Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail

The Good
"Can't you see, all around you, the Dragon's Breath?"...

The Bad
That last Skill Point that I still can't find after all these years. It's probably a bug, or you have to defeat the Saracen without getting hit, which I gave up trying ages ago! :-D

The Bottom Line
Out of Sierra’s golden age comes this somewhat overlooked, but memorable to those who have played it, adventure. The game takes us in the court of Camelot, where the secret lust of Queen Gwenhyver and Sir Launcelot has placed a curse upon the land. All will turn to ashes and dust unless the Holy Grail is retrieved. The kingdom’s greatest knights, Sir Gawaine, Sir Launcelot and Sir Galahad left to fulfil the task. Alas, they never returned. We, as King Arthur, now have the duty to take over the quest of finding the Grail, and also rescue the three knights. Arthur’s mentor, Merlin the wizard, will assist us from afar through a spirit link. During our search we will travel to enchanted places of mystery and dark secrets, face grave dangers and interact with extraordinary personalities.

“Conquests of Camelot: The search for the Grail” is one of the last games by Sierra to utilize the parser interface. We have to type short commands in order to do things. Conveniently, there are some shortcuts that save time (e.g. ctrl+a is ‘ask about’). The graphics were great for the time and they are still tolerable today. This is because they are well drawn, sharply defined and colorful. The game also features an inspired musical score. Melodious themes, for several occasions and places, play a supporting and sometimes dominating role, adding a lot to the atmosphere.

This adventure uses an interesting triadic score system. Skill points reward correct actions and successful battles, wisdom points are offered for knowledge use and enrichment. Finally soul points benefit ethical integrity and generosity. To make progress in all of these sectors we have to thoroughly inspect the areas we visit, inquire answers from Merlin and the characters we meet, and make the right decisions. The playing length is not very large, but it is definitely satisfying. Also, striving for missed points amplifies replay value. The manual is necessary for playing without problems, as it contains answers to basically copy protection questions that will appear during the game in the form of trials.

The weakest aspect of the title is the quality of the puzzles. Unfortunately, they lack the necessary complexity and challenge and can be characterized as shallow. When they are solved, they rarely cause that, well known to adventurers, special feeling of accomplishment. This is one the few areas where more effort and thought should have been applied. The game does its best to make up for this through some brilliant arcade sequences. In these we get to use our spear, lance and sword to vanquish our foes. The highlight is the final duel with the awesome Saracen. There are three levels of arcade difficulty that yield a different amount of skill points accordingly.

The game deals with the Arthurian tale in a deep and serious fashion. Designer Christy Marx researched myth, history and religion issues during the making of the game. The combination of various legends and traditions, along with the persistence to detail make an authentic and involving environment for the player. “Conquests of Camelot: The search for the Grail” deserves a place in our collection. Everyone with the desire for a nostalgic glance at the past of adventure gaming should unreservedly try it.

The Good
I always loved Arthurian themes and this game was a great discovery, everything is very accurate and remains very faithful to the Arthurian myth. The use of Olde-English in the dialogues is also a great point. The fact of having to achieve certain actions and good deeds to obtain the Holy Grail was also very interesting to me. The graphics were real good for being only 16, i liked a lot the maps of Europe and Britannia and some of the backgrounds.

The Bad
Maybe there were too much dead-ends like in a lot of Sierra adventures, the copy protection puzzles were a bit annoying (i hope we see an amateur-remake in VGA someday and this could be removed and changed to some similar puzzles)

The Bottom Line
If you are an adventure game enthusiast and enjoy reading King Arthur adventures this is definitely your game.

The Good
The feature that most distinguishes Conquests of Camelot from other Sierra games of the period is that you (via King Arthur, your in-game cypher) are required to partake in many more challenges than simply solving item-manipulation puzzles. At one point you must slay wild boar; at another, you're dueling with a saracen; at still another, you're jousting. This, coupled with a fairly logical puzzle system, makes Conquests of Camelot a gem worth seeking out if you can configure your system to support it.

The Bad
The one feature that is guaranteed to irritate a fair number of gamers are the riddles. At one point, Arthur must solve a number of riddles to advance. If you cannot answer even one, you're stuck. Luckily, the riddles themselves rotate, so if you're stuck on one, leave the screen and return to get a new, possibly easier one.

The Bottom Line
King Arthur must venture out to recover the Holy Grail. Along the way, he undergoes a variety of challenges, physical, mental and spiritual, that make up the core of the gameplay. Imagine King's Quest with combat and a semi-historical flavoring and you've got the core of Conquests of Camelot.