SPACE QUEST: VOHAUL STRIKES BACK
REVIEW
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YEAR: 2011
SIZE: 348 MB
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PLATFORMS: Windows, Linux, Mac
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+ Well-written story
+ Wonderful music
+ Excellent humour
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- None
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STORY
Roger Wilco, and his girlfriend Beatrice, are relaxing on a nice, romantic
holiday on the planet Romanticon VII. It’s a wonderful place to unwind.
Roger knows that Beatrice is the woman he will spend the rest of his
life with. So when Beatrice tells him she’s pregnant, he’s over the
moon! However, he’s reluctant to marry Beatrice. Why, you may ask?
He loves her… she loves him. What’s the problem? Well, after events
from Space Quest IV (when he met his future son), he fears that
Beatrice will die after they marry, and of course, he doesn‘t want that
to happen. So he does what he can to avoid the subject of marriage,
and just enjoy their holiday together.
Until, that is, they get a surprise visitor. An ape-man has tracked the
lovers down, and tells them that Roger’s arch nemeses Sludge Vohaul
is back from the dead, and is planning on destroying another galaxy.
Beatrice wants to let StarCon handle the situation… but Roger insists
on going after Vohaul himself.
Beatrice is, understandably, rather miffed that Roger dragged her away
from their romantic holiday because of this. And she’s even angrier
when they are shot down and crash-land on Radon - the ice planet
where Vohaul is hiding. But as they explore the planet, they discover
that the planet’s inhabitants - the Furkunz (a distant cousin of the
Pinkunz from SQII, perhaps?) have been forced to hide underground.
What’s more, then Vohaul finds them, they’re forced to work in his
mine and fix his drill. Those poor little Furkunz! And things only get
worse, when Beatrice is kidnapped.
Can Roger put a stop to Vohaul’s evil plans? Can he save the Furkunz?
Can he save the love of his life? Can he prevent the destruction of an
entire galaxy? Can he even stay alive? There’s only one way to find out!
　
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GAMEPLAY
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Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back is a wonderful fan game created by
Team VSB, and it really does justice to the Space Quest series. It takes
place after Space Quest 6, so you could think of it as a kind of unofficial
Space Quest 7. But it pulls in bits and pieces from all the previous
games, and ties things up nicely. The game is long - probably longer
than the official SQ games, and has a lot of love poured into it.
The Main Menu has an optional ‘Watch Recap’ video, which highlights
Roger’s adventures up to this point. And when you begin a New Game,
you can choose to watch the intro, or skip it. You can also skip the intro
by pressing ‘Esc’.
You interact with Roger’s world via a drop-down menu (just move you
mouse to the top of the screen to see it), and click on icons to control
Roger. The icons are Walk, Pick Up, Talk, and Look. There is also a
backpack, which represents your Inventory. Items in your Inventory can
be manipulated. For example, you can open or close things, or even
combine items together, to create a new item. The computer chip
takes you to the game menu, and from here, you can Save, Restore,
Restart, or Quit. You can also adjust the volume and speed to suit your
own preference.
Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back has the same handy ‘Try Again’
feature that SQVI did.
The Space Quest games are known for their hilarious Death Scenes,
and Team VSB have not let us down here. So when Roger dies (and he
can die a lot, hehe), the ‘Try Again’ feature takes you back to just before
he dies, and let‘s you… try again.
The humour in this game is just wonderful., and I love the banter
between Roger and the narrator - Team VSB really nailed it! One of my
favourite parts of the game, is when Roger has to get into Boot Camp,
but he has to avoid drinking a cup of tea. The guard phrases his
questions in such a way that you’re not really sure if you’re saying ‘Yes’
or ‘No’ to the tea. I also loved that you had 2 different endings to the
game, depending on whether or not you chose to help Vohaul.
　
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GRAPHICS
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Graphics in Vohaul Strikes Back are lovely. Backgrounds in the game
are beautifully detailed, and use lovely strong colours. The planet
Radon is just gorgeous, with it’s ice surfaces, unusual trees, and
stunning backdrops. And the Furkunz are just adorably cute. Vohaul
definitely deserves a special mention. I just loved his clapped-out
patchwork Frankenstein appearance, powered by a hamster. Such a far
cry from the powerful mega-robot he had intended! However, I did find
Roger and Beatrice a bit cartoony, in comparison to the rest of the
game. But after playing for a while, you don’t really notice it.
Conversations are shown as text, and each character has a different
colour text. Dialogue is shown at bottom of the screen, and when
Roger has asked about a certain topic, that topic is greyed out.
Inventory items are shown as little pictures inside the backpack. As you
collect more items, you’ll need to scroll up & down in order to see what
you have.
The more you explore Vohaul Strikes Back, the more you’ll fall in love
with it.
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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The music in this game is just superb. Everything from piano music in
the Furkunz bar, to the laid-back playful music, to the Cabana
xylophone music in the beach resort, to the inspirational ‘Beware’
music, to the spacey music on the moon… you’ll never get bored.
Sound effects are equally impressive. I loved the safe alarm in Merf’s
hut, the knocks on a door, and even the painful ‘Meow’ when you deal
with the Moon Cat. But my favourite is the cute little beeps and boops
from the door droid on the moon.
Vohaul’s ‘WILCO MUST PAY!!!’ in the intro is SO impressive and
intimidating! Other than that, there are no voices in the game. Team
VSB were planning a voice pack at one point, but it didn’t work out.
However, this doesn’t detract from the game at all!
This is one game that all Space Quest fans MUST play!
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