A Stiff Remaster Of A Fun But Redundant Game
We’re on Dark Quest 4 now and, for the past few games, the Dark Quest series has been evolving beyond its board game roots. Look at the fourth game now, and it’s almost unrecognisable from its cardboard origins. Considering that the series has moved on, then, it’s slightly odd that we’re reversing back to a remaster of the first game.
If you’re an old-school board game player, the inspiration for Dark Quest will be quickly apparent. Dark Quest: Remastered is essentially a port of the classic Hero Quest. The logo’s an homage, shall we say; the three classes are the same (minus the elf); the enemy units are near-identical, including the larger boss unit; and it uses the same fog-of-war mechanic where you only see a room’s contents when you open the door. You don’t need to look far to find Dark Quest’s inspiration.
The Wizard Has Shot The Food
There are ten scenarios, and they have you controlling all three heroes – a barbarian, wizard and dwarf – as they clear out dungeons. Line-of-sight is a big thing in Dark Quest: Remastered, so you tend to only know what’s in your room or a little way down hallways. With your limited move-range, you’re sending a choice of hero into the gloom and hoping there’s no zombie horde in the middle of it.
Each hero has a different thing going on. The wizard is low on health but can attack from range, so you probably want him playing the sweeper role at the back. The barbarian is a tank and a heavy-hitter, so they will likely be your front row. The dwarf’s specialty is trap-finding, so they are your mine-sniffer: you might want the dwarf entering a room first and casting their eye about for a spike trap. And you’re controlling them all in single-player. While there are three heroes, only one person is playing them – unless you opt for a spot of pass-the-pad.
The enemies have a similar make-up as the heroes. Ranger orcs are the wizard-equivalents and they can nibble off health at range, so they are the ones to kill first. The 2×2 troll is hilarious, mostly because it can’t navigate doors, corridors or other units, so tends to be stuck in place if you want to cheese them. Otherwise, there are zombies, skeletons, mummies, orcs and goblins, all doing roughly the same thing, which is queuing up to hit the barbarian with swords.
More Re-release Than Remaster
So, what does the ‘Remastered’ get you, Dark Quest fans? Looking at screenies of the original Dark Quest (which I have admittedly not played), I can’t see a huge evolution based on that ‘Remastered’ tag. There’s not been a radical graphical shift. Graphically, this is a remaster in the sense that it’s been ported and optimised for console and that’s about it.
Gameplay-wise, the press materials state that there have been improvements. I can only imagine what the original Dark Quest was like to play, as Dark Quest: Remastered doesn’t feel improved. Playing a dungeon can feel a wrestling match with the controls rather than anything fluid or precise. I often wished I was moving a board game miniature around, rather than struggling with a game pad.
Simple actions are unintuitive. While you might spot a trap with the dwarf, it might not be possible to walk around it. I still don’t have a handle on how to create a path for my hero, and will often blunder into a spike simply because the pathing reset to ‘default’ at the last minute. The same goes for approaching an enemy from one specific side. I was stuffed if I wanted to attack from the rear.
Dark Quest: Remastered deeply needed a UI pass. It’s hard to tell which hero is selected, and almost impossible to tell if a spell has been activated. I’d often target an enemy with a wizard’s spell, only to stroll over to the enemy instead. They didn’t seem up for the cuddle. Some things just aren’t clear: did I use my trap-finding spell? Why can’t I buy more than one item for my wizard? How can I tell which enemy will attack next? Why does my barbarian sometimes attack twice in succession?
And then there are the design decisions, and some of them are atrocious. I’m so happy that Dark Quest has developed beyond the point where an evil wizard randomly damages or heals your character. The inventory system is barmy, forcing you to sell and rebuy something if you just don’t want to use it in a specific dungeon. The traps, too, are curseworthy. There are so many of them, and they’re not fun in the slightest. Who wants to play the game by inching the dwarf, the one trap-finder, inch by inch through a dungeon? Not this guy.
A Bright Spot In Dark Quest
File off all of these edges and I think Dark Quest: Remastered would become a lovely chunk of bite-size nostalgia. I actually quite like how discrete it is: this is £5.79 for ten dungeons, and each dungeon can be done in fifteen minutes if you have the right upgrades applied to your characters. If you’re good and careful enough, you don’t have to grind. There’s no roguelike elements (a rarity nowadays) so you’re working through dungeons that a human designed. Get three stars on a level and you never have to play it again.
And there’s something special about playing a dungeon for the first time. The butterflies flutter in the stomach as you open a door. Were you wise to open it before all three heroes were ready? You can guarantee that, if you’re not prepared, there will be a sodding great 2×2 skeleton bro ready to shave three life points from you.
Rounding Out The Series
I have mixed feelings about the Dark Quest remaster. I can absolutely see why it exists: having Dark Quest 2, Dark Quest 3 and Dark Quest 4 on the Xbox but NOT the original does feel a wee bit sad. And there’s a simplicity to it that’s endearing.
But it’s also been preserved slightly too well. All of its warts – from wonky design to poor controls – are on full display. It’s all too easy to point at things and say “that really should have been modernised”.
If you’re looking to complete your Dark Quest set, Dark Quest: Remastered is worth a purchase. It’s a dusty curio that you can explore for a few hours. For anyone else, we gesture encouragingly towards the many, better Dark Quest sequels.
Important Links
Dark Quest Returns With A Fully Rebuilt Remastered Edition – https://www.thexboxhub.com/dark-quest-returns-with-a-fully-rebuilt-remastered-edition/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/dark-quest-remastered/9P5K2DSH41S8
