The Silver Lining: Episodes 1, 2 & 3 (1.1Gb)
The Silver Lining is a continuation from Sierra’s King’s Quest 8. King's Quest, of course stands as one of the most influential adventure video games of all time. Just when we all thought that the series had ended for good, this colossal fan made continuation was announced. Various legal hassles with Sierra were eventually resolved and the first episode released.
It’s a free (large!) combined download and so far three episodes are available; there will eventually be five episodes. It’s a huge game, certainly by far the largest free games project I’ve encountered - in fact it’s probably the largest non-commercial gaming project ever to date. It’s also ultra professional in all aspects of the game; graphics, sound, storyline and music.
It’s also a huge improvement on KQ8 (which was disappointing in largely being a fighting game - and not considered one of Sierra’s better releases in the King’s Quest series!). The Silver Lining in contrast stays true to the charming nature of King's Quest, as one would expect, as of being a fan-made reincarnation and ‘continuation’ of the King’s Quest series.
The graphics are adorable, with water droplets, tree branches moving in the breeze, changing facial expressions to name just a few. The voice-overs are truly excellent, and beautiful music abounds.
Episode 1 is "What Is Decreed Must Be". King Graham and the Royal Family head to the Isle of the Crown from King's Quest VI to witness a wedding. Of course, things go awry, and King Graham has to embark on a long and dangerous quest to put things to right. It may be that you might find a few ‘rough edges’ in SL Episode 1, but out of rough stones, very fine jewels are made; and Episodes 2 & 3 are very finely polished indeed! In Episode 1 you are left with more choices and might find wondering what to do or where to explore next a bit more daunting. Exploration is very much part of the agenda here - In the fine tradition of truly great adventure games! Episode 1 is on the short side, being more of an introduction to the Silver Lining series, but a very enjoyable introduction none-the-less!
I’m not going to give more than a very brief outline of the story for each episode, suffice to play these for yourself and see what delights and surprises they have in store and in abundance!
Episode 2: "Two Households" starts off with you having to find a cure for an evil spell that has put King Graham’s children into a deep sleep. He is told that the spell can only be broken by him entering their dreams and he has a magic scroll to help him find the necessary ingredients. He has to travel to the Isle of the Crown, Isle of the Sacred Mountain, and Isle of Wonder, meeting a multitude of wondrous and hostile characters.
Episode 3: "My Only Love Sprung from My Only Hate" - all of a sudden unnatural problems start to occur with Valanice, the Queen of Daventry - affecting amongst other things, her looks; to the point where she tries to jump off a balcony and end it all. King Graham thus has a new quest to find new ingredients to cure Valanice. Some puzzles have hints while other may be particularly challenging to solve, and of course the story leaves off as we await Episodes 4 & 5.
Controls are standard point & click. The right mouse button cycles the cursor through all the standard adventure commands, move, examine, get and so on, while the left button activates the selected task. The same commands are available from a drop-down menu, as is a customary inventory screen. You can save, load or quit at any time and play windowed or full-screen. There is the option to turn off the narration if wished.
The graphics and attention to detail are a real delight, and seasoned (and non-seasoned!) King’s Quest players will relish in exploring the huge game world. If you are a follower of the series there are some very good jokes based on previous happenings throughout the series. If you’ve been away from King’s Quest, well absence makes the heart grow fonder, and every cloud has a 'Silver Lining'!
It gets the fullest five star rating from me. It is an amazing adventure experience and between the three episodes so far available it will keep you entranced for weeks and weeks, if not months! Do try these, in order of episodes of course! Enjoy!
******* Please note, you need to register for free with their forum to download. This only takes a few moments. *******
Homepage HERE
Video
Ep 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05B3qzrxCa0
Ep 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaj_aGRU1DI
Ep 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElGhXN7AP0
Walkthrough Episodes 1,2 & 3 HERE
