Sierra's Worse Adventure Game?

[Maxor127]

You gained bonus points for sticking up for Iceman with me... then you lost then by bringing Sanitarium into this. I liked that game.

[Collector]

There's only one game whose story that I truly didn't like, but it's not a Sierra game: Sanitarium.

Which has some of the worst voice acting to be found in a game.

[stuntology]

Really? Could any voice acting be worse than KQ5?

[Tawmis]

Really? Could any voice acting be worse than KQ5?

KQ5 was fine, except Cedric. Granted, Cedric made the rest of the game nearly impossible to tolerate because he was in 99% of the game... So you kind of have a point.

[Datadog]

Aw Datadog, I realize youre playing for humour, but it's a bit unfair to both KQ7 and Zelda. I've played all Zeldas for CD-i and a lot more CD-i games, and can assure you that with the system's low memory, any animation for non-VideoCard players looks craptacular to today's standards, with little colour variation.

It's not the technology. There are a few well-animated moments in KQ7, so they did have the requirements to pull it off. But for the most part, it seems like the animation department was under too tight a schedule with not enough budget to go back and polish up their art. I should clarify that I'm talking about the character graphics themselves, and not the background art. The backgrounds look great in that game.

As for Zelda CD-i... let's just say... this happened. "Wand of Gamelon" is considered a cautionary tale for anyone in the animation industry.

[Constantin35]

Re: LSL5
I think I have read somewhere, that LSL5 was originally written as parser-driven game. And only rather late they decided to do it with an icon interface. Might be, that LSL5 was the first icon interface game at all done by Sierra? Additionally I've read that Al Lowe (?) acknowledged later on, that it took quite some time for them to figure out, how to do puzzles with an icon interface. Puzzles that were difficult to solve with a parser interface were a laugh when done via icons, as they found out. So it took a while / games, before they thought they got it right.

Re: C:I
Definitely the worst. Funny enough, being an avid Sierra-Fan, I thought it would be impossible for them to make a game, that I would dislike. But C:I did the job. It began with an exhaustive Copy Protection (First aid), then a long chain of sequences, with no real puzzles, were you just salute flags, open doors, etc. (The transition from the Island to the sub). Then follows a couple of difficult tasks, where you know what you have to do, but which is still VERY difficult to achieve. (Playing Dice without Saving, plotting paths, decoding messages, repairing). Finally you come to some sub fight (btw, how to handle the sub is again a subtle Copy Protection), which I was never able to win. Even though reading a lot of different strategy guides. That's were my experience with C:I ended... I assume that is probably some 50-66% through the game.

[Collector]

Might be, that LSL5 was the first icon interface game at all done by Sierra?

That would be KQ5.

[BBP]

As for Zelda CD-i... let's just say... this happened. "Wand of Gamelon" is considered a cautionary tale for anyone in the animation industry.

Aw come on. It's nowhere near as bad as the Zelda with the Dutch voices!
Anyway this goes a long way to prove it's the medium, not the animation (although Zelda's very Power Rangers with the surplus arm movements).

Now you mention it... KQ7's Malicia does look odd, like she's riding around on a Segway just to make sure her dress gets that Oomph factor.

[Jules]

The thing with Sanitarium was the disconnect. I didn't feel what the main character was feeling. A lot of that had to do with that angle view (forget the name of it) throughout the game and not being up close and personal with what he was interacting with. It's been years since I played it but I remember I wasn't big on the story either.

[DeadPoolX]

A lot of that had to do with that angle view (forget the name of it) throughout the game and not being up close and personal with what he was interacting with.

I think the viewpoint used is called isometric.

[Jules]

YES, that's it! Thank you.

[QuestCollector]

It really is hard to say which Sierra adventure is the worst to me. I always seem to change my mind with this subject. Making the decision right now, I'd probably say King's Quest II. I forced myself to finish that game years ago. I hadn't actually played it until the King's Quest Collection came out in '97. I started playing the King's Quest games (actually my parents did) when KQIII came out, which I'm sure most would say is significantly better than KQII.

There are honestly a lot of Sierra games I didn't enjoy and many I never finished. I feel like Sierra lost their touch in the mid to late '90s. Some of the games mentioned here already like Phantasmagoria II and others like Police Quest IV. They just don't feel the same unless they have those beautiful SCI graphics and the stories.... meh

I never completed Codename: Iceman either. I actually enjoyed most of what I can remember playing until being inside the submarine. I wanted to cheat but I never did. I try my best to avoid walkthroughs and I really think I would have to use one to complete this game.

[Tawmis]

You know... I just bought all those Sierra games on Gog.com (even if I own most of them in various ways, boxes, collections) just to support the classic Sierra games...

And so I figured, "I am going to fire up Mask of Eternity."

I got as far as making it into Conner's own home, before I thought, "I need to make amends. I said Codename: Iceman was the worse Sierra adventure game!" I was wrong. It's definitely Mask of Eternity. First, the voice acting is beyond horrible. (And this coming from an amateur voice actor!) The controls are absolutely wonky. The graphics are horrible (even for a game during that time). There's literally nothing I like about Mask of Eternity. Nothing. At least with Codename: Iceman, the controls were normal (for walking around). The graphics were on par with what Sierra was kicking out back then. The story was at least interesting (even if some of the puzzles were impossible). The last time (and I think the only other time) I ever played Mask of Eternity, I remember getting to the snow men - and still not being impressed.

So for me, Mask of Eternity takes the throne away from Codename: Iceman.

[QuestCollector]

It's definitely Mask of Eternity. First, the voice acting is beyond horrible. (And this coming from an amateur voice actor!)

"These leather boots will help me immeasurably." that quote from Mask of Eternity for some reason has made me laugh for the last 14 years. In fact, a lot of Connor's dialogue makes me laugh.

[DeadPoolX]

It's definitely Mask of Eternity. First, the voice acting is beyond horrible. (And this coming from an amateur voice actor!)

"These leather boots will help me immeasurably." that quote from Mask of Eternity for some reason has made me laugh for the last 14 years. In fact, a lot of Connor's dialogue makes me laugh.

"Tis beyond my reach!"