Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail

The Good
It's more mature than Roberta Williams' King's Quest games, including the slightly adult comedy, which I think is often quite clever (to get the comedy you sometimes have to be clever or lucky enough to think of the correct line to type). I like the semi-historical, semi-mythological/religious content and that it's set in the "west"(England) and "east"(Israel), there doesn't appear to be much bias, though part of the ending arguably shows a Christian bias. I'd say that the problem solving and battles are challenging, but not excessively so(except for the Saracen) and to balance the difficulty, the game is quite short.

The game has a serious feel, but is balanced by Merlin's comedy and the history, mythology and religion being sometimes taken lightly. Christy Marx has arguably put a kind of feminism in the game, as King Arthur you often have to prove yourself to females, including the goddess Aphrodite, to progress in your quest for the holy grail. Whether it's really feminist or not, it makes the game stand out, especially in its time. I also like that there is a blurring of good and evil, friend and foe e.g in Guinevere, Lancelot, The Lady of the Lake, Aphrodite and her servants etc.

The Bad
The Saracen knight, who serves as the game's final boss, and the battle system you have to learn to beat him. I like the knight himself, he's presented as an honorable foe, but I can't say I enjoyed the challenge of learning the attack and defense, swordfighting system, defeating him was just too long and draining.

I think in the main, the game isn't preachy, though you're told that you must be "perfect" to acquire the grail ("perfect" is revealed to mean a strong fighter, clever and charitable/sacrificial) I think the game's story is presented as mythological, not too serious and there's some suggestion that the gods themselves aren't perfect. But there is one part that I think crosses the line, the part concerning the thief of Jerusalem and the way you or the grail itself deals with him. The thief appears comedic, he's dressed in only a loin cloth and turban, but his fate isn't very comedic even though the way the grail deals with him should be expected, the grail is supposed to expect perfection. But I think this part leaves a particularly bad taste right at the end, you appear to be serving a rather cruel and unforgiving god.

The Bottom Line
So it's fantasy like King's Quest, but more mature and adult and quite a bit better in my opinion. It has faults, but probably an above average Sierra adventure.

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
A review I read before buying, said the game was the best production of Sierra for 1990. I realised why.

The game can stand next to each other Sierra games and be judged as superior, almost for all its aspects. It's a real, serious, epic production, encompassing many elements that will satisfy the player. There is much travelling to many places, battles, choices to be made (affecting the course of the play), and much lore.

The graphics are really exceptional compared to the main corpus of Sierra. The sprites are richly animated, and there is much interaction with them (eg. you can kiss Gwynevere before leaving). The introductory scenes are well drawn, and resemble those that will be used in the cutscenes, much later in the Sierra VGA games.

The game is really atmospherical. Not only due to the graphics (I noted some anachronisms), but mainly because of the descriptions and dialogues. The messages are not the 'narrator's speech', but Merlin who communicates with you telepathically. All descriptions are supposedly personal views and knowledge of Merlin. Some scenes contain many objects and if you examine them, you will get immersive folkloric knowledge.

Interactivity is also rich. Almost everything you will try (like the F... word to people) will give you Merlin's appropriate reply. The designers have tried to predict as much of your thoughts as possible, often surprising you.

The game design also presents some differences. Here it's not easy to overlook something needed much later. Some choices you can make (Eg. not saving Lancelot, or giving the hag money instead of the artifact she wants) will affect something much later, but they are things that you know they are wrong, made only deliberately. In cases you will overlook or lose an artifact, its use would be only to make your life easier. The point where you will need it, you can also pass by trial and error

The soundtrack is one of the first I loved in games. I remember myself recording medieval melodies in my tape recorder!! So atmospheric that will put you in the position you should be. Medieval Britain, or the oriental Jerusalem, themusic is what you want to hear to put you in Arthur's shoes.

Last but not least, the package of the game is also one of the best I have seen. The box is beautifully drawn. It contains an also beautiful map of Europe (I am not not to decide it's historical accuracy), and an also beautiful manual, book of lore with information both educative, and useful (copy protection is based on it).

The Bad
People seem to dislike only one thing in this game: The riddles. Indeed the creator is overconcerned about piracy. Not only she gives a moral lecture on it in the manual, but there are also 3 points in the game where you will need to consult your manual for folk lore. Personally, after I grew up, I could solve them without help, because of my personal knowledge but the problem exists.

There is also a point where you must solve 'guess what' riddles, not with knowledge of the manual. This is indeed a hard part, and sometimes even today I get stuck. However you can exit and re-enter the screen to try for an easier random set of riddles.

There was another thing I didn't like. The game is called Conquests of Camelot. Not only Camelot is seen only in the start, but the game has nothing to do with the conquests, the reign, the history, enemies or victories of Camelot. After a point the game changes feel and atmosphere, and you forget the Arthurian concept altogether and start learning lore and explore catacombs. The game for the most part is not more Arthurian than any other medieval game is. It could be called 'Medieval Indiana Jones' and still be credible.

Well, a tiny part that I didn't like are some historical inaccuracies. AFAIK the labarum was never a symbol of Mithras.

The Bottom Line
This game is an ideal travel to the middle-ages, a taste of the spirit and folklore of those times, when the old and new world coexisted. Just 'look at' everything you see.. Travel many places, battle with foes, read about legends of medieval england, and you will experience a rich, full and satisfying adventure.