Quest for Infamy (Hands-On) (PC) Preview

One of the most important facets in any point-and-click game is the characters and Quest for Infamy does not disappoint in this regard. The characters in the game are silly; they are funny, vibrant and full of life and play to all sorts of stereotypes. The voice acting portrays this excellently with a whole array of world accents voicing every character in the game. It might not seem fitting to have an American-voiced butcher and his wife next door to a theatrical English wizard in the medieval based town, but it is all part of the remarkable charm of the game.

It must be emphasised that the standout voice talent in the game goes to the narrator, who comments with laugh out loud wit whenever taking any point-and-click action, such as picking things up or looking at things, or just his comments during the story on events. Indeed, with all these remarkable voices, it is only a slight shame that the main character, William Roehm, has a fairly bland voice that does not portray his cavalier and swashbuckling nature very well.

His actions through the game, however, do give life to this character. Roehm is not a Guybrush Threepwood who will go down in videogame folklore, but he is a unique take on an anti-hero. Indeed the reason he finds himself in the game's starting town of Volksville is due to his womanising with the daughter of a wealthy Baron and he is not averse to getting into trouble, nor lying, cheating and even killing to get his way out of it.

In fact, the word "Infamy" is well placed in the title because players are able to shape just how 'infamous' Roehm will be by making player controlled decisions. One such example early in the game involves choosing whether a defeated townsperson is allowed to live, or brutally executed. By choosing one particular side, players change how the story plays out as well as NPC's reactions to Roehm in the world.

Speaking of executions, Quest for Infamy is positively adult. There is no shortage of swearing in the game, as well as the previously noted violence, with there being two execution scenes in the space of the opening 20 minutes. However, none of this feels gratuitous and it all adds to the story.

The story in the game is an intriguing one filled with plenty of mystery such as monsters and cults and magic going under the surface and also has plenty of scope for player choice and, thus, replayability. For example, players have the choice very early in the game of one of three classes to align Roehm to, the Rogue, Sorcerer, or Brigand. Each of these classes has their own quests and story and also radically affects combat. The graphics in the game also complement the story with beautiful and varied hand drawn locations and character models that are reminiscent of Monkey Island.

Quest for Infamy is a nostalgic game, but it has modern touches that make it perfectly acceptable to today's players and combat is one such touch. The game employs a turn-based combat system that has players and enemies given a few seconds to choose an action between different sword attack stances, using a magic spell or blocking, with the player either damaging the enemy or more likely missing when first starting out. Each of these are tied to specific stats and it encourages stats to be built up through battles as there is a tangible benefit, with deaths in battle at the start of the game a very regular occurrence.

Along those lines, it should be noted that Quest for Infamy is not a game that holds hands too much. Despite the modern allowances of a clean, easy item and inventory interface and save system, the game sparks memories of all the hardest adventure games of the past. There are no quest markers and players are encouraged to search every inch of a large world, which requires a very observant eye.

New players to the genre are also warned, the game will allow death outside of combat just by interacting with something dangerous, forcing a return to a previous save. Additionally, the game will also allow crucial items to be missed or items to be combined incorrectly that will render quests unfinishable. It is, therefore, advisable to follow the developer's sound advice to "save early and save often."