Game reviews

The fourth in the Quest for Glory series, this game was originally envisaged as the third game in the series. But its dark theme and powerful enemy combined to create a formidable adventure for the hero, and Lori and Corey Cole have this to say on the subject:

In the opinion of many game players, Shadows of Darkness is one of the best in the QfG series. Its adventure game aspects, as well as the combat system, combine to provide the player with truly challenging puzzles, along with a riveting storyline. The characters are richly portrayed, with the voices giving a delicious extra much appreciated by players. The excellent John Rhys-Davies is a constant in the game as the narrator, and his dark-as-Mordavian-molasses voice will forever be associated with the often hilarious, albeit dark, in-game narration.

The game is set in Mordavia, a dark and cursed land. Mysterious things have been happening, and the hero finds himself yanked there without explanation, trapped inside an unlit cave with most of his possessions gone. As he finds his way out, and begins to experience the dangers and troubles of the land, he realises he was brought there for a purpose – in pursuit of an old enemy, and to help the extremely suspicious and unfriendly Mordavians. The three wise guys in the Inn don't exactly welcome him… Neither does the Burgomeister. But the hero has his hands too full to worry about being the "most loved visitor". There's a feuding couple to reconcile; a seductive maiden in a lake to resist; a Gypsy in trouble to help; an old foe from Spielburg to deal with; a stand-up comedian (gnome) to help with his lost "humour bar", life-draining wraiths to confront, treasures to find, a swamp full of deadly hands to negotiate, a comely wench called Katrina to meet, night-visions of the great "paladin in all but name" Erana to dream, a domovoi to aid, a dreadful monastery of the cult of the Dark Ones to confront, a mad doctor to encounter, a gravestone-carver with odd bits of information to befriend, a grieving widower to soothe, a lost child to find, a faery queen to defeat, an overwhelming sense of dread to deal with, mysterious "signs" and scrolls to collect, and finally… the power of the Dark One to fight.

It's romance… it's mystery… it's danger… it's a collection of mighty deeds… it's heroism, love, power, hope, and the lot. The Slavic ambience is beautifully rich, and the storyline is gripping, with the puzzles skilfully woven into the story itself. Whichever class the hero chooses to be (the start of the game gives him the options of fighter, thief, magician, or paladin), there's plenty to do and much to see. The story's puzzles are solved in different ways according to the class chosen.

The one negative: upon its first release, QfG4 was riddled with problems and bugs. To this day, without the fan-made help of the NewRisingSun patch, and DosBox, the game would be almost impossible to play on newer computers. The notorious Error 52 is perhaps the most infamous of the bugs, but by no means the only one. Thankfully, these errors are now a thing of the past, thanks to the patch created by NewRisingSun. Playing the game within DosBox also helps several other problems, and provides the ideal environment for playing Shadows of Darkness.

This is a superb game, likely to appeal to all who enjoyed the Gabriel Knight games.