Simon the Sorcerer 3D - Windows PC (2002)
European Cover
American Cover
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
The canon of video game history shows a number of 2D franchises which totally screwed up its transition to 3D. This evolution was particularly unkind to the adventure game genre, but while games like Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon and Escape from Monkey Island aren't exactly the pinnacles of their respective series, they're at least still pretty good. The same can't be said of Simon the Sorcerer 3D.
First, the graphics. They're beyond terrible. The character models are very boxy and extremely low quality. All of the environments are totally 3D too, but they're pasted with the same textures ad nauseam. This was typical of early 3D, but this is no excuse for Simon 3D, which was released in 2002. If it weren't for the higher resolution, it would look like a PSOne game - and not a particularly good one at that. It doesn't help that the 3D renders on the covers of the Puzzle Pack released in the seven year gap between the second and third games set some measure of expectations, which were missed entirely.
The world design suffers from the same problem as many early 3D games - it's just simply way too big and empty, and it takes forever to traverse, even when you're running. (Later in the game, you can transport around a map via Dr. Who-style telephone booth, but even that's limited.) It fells padded, tedious, and overly long, because it takes forever to go anywhere or do anything. The world is bright and colorful, but that's about the best thing to say about it.
The mouse controls have been ditched for direct keyboard control, which is far from great. Most of the time the camera is pointed directly behind Simon, but in indoor segments, it tends to change to a static angle. It rarely works well, especially when it erratically swings around when running down narrow corridors. The interface is cumbersome, requiring that you either cycle through all of your inventory, or access the submenu, which, thankfully, is at least controlled with the mouse. There's no gamepad support either, unless you use a third party program. And for some reason, the developers thought that the controls would allow for action sequences, which the game completely fails at. It's the first Simon game where you can actually get killed, although there are "respawn tiles" where Simon will resurrect (similar to those JRPG games, Simon remarks.) You also can no longer skip through any of the dialogue. And that's not including all of the glitches, crashes, and other technical issues. In short, this game is a total mess.
It's actually a huge shame, because at its core, it's still an amusing Simon game. The last title ended with Simon and Sordid switching bodies. Well, Sordid got sick of being a human and his plans to conquer the "real world" just didn't work out, so his apprentice Runt has created yet another new body for him. With the help of Calypso, Simon's soul is reunited with his body, and it's once again up to him to stop Sordid from ruling the whole universe.
The writing and sense of humor, as well as the voice acting, is generally on par with at least the second game. There are a number of returning characters, including the Swampling, who's now become an eco-terrorist after his homeland is threatened. The woodworm, the role players, Goldilocks and the demons also make appearances again, as well as Sordid's apprentice Runt, who only had a minor role in the second. The second half of the adventure involves assembling a group of four legendary warriors: the buxom, scantily clad lady warrior Melissa Leg, the somewhat dead Jar Nin, the somewhat daft Coneman the Barabrain, and the transmogrified Prince Brave, who's stuck as frog. The unfortunate circumstance is that Simon had pissed off nearly all of these people earlier his journey, which is naturally a bit awkward for him. Simon also has his own fairy godmother, although she's not particularly funny and mostly acts as a tutorial guide.
At one point, Simon comes across a warehouse filled with unsold copies of The Feeble Files, which he amuses would make a good coaster. Given that Hasbro Interactive was originally going to be the publisher, there are also a few random, tongue-in-cheek endorsements of their board games. In a particularly trippy, fourth wall breaking bit, the final puzzle requires that you eject a CD-ROM for a computer. The problem is, there's no eject button in the game. Like Sega's X-Men game for the Genesis, which required that you push the Reset button on the console to get past a certain point, the solution is to actually eject the drive on your own computer. It's a vaguely clever idea, ruined by some level of technical limitations, because Windows needs to be set up properly for it to work at all.
But that really encapsulates all of the major problems with the game. It's still fairly clever, but it's mired beneath a game that borders on unplayability. Apparently AdventureSoft had originally planned the game for 2D, similar to The Feeble Files, but ditched all of their previous work when they realized that such a product would never get published in the marketplace. But their hastily assembled substitute didn't do any favors, either, especially at the time of its release. (To be fair, the game was apparently finished in 2000, but due to various logistic issues, wasn't actually published until two years later.) If there's any modern adventure game that's clamoring for a demake - that is, a return to beautiful point n' click VGA - it's this one.
At any rate, after Simon 3D, Headfirst went on to create Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, a fairly decent first person shooter/adventure game for the Xbox and PC, which unfortunately flopped and essentially put them out of business, leaving others to pick up the reigns for future Simon titles.
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 3D
Simon the Sorcerer 4: Chaos Happens - Windows PC (2007)
European Cover
Simon the Sorcerer 4
Simon the Sorcerer 4
The point and click interface is back, using a single icon like most modern adventure games. The map allows for easy travel, and you can instantly change locations by double clicking on an exit. The static camera angle thankfully returns, with 3D characters on top of some beautiful high res 2D backgrounds that almost perfectly emulate the feel of the first game on a higher technical level. The character modeling is actually quite good too, even if they look a bit too realistic given the series' usual cartooniness and some of the animations are a bit off. The music, while generally subdued (make sure to turn up the volume) is also quite excellent. It might've come five years late, but on the surface, this looks like what the third game should've been.
The story begins with Simon stepping over to the magical realm after having a dream about Alix, Calypso's daughter. Simon's clone from the last game has escaped from the Nexus, and has started living in the Magic Kingdom, assuming the identity of the real Simon. He's clean, neat, and a generally affable guy - in other words, the complete opposite of the real Simon. Upon some investigation, the clone Simon is working with the evil Calaba, a mustachioed midget who wants to kill the king and assume the throne for his own. While trying to save the king, Simon and his double end up screwing up the whole process, resulting in all of them getting vaporized and stuck in the Realm of the Dead. The second half of the game involves the three working together to escape from the underworld, restore the king to the throne, and save the day once again.
This sounds like the makings of a decent adventure game. The problem is that it just isn't very funny.
Right at the outset there are a few issues. The running joke of the series is that Simon never actually cared about the Magic Kingdom - he just wanted to get home, and if he ended up saving the day in the process, so be it. (There's also no real explanation as to how Simon escaped back to the real world at the end of the last game.) Here, he's genuinely concerned about kingdom, which seems out of remarkably out of character. And why would he care about Alix to begin with, considering he previously regarded her with nothing more than apathy?
Beyond this curiosity, Simon 4 isn't all bad, as the storyline and situations actually aren't that much different from the previous games. Beyond Alix and Calypso (who apparently died along the way and is now a ghost with Alzheimers), you'll run into Goldilocks again, who's still locked up in prison, as well as Swampy, who seems to be duped into thinking that the duplicate Simon has created a fan club for him. At the beginning of the game, you meet Little Red Riding Hood, who's an obnoxious, skateboard-riding, backwards-baseball-cap wearing brat. In order to steal her skateboard to solve another puzzle, you need to get her eaten by a big bad wolf...except the only wolf in town is a pathetic washed up drunk who needs to gently be coerced into the job. The Realm of the Dead features many classic Greek mythological characters, as it's a bit fun to taunt Sisyphus just for the heck of it. The whole place is mired in bureaucracy, as you're required to run errands for the overworked Hades, who sits at a desk overflowing with paperwork and is your sole ticket back to the mortal world. A lot of these events are pretty amusing, but the core of Simon's comedy has usually been the dialogue, and here, it's a complete wreck.
Almost all of the writing is awkwardly translated from German into English, resulting in long winded conversations that feel like they're trying to be funny, but end up totally getting lost. Worst yet, the voice acting is total rubbish. Simon the Sorcerer has always been a quintessentially British series, but here they chose to give American accents to all of the characters, Simon included. All of the wit and dry sarcasm that drew the fans to the series to begin with? Completely gone. Simon himself completely lacks any sense of bemusement and meanders through most lines sounding somewhat confused. Simon's double talks exactly like him, but slower. And forget the original voice of Swampy - here, it's just some incredibly high pitched squealing. There have been numerous attempts to adapt British humor in other media, and, more often than not, it usually results in disaster. This is one of those times. Simon and Mike Woodroofe are credited as consultants, but it definitely would've benefited from their larger involvement.
The puzzles, too, tend to be a bit uninspired. None of them are particularly difficult or frustrating, although it has an occasional tendency to hide objects until they're needed, when they pop up across the game world out of nowhere. At least Simon's journal acts as an in-game hint guide to provide some direction.
These puzzles are really the least of the game's problems though - it's definitely the lack of humour that brings this one down. One could easily place the blame on the localizers, but according to some German reviews, apparently the writing wasn't even funny in its native language. Regardless, Simon 4 totally loses its identity, and comes across a slightly comical but largely generic adventure game.
Simon the Sorcerer 4
Simon the Sorcerer 4
Simon the Sorcerer 4
Simon the Sorcerer 4
Simon the Sorcerer 4
After Simon the Sorcerer 2, AdventureSoft took a break with The Feeble Files, another humorous adventure game, this time focusing on aliens and science fiction. After that more or less failed, they formed Headfirst Productions and returned to Simon, deciding to take him into the third dimension.
The crappiness of Simon 3D, combined with the generally lousy state of adventure gaming in the early 21st century, seemed to be the final nail in Simon's coffin. That is, until 2008, when it was pried open by a German development team called Silver Style. The fourth Simon game was developed almost specifically to avoid the pitfalls of the previous game.
