The Doom that Came to Mordavia: Let’s Play Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
Shadows of Darkness is the fourth Quest for Glory game. It is a journey into the land of Mordavia – a setting influenced by Eastern Europe, particularly its Slavic areal. The hero had just begun to enjoy his victory in Tarna, when a spell zapped him into parts unknown, without a weapon, items, or even a source of light. Shortly after finding his way out of the dark cave, the hero meets a mysterious woman named Katrina. He traverses the swamps in the dark forest and finally reaches the town. However, the town is also engulfed by a foreboding atmosphere, and the hero cannot allow himself to relax. He must find out what is going on, why the town inhabitants are so hesitant and reluctant to help him, and what horrors are lurking outside of its walls. Life has never been quite so dangerous for our hero. He’ll discover his quest soon enough – that is, if he lives. ~Mobygames
Quest for Glory IV features far darker themes while maintaining the humor of previous games through such methods as incorporating Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre parodies. Revolving around a dark cult summoning an unfathomably large evil, the game was a far cry from earlier villains such as Baba Yaga. Additionally, the undead and Lovecraftian monsters differed significantly from the lighter monsters of earlier games (there were, however, vampiric rabbits reminiscent of Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Moreover, to fight the new monsters, Quest for Glory IV implemented an entirely new fighting system. While sometimes criticized as clunky, the new system was undeniably different.
The CD-ROM version of Quest for Glory IV is the first game in the series to feature voice actors and an audible narrator, John Rhys-Davies. Additionally, the game featured a largely original sound track by Aubrey Hodges – although it did feature a reprise of the Hero’s Theme from previous games and a rendition of “Anitra’s Dance” by Edvard Grieg which played as background music in the Hotel Mordavia.
According to an InterAction magazine article, John Rhys-Davies’ part took more than three weeks to record, causing him to refer to the game as the “CD-ROM from Hell”.
The dub of a trio of local farmers is conspicuous for its emphasis on quips and banter, and its indifference to what actually reads on their text boxes. ~Wikipedia
Much of the humor shines through the voice acting on the CD version. Several characters are parodies of famous actors – other than Boris Karloff, the thief guild leader looks like Peter Lorre, and the townspeople all have voices and speech patterns based off Rodney Dangerfield and Jack Nicholson. The narrator’s voice is provided by John Rhys Davis – famous for his role as Sallah in the Indiana Jones movies, and Ghimli in the Lord of the Rings films – and while he has some fun with certain lines, it’s a bit on the dry side.
The music in the Quest for Glory games has usually been pretty decent, but there’s been little outside of the title themes or battle songs that really stood out. In contrast, Shadow of Darkness’ soundtrack is particularly spectacular, especially with its battle themes and beautiful rock ballads. Although it could’ve benefitted from real guitar instrumentation, the MIDI music – even on the weak Adlib synth – is pretty damn good, and easily up next to Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, as the best Sierra soundtrack. ~Hardcore Gaming 101
This is my favorite game of all time. Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger can suck on eggs. I love this thing. ~Me
Box Front
Box Back
If you’ve forgotten who are hero is you can catch his adventures here:
Quest For Glory: So You Want to be A Hero
Quest For Glory 2: Trials by Fire
Quest for Glory III: Wages of War
Sadly, I’ve had quite a bit of computer trouble between now and the last LP and the saved file for our dear Garcon Perseii Jackson Danar Seepgood, Magister Esoterica of the Third Eye, Lord of Keys, Hero of Spielburg, Prince of Shapier, Savior of Raseir, and the Glory of Tarna has been lost.
This is what he looked like last we saw him:
Are you ready to enter the dark lands?
Some Background
For those of you who don’t remember or can’t be bothered to go through my previous Let’s Plays in the Quest for Glory series, here is Garcon’s story so far:
In the beginning, Perseii a no account wandering hero of no reputation showed up in Spielburg, a valley that had been cursed for many years. The Baron of the valley tried to drive away the Ogress, Baba Yaga, he failed and she cursed him. The curse robbed the baron of his his son and daughter. The realm was overrun with brigands and monsters, and the Baron locked himself away in his castle. That’s when Jackson showed up. He became friends with the innkeepers, Kattas names Shameen and Shema. He also got to know their merchant friend, Abdulla Doo. He also met such people as Zara, the owner of the Magic Shop,the Wizard Erasmus and his rat-like familiar Fenrus. He traveled to many interesting places, encountering many new forms of flora and fauna which he promptly killed. It was in Spielburg that Danar first learned of the great Archmage Erana,and even found her meadow, believed to be her final resting place…
He freed an enchanted bear, who turned out to be the Baron of Spielburg’s lost son, Barnard. By spying
on brigand’s int he valley he learned of a plot to overthrow their leader and then found a way into their forest fortress snuck his way to the leader’s room, and dispelled the enchantment on her. The leader was, in reality, the Baron’s daughter, Elsa. After leaving the fortress, the Hero made a visit to, Baba Yaga and drove her from the land.
After freeing Spielburg of the Ogress’ curse, our hero, Seepgood, travelled to the desert realm of Shapeir, with the Kattas and Abdulla Doo. The Emir of Raseir had disappeared a year ago, and a portent of evil hung over the entire realm. Garcon made new friends in this desert realm, including the Liontaur Paladin, Rakeesh, the warrior woman, Uhura, and the Enchantress Aziza. Using his wits and some magic Perseii saved the city from the ravages of four Elementals, and freed the spirit of the tree healer, Julanar.
After saving the city of Shapeir, he traveled to Raseir, where he made himself known to the city’s criminal underbelly before eventually being captured and hypnotized by the evil Wizard, Ad Avis, and taken to the Forbidden City, to obtain the Statue of Iblis, which Ad Avis intended to use to take over the world. After escaping the tomb with the help of a genie, Danar assaulted the Palace and knocked Ad Avis off the balcony of the Ritual Chamber. For his actions, in Shapeir and Raseir, Jackson was adopted by the Sultan Harun al-Rashid, and became the Prince of Shapeir.
Shortly after this victory, Rakeesh’s wife, Kreesha, called him back to his homeland of Tarna. There was talk of war between two native tribes in his homeland and it was believed only Rakeesh could prevent the conflict. Rakeesh brought the Prince of Shapeir and Uhura with him to Tarna in the land of Fricana. Seepgood met more colorful people here, including Salim the Apothecary, Yesufu the Simbani Warrior, and Johari the Leopardwoman. Through his usual mix of magic, charm, and quick fingers Garcon brought peace between thetribes by returning their sacred artifacts, and travelled to the Lost City of Eastern Fricana to put an end to the Demons that caused the war.
But after defeating the demons, his doppleganger, and a demonic wizard our hero was summoned away to places unknown by dark magicks!
And using a little dark magic of my own, here’s Garcon:
And here is the introduction to the Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness:
And here we are welcome to… somewhere?
Our inventory:
Our money, not much:
Our magic:
The Let’s Play starts next week!
