LucasArts vs. Sierra (2) – p.1 – User Article

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Here we go now to the nitty gritty! The insult fencing goes to the next round. Now nobody can hide behind empty phrases! Until someone cries!

This user rumble is a joint production of the GG users Jurgen and Sascha (aka TheLastToKnow). Since it got a little big, we split it up. We recommend that you first read part 1, in which we deal with the history of the two companies and the technology behind the games, among other things. But in this article we get to the heart of the matter: Which company brought the better games onto the market back then? And are these things still worth more than a nostalgically glorified look at the dusty Big Box?

In order not to let the article get completely out of hand, we have agreed to focus only on the creative years 1985 to 1995. During this time LucasArts released 11 Adventures, Sierra 52 (plus some VGA re-releases of the first EGA games and of course the Dynamics games). Mass pushed aside: what’s good for what? What not?

Chattering pirates or chattering losers?

In addition to the game mechanics and the technology, games primarily live from their protagonists. Who would ever think of pushing a grumpy guy from A to B who constantly wants to punch other people in the mouth? Okay Piranha Bytes players, but otherwise? Especially with adventures it is important to like your own character. After all, player and character often end up in dead ends and spend a lot of time together. George Stobbart would be such an example. Or Simon. But what iconic characters did Sierra and LucasArts create that we still fondly remember today? And how talkative are these willing and unwilling heroes?

Mass instead of class? Sierra can at least look forward to a numerical superiority. (Top row: LucasArts, Rest Sierra)

Juergen: Sierra covers a wide spectrum here with its games. The Daventry Royal Family is great fun for fairytale and royals fans alike. Sir Graham, the mysterious Gwydion or Rosella and her mother Valanice have their hands full trying to save their kingdom again and again. Gabriel Knight fights the paranormal, Larry Laffer his losing streak. And while Roger Wilco takes us to the stars, Sonny Bond drags us through the seedy backyard streets of America. Laura Bow opposes patriarchy, Robin Hood opposes the Sheriff of Nottingham. There is so much to explore! Hands on!

The dialogues of the games are as varied as the game worlds themselves. And as I type these lines, I just can’t decide which kind I like better. For example, it goes in the two conquest-Titles and the Quest for Glory-series comparatively serious. Gabriel Knight is also not a source of good mood, but has fantastic speakers and great dialogues, especially in the original CD version of the first part. And I really like the English version of the second shadow hunter adventure, despite or perhaps because of the involuntary comedy in some of the dialogues. King’s Quest, a potpourri of the most diverse sagas and legends, has a slightly lighter undertone and, to crown the creation of humour, Larry, Larry Laffer celebrates the high art of deeper gags. The latter is my personal highlight of the Sierra games. What only people cannot understand who have never played the games themselves and only know the supposedly bad sexism of this series from hearsay.

So while Sierra designed a wide variety of worlds and flavors, LucasArts basically always had the same thing: A humorous adventure that didn’t give a damn if the situation would have been different. Police Quest – In Pursuit of the Death Angel wanted to depict everyday police life in the game. Did it sometimes overshoot its target? But of course! But was there a similarly serious issue at LucasArts? Wait a minute, I’ll check… No! Worse still, trying to create something serious came along loom a fascinating, but in the end also unfinished looking game. Gabriel Knight battles werewolves, vampires and a voodoo cult while Guybrush Threepwood is having a fun day at the fairground! Okay, Indy has a good reason for the humor because of his movie references. I’ll let that point stand.

Sascha: As I mentioned in the first part, I’m mainly referring to the adventure games from the mid/late 1980s to the mid/late 1990s. That means I naturally stretch the time frame as it suits me. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Sierra, of course, won the mass of (mostly mediocre) adventure games during this period with significantly more slaves, um, employees. It is also not surprising that the delivered quality falls significantly compared to LucasArts, which becomes more than clear in the course of the article. But first, let’s talk about the characters and dialogue.

Let’s look at the years 1987 to 1989: As already mentioned in the first article, 1987 is included Maniac Mansion the first major milestone in point-and-click history. Also due to the revolutionary ability to initially create a squad of three characters, each with different traits. For example, who doesn’t remember Bernard the nerd who later became a main character in the sequel? The adventures of the sensationalist reporter followed just a year later Zak McKracken, who churned out funny, made-up news headlines and loved to drive stewardesses crazy. And in 1989 you even got to play one of the greatest adventurers of all time and the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade re-experience in an innovative adventure way. And in the meantime at Sierra? Pale space caretaker Roger Wilco has his second and third boring “adventure” and dies a thousand deaths in the process. Loser Larry is put in the same situation three times and fails each time (and dies a thousand deaths in the process). The policeman Sonny Bonds walks around his car 100 times in two adventures and still dies a thousand deaths. Okay, I’ll spare myself the further list, I think you can see the direction.

It continues with the years 1990 to 1992: In addition to Bobbin from the unusual music-magic adventure Loom, what is probably the most popular adventure hero of all time also sees the light of day. In The Secret of Monkey Island From 1990, would-be pirate Guybrush Threepwood makes his debut, delighting players with his charm and wit. Especially when it comes to dialogues, this game is a pioneer. Not only because of the legendary insult fencing. The following year you can already name his second, even bigger and more beautiful adventure Monkey Island 2 – LeChuck’s Revenge experience. And in 1992 your favorite archaeologist returns with the great one Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis back, which has gained fame, among other things, because of the entertaining dialogues and dialogue puzzles. And in the case of Sierra: flopped VGA reissues and mostly lame to very nice sequels. Oh yes, and what is the name of the main character of EcoQuest – The Search for Cetus?

That brings us to the years 1993 to 1995: Admittedly, with Gabriel Knight, Sierra actually got my turn. Aside from the annoying “oh-no-I-right-clicked-one-too-many-times-and-have-to-click-through-all-commands-until-I-get-to-the-correct-command” control and some puzzles (*cough* graveyard* cough*) it was a good game. In addition to the usual sequels, Jürgen is welcome to mention what he thinks is worth mentioning. I’ll just focus on the highlights of these years, again from LucasArts: Mit Day of the Tentacle appears in 1993 as one of the most popular and funniest comic adventures of all time, followed by Sam & Max Hit the Roadbased on the comic by Steve Purcell. A violent rabbit and his faithful canine companion as a dynamic detective duo? Hard to top. In 1995 the zenith was slightly exceeded again: Full Throttle – Full Throttle starring Ben, the leader of a motorcycle gang, and the sci-fi adventure made in collaboration with Steven Spielberg The Dig are still good games, but no longer among the best. Well, it’s still enough to top the Sierra competition.

Juergen: Adam Greene. The boy from the two EcoQuest adventures is called Adam Greene. And how many names from Maniac Mansion could you think of right away?

Of course, I accept the funny news from Zak McKracken. Just like the extremely funny game packaging in SpaceQuest 4, correct? But I’m beginning to suspect you never really played the Sierra stuff. Otherwise the humor could not have escaped you. In Space Quest 3 – The Pirates of Pestulon Roger rescues the famous Two Guys from Andromeda from the evil ScumSoft company and delivers them to Sierra. In Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking For Love (In Several Wrong Places) there are not only Herzblatt but also Bond film loans. Of course, Sierra has serious stuff too: if you’d rather play Bond in serious, you can Code name – Iceman to grab. Or for example in Manhunter-New York discover a dystopian future. Quest for Glory then offers even more variety. Arabic and African influences, horror and folk tales. The next part of a successful series is not simply thrown out among the people here! It’s just a pity that the eighth Larry part never got past the first concept phase. In space, no one would have heard him moan.

Sascha: Well, since I’ve played through Maniac Mansion umpteen times, I could tell you the names of the protagonists in my sleep. Your suspicion that I’ve never really played the Sierra adventures isn’t entirely true either: some of those thugs I just WISH I had never played.

Insult fencing in The Secret of Monkey Island, interrogation system in Gabriel Knight – Sins of the Fathers