Review Fix chats with “Quest for Infamy†co-creator Shawn Mills, who discusses the sense of humor and creative influences behind the nifty new PC dungeon crawler. A fan of dungeon crawling classics the likes of “Quest for Glory,†as well as TV show such as “Futurama,†“Quest for Infamy†is drenched in nostalgia while maintaining enough modern humor and gameplay innovation to attract new gamers.
For more information on the game, head to the “Quest For Infamy” official site, here.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for the game?
Shawn Mills: Adventure games in the late ’80s and early ’90s. “Quest for Glory†in particular was an inspiration for the way it melded adventure games with RPG’s, so that’s what we’ve tried to emulate.
Review Fix: What games did you play growing up?
Mills: Anything from Sierra, plus a few LucasArts games thrown in there too! I loved the Space Quest games in particular and the original Quest for Glory is as close to a perfect game as you can get, it just does everything right! Outside of the PC, I had a classic Atari 2600 (the original black with wooden trim version) and I had all the classics on that, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Ghostbusters, Pitfall and about a million others.
Review Fix: How did they influence this game in any way?
Mills: The adventure games were a huge influence of course, the marriage of RPG and adventure game elements in the Quest for Glory series would top that list, but then the humour of Space Quest games is a big influence too. There’s something amazingly funny about the narrator in Space Quest IV who is self-deprecating but also charming, and of course he gives Roger Wilco a hard time if the player screws things up.
Review Fix: Why do you think Dungeon Crawlers have endured for so long?
Mills: Because they’re fun.
Review Fix: How long do you expect this game to keep the average gamer busy?
Mills: It’s hard to give a playtime on this game because there’s so much stuff they simply don’t have to do to finish the game, so let’s just say “many many hours.â€
Review Fix: How do the characters play differently from one another?
Mills: Most puzzles or plot points in the game have a different way to deal with it, depending on your class. As an example if you wanted to get over a locked gate, the rogue might grappling hook and get himself over that way, the brigand might just bash that gate down but the sorcerer might cast his “Float on a Cloud” spell and just float over the gate. Plus of course all the characters would simply climb the gate too. So while the main story is the same for all three classes, the way you do things changes.
Review Fix: Where do you guys get your sense of humor from?
Mills: My dad! And books! I’m majorly influenced by Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) and all that off-beat humour that he did so well. Things like Monty Python, Red Dwarf, Futurama – all of that sort of anti-establishment, quirky stuff. Plus I’m always partial to a good fart joke!
Review Fix: What do you think stands out the most about this game?
Mills: That it’s fun. People will remember that these sorts of games were fun and younger players will learn why there’s still so many people who love them.
Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this game the most?
Mills: People around my age (mid-30s) who grew up when adventure games were King.
Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?
Mills: As a sexy, very old man who was loved by everyone.
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