It should have been Christmas of 1991 that I discovered House Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers beneath the tree, and bought the present of seeing thrilling new prospects in video games.
I used to be a fan of journey video games, certain, having performed a number of video games in Sierra’s King’s Quest sequence, to not point out Lucasfilm’s sensible and weird early titles like Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island. However this was my first expertise with House Quest, Sierra’s comedic sci-fi sequence starring Roger Wilco, the hapless space-janitor who finds himself thrust into one cosmic misadventure after one other.
To be trustworthy, I don’t keep in mind a lot concerning the high quality of House Quest IV’s puzzles. What I do keep in mind is how various and vibrant its universe appeared, with harsh alien worlds, moody cantinas, and glitzy space-malls. However what actually knocked my socks off concerning the sport was how meta it was. After progressing a bit by means of House Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers itself, poor Roger finds himself flung into (the non-existent) House Quest XII: Vohaul’s Revenge II.
At present, it’s not so unusual for video games to interrupt the fourth wall and wink knowingly on the participant about being video video games, to play with conventions in methods each drained and impressed. However wow, was this thrilling for me in 1991! The sport additionally sees you venturing into House Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros (an apparent riff on the 1986 Infocom journey Leather-based Goddesses of Phobos) and all the best way again to the unique House Quest, which already seemed humorously primitive and pixelated in comparison with 1991’s state-of-the-art graphics, making excessive(er)-definition Roger Wilco all of the extra conspicuous.
House Quest IV might or might not be an excellent sport, I truthfully don’t keep in mind nicely sufficient to say. I simply keep in mind sitting there on my Christmas break, awestruck by the intelligent meta-ness of all of it, and having my thoughts expanded concerning the prospects of what online game storytelling and construction may do.
Carolyn Petit, Managing Editor