Classic time: "Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (VGA)" playthrough

New game! And showing off my big box ;)

I’ve started playing “Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel” and I’m 1 hour into it!

 

This is one of the first adventure games I ever played when I was a teenager, probably the first Sierra game too. I remember back then I was stuck for ages in the hotel room, because I didn’t know the number to call a taxi. Apparently you need to call Information, which is 411, a well-known number in the United States, like 911 for emergencies, but living in Belgium I had absolutely no idea. I replayed the game, scouring every corner of very location for any sign of a phone number, but without luck. It was only years later, when the internet came and online walkthroughs, that I could finally complete this game.

 

So I started another playthrough! As a beginning adventurer, I always liked this game because of its linearity, where you just have to follow orders, go where you’re told to go, there’s not much exploring involved, not much actual puzzling either. Of course later I progressed to more elaborate adventure games taking place in larger worlds, but replaying “Police Quest” is like watching a favorite cop movie, it only takes a couple of hours.

Ah, the driving interface! Crank it up to 55, then manually brake just in time to 35 before you take the corner, otherwise the game automatically lowers it to 30.

 

I’m Sonny Bonds, and I start my shift at the Lytton Police Department. First I have to go change in the locker room. It’s amazing how many times you have to change clothes and take a shower in this game… Then I attended the morning briefing. Apparently there’s a huge problem with drugs in this city (like everywhere in the world…) and we have to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. Then I’m send onto the streets, but not before I notice a notice on the noticeboard stating I can request a transfer from Traffic to Narcotics. Since drugs seems to be the theme in this game, I decide that’s a good decision, so I fill out a form before heading outside.

Deanna's very lucky that pole was there...

So I’m driving around when suddenly I get the call there’s been an accident somewhere. I look up where I’m supposed to go on the paper map that came in the big box of the game, and find the victim of a drive-by. The case is quickly taken out of my hands by my superiors, though, and they send me to continue my patrol. It doesn’t take long before dispatch reminds me I’m supposed to meet Steve at a Café somewhere. So I go there, chew the fat with Steve, until I get a call informing me of the identity of the drive-by victim, which turns out to be a low-level dealer.

Oh, you know how it is, Steve. I showered, I changed, I drove around some...

Then it’s back to the streets. While I wait for dispatch to send me somewhere, Sonny automatically slams on the brakes when a red convertible shoots past a stop sign right in front of me. I flick on the siren and start the chase. The woman driving tries to flirt with me, but no cigar, here’s your ticket, ma’am! I’m one who writes out imaginary tickets in real life as well, noticing all kinds of traffic inflictions, so yeah, warnings my rear bumper!

Two against one, eh? That calls for the extendable baton! Oh wait, it's the 90s, the medieval-like "nightstick" then...

After letting her yell at me some, I get back on the streets when suddenly Carol, the owner of the café where I met Steve, calls in a complaint. Turns out some bikers park their rides right in front of her door, so I seek them out and gently persuade them to move. After they’re gone, I chat a bit with Marie, who was some info on the local drug trade as well though she can’t really recall the correct names. Looks like she meets LOTS of men, can’t expect her to remember all their names…

Looks like he's here for comic relief or something. Where I live, a drunk driver just killed two cyclists. And he was already driving without a licence even; they'd revoked that a while back for a previous offence...

Anyways, back on the streets, I encounter a drunk driver, who I take in to jail. I have to resort to the newspaper that came with the box again, with all the penal codes I need to register him. Turns out I’m called back to the station after this, where Lieutenant Dooley, whose office is being vandalized by a chicken, tells me my shift is over. So I go change, again, and drive to another bar for the birthday party of another colleague. The guy is depressed, however, and he tells me he thinks his daughter is on drugs.

I never had such a girl dance on any of MY birthdays...

Okay, I get it now. Drugs are bad. And this game is all about finding and stopping the people responsible for getting it out there.

 

One of my other colleagues at the party suddenly tells me I promised I’d take over his shift, so it’s high time to return to the station and try to keep the streets safe! I wonder if they already processed my transfer request…

Finished Sierra classic "Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail" by Christie Marx in 6,5 hours!

Not too shabby...

Oh my, what an adventure this was!

After reaching Jerusalem, I had to complete a couple of tasks for the locals. I thought it would cause a domino effect, and it kinda did but not completely. Sometimes one thing led to another, but not always. Took me a bit to satisfy everyone and I even took some notes to solve this puzzle. Hardest part was figuring out where to buy certain items, or even that you COULD buy them to begin with.

Yet another satisfied customer...

Then I faced temptation. Beautiful Fatima tried to seduce me. But I knew it was a TEST! HAHA! You don't fool me, no woman in her right mind would want to seduce me!!!

Didn't stop me from saving, restoring and still kissing her for curiosity's sake... Ah, what a way to go...

<gulp>

Anyways, then I found myself in the catacombs where I had to make another difficult choice: save myself or save my knight Galahad. Messed up my saved games here a bit: had to restore at one point, but I chose the wrong one where I HADN'T saved Galahad yet, but I thought I did, so I "finished" the game, only to die at the last moment...

Good mummy, just stay where you are please...

The goddess Aphrodite helped me along, I had to fight a Saracen which took a couple of tries, and then it was back home to save Camelot and be rewarded with my final score!

Dude, where did you come from, and how long have you been waiting here for someone to play this game again?

To be honest, I had expected this game to be harder, but when you follow the leads it's quite logical in all. Did have some trouble with the parser system and finding the correct phrasing (I'd always forget you can SEARCH things after you LOOKED at them...), the riddles were fun, traversing the ice not so much, and the fighting, well, there's not THAT much of it in the game and it didn't take me THAT many tries, so...

I have chosen wisely!

So, looking ahead now, I got some options. I'll definitely be playing "Conquest of the Longbow" some day, but first I'd like to finally tackle "King's Quest V" again. I'm a bit afraid of that game, though, so perhaps I'll do a shorter one first, a replay this time, namely "Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel" (I have the VGA remake).

I have some time to decide, though, since I should first finish my review of "Chronique des Silencieux" for Adventure Game Hotspot, and continue helping out testing Wadjet Eye's new game...

After 4,5 hours of playing "Conquests of Camelot", I've reached Jerusalem!

But boy, what I had to do to get here...

Once it cracks, you can't go back!

First I had to traverse a frozen lake that wasn't as completely frozen over as it looked, so I went for an involuntary polar bear dip once or twice... or fifty times! Even with the use of Queen Elsa's frozen heart to guide me through the tricky spots, sometimes the ice would crack faster than I could jump back...

Let him go, let him gooooo!

So I had the chance to betray Launcelot and leave him to freeze, but I thought, what the heck, I'm a King, this game rewards me for being chivalrous, let's try to get a couple more of those old Sierra points!

Last time I traveled by ship in a Sierra game, things didn't end well...

Finally a ship brought me to Gaza (yikes!) and this old man told me about some ancient goddesses. 

No where's that valley of the crescent moon?

Then I walked through the desert with a mule with no name for longer than I should. A misconception on my part: it had been a while since I acquired my lodestone, so I'd forgotten what it did exactly, and I wrongfully assumed it was something like a dowsing rod which would lead me to water, like a certain amber fish can lead you to the most priceless metal on earth... But no, it was just a compass always pointing north... And all I had to do was walk east.

So, are we flying these things out of here or what?

Finally found some water and the driveway to Jerusalem. And if there's one thing this game has taught me it is to stay away from big cities because everybody will rob you blind there...

I really hope this isn't the city sewer system...

Anyway, I got a nifty puzzle to look forward to now, where I have to give the merchants and inhabitants their hearts' desire, and I expect in a little domino effect I will fetch-quest my way to where I need to go!

The city gates, always a good place to save...

I'm 2,5 hours into "Conquests of Camelot" and boy, does this game keep me busy!

After defeating the Black Knight in my previous playing session, which went far too easy to my surprise, I released the captured Gawain, put him on my horse and sent him back to Camelot.

Yes, I tried to push the first stone to see if the domino effect would kill the witch...
FYI, doesn't work...

Then I encountered a witch in a Stonehenge-like place. She wanted something, so I gave her one of the few things I was actually carrying, and I was in for a big surprise!

I learned it all (or better, not quite enough) from Roland Deschain...

Then my path was blocked by five stones asking me all sorts of riddles. This kept me occupied for a long time. I got close many times, figuring out four of the five riddles, but it took me several "resets" before I got them all (each time I left, the riddles were randomized again, with each stone asking one of several possible riddles). I stubbornly persevered, refraining from looking up the solutions online, because I remember the face of my father and a true descendant from the line of Eld wouldn't do that!

I think I need what's down this locked well...

Then I found myself in the middle of Glastonbury Tor. I met a monk, I asked him some stuff and suddenly he went berserk! I guess I need to fight him now... Combat in an adventure game, sigh...

Dude, chill!