventures this game is for you, and if you like games that are intricately structured with complex puzzles, its for you. If not go and play Spellcasting or one of the other more playful Legend games. Personally I prefer them.