Thank you Phoenix Online for sending us this game to review!

I have been a long time fan of Sierra adventure games, but I have not played their popular Quest for Glory series.  Quest for Infamy is obviously inspired by this series and shares many similarities including the retro 90’s look and feel.  Like Quest for Glory, the main character, Rohem, can become a warrior, a mage or a thief.  The main difference between these two games is the main character’s destiny.  Rohem isn’t looking to help anyone but himself and has no need for friendship unless the person is useful or of the opposite sex.

Quest for Infamy begins with Rohem seducing a baron’s daughter and getting caught in the act.  He has to flee for his life and winds up in a small mountain town called Volksville.   After getting acquainted with the townspeople and witnessing a public execution, Rohem can settle in and begin his career path by completing various tasks for his mentor.  

I chose the path of a sorcerer and spent the majority of my time hunting down reagents to learn various spells. Besides destruction spells, there are some handy ones for unlocking or retrieving inaccessible items. In order to learn these spells, Rohem beomes an errand boy for Prospero who runs a magic shop in Volksville.   If you don’t like magic or occult symbolism this job path is not for you.  The magic shop is riddled with mystic items like crystal balls and has a big pentagram rug on the floor.

No matter what path you choose, there will be a lot of fighting, cussing, drinking, and scantily clad ladies (bikini armor).  The narrator and banter between the townspeople is funny, but much of the humor is below the belt.  There is a town bully that picked a fight with me and I had the option to spare or kill him upon his defeat.  Even though the purpose is to be a jerk, I think it’s good that you can still be somewhat nice.

While most of the game is played out as a click and explore adventure game, the battle system is unique.  When exploring outside of town (or fighting the bully within), you’ll get jumped by various undead, feral, or humanoid creatures.  The battle screen gives you various attack maneuvers and you have three seconds to react and choose.   Each monster type is vulnerable to a particular attack and has a tendency to dodge if you spam the same attack over and over.   Upon their defeat you can search their corpse for some money and possibly a health potion.  

Despite being a bit of a villain, you have a few allies who will help you improve your equipment and knowledge.  There is an adventurer in the inn that can give you the run down on the various enemies and their vulnerabilities.  It’s worth a visit to the blacksmith for better armor and Prospero can upgrade your sword to make your attacks stronger too.  

When you’re not fighting you can examine, hit, interact with, or talk to various objects.  The narrator will hilariously tell you when you’re not doing something correctly. Many objects can easily be taken or “borrowed”, but some of the items are harder to see than others.  There were times when I couldn’t figure out how to get to or leave parts of a room or area.  It would have been helpful to have a map of the inside of town in addition to the one available for the outside.

Despite the pixilated appearance, the backdrops and character dialogue images are nicely detailed.  I thought the waterfall scene with the rainbow was pretty.  Although it may not have looked that good, the ability to run this game full screen would have been nice. 

Unfortunately, the audio was a little rough around the edges too.  Some of the voiceovers had some background noise and overly done echoes.  The game’s sound track on the other hand was well done and set the mood nicely.

Those who backed Quest for Infamy on their 2012 Kickstarter were able to get the digital version of the game for $10.  The street price is $19.99 and will surely entertain you for many hours, even more so by completing all of the possible career paths.   Given the mature themes and nature of the jokes, this game should only be played by gamers old enough to appreciate the Sierra classics.  Christians who do not like magic or occult imagery in games would  be best to avoid this title altogether.