Rocko's Quest
Score: 90% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Strategy First Developer: Big City Games Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Platformer
Graphics & Sound: Rocko smash, Rocko kill, Rocko save pretty lady. These are pretty much the only thoughts going through the mind of the hero in Rocko's Quest. As the barbarian, you will have to travel across the land looking for ogres to fight and also for Rocko's girlfriend in this action-packed platformer. The graphics in Rocko aren't extremely spectacular, but the lighting effects from the torches and fires are great, though not quite Splinter Cell quality. The cartoony look of the game is very well done from the disproportioned baddies to the bulging-biceped hero. The music stays in the background throughout the game and does a fair job of keeping your ears busy while you are hacking away at mace-barring ogres. The sound effects are pretty basic in that you have a couple of different swooshing sounds for when you swing your blade, and the enemies make very similar grunts and growls throughout the entire game.
Gameplay: In Rocko's Quest, your almost girlfriend has been kidnapped by a band of ogres, why? Does it really matter? All Rocko knows is that she was taken, and he must get her back... yes, he is a little dense, and the developers make no point in hiding it. In fact, they point it out almost continuously on the box and in the book. You start off with your sword and your bare fists. One of the nice things about taking control of such a skilled fighter is that he is versed in the use of many weapons. If an enemy drops a mace or any other weapon you find interesting, then just pick it up to use it, if you like. You may also need to pick up torches to light up dark hallways, or even toss one down the hallway so that you can see as you fight. You will jump across floating platforms, pull leavers and solve a lot of puzzles found in your most basic platformers, all the while fending off hordes of baddies with a regular plethora of weapons. Your journey will take you through mountains, villages, a cemetery and several other locations in search of the evil ogres and Rocko's honey.
Difficulty: Not a lot of difficulty involved, but Rocko's Quest will still pose a challenge. The enemies generally don't swarm you, but it takes several hits with your weapon to take one down. That isn't too bad since as you are given 5 lives right off the bat. The main problem is the learning curve involved with getting used to Rocko's movements and controls. Rocko has a wide range of motions, and if you can get familiar with them and use them well, then the game will get a lot easier.
Game Mechanics: One of the drawbacks that affected me early on in Rocko's Quest is that, with every possible move Rocko can make, there is a button. This means there are a lot of buttons. The default is pretty standard, and is a good setup to use, but there is a button for almost everything. For example, instead of allowing the Action button (default is E) to also let you pick up weapons and torches, you have a completely separate button to do that. That is just one of the examples, but after a while, you begin to get used to the setup, and your fingers start moving to where they need to be without you. This is good, because I don't think I can remember what every button does. The actual movement in the world is pretty basic though - look around with the mouse or arrow key and move with the typical W-A-S-D setup. A mouse click will sheath and unsheathe your weapon and the space bar attacks. As I have said a couple of times now, if you can get used to the controls, you won't have very many problems in Rocko's Quest. It is a pretty entertaining game, but you will have to be ready to invest some time into it in order to get used to the controls.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, PC Pentium II 300 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 400 MB Hard Disk Space, 3D Accelerated Graphics Card with 8 MB RAM, Direct X Compatible Sound Card, Direct X 8.1, 8x CD-ROM   Test System: Windows XP Professional Ed., AMD Athlon 600 MHz, 384 MB RAM, 24X CD-ROM, Geforce3 Ti200, DirectX 9.0.
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