Space Quest III
| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1980 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon |
Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a 1989 graphic adventure title created and distributed by Sierra On-Line. It serves as the third chapter in the Space Quest franchise. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco, a space janitor who becomes entangled in the mission to save two abducted game developers from a corrupt gaming corporation. The game garnered favorable reviews and significantly contributed to Sierra's commercial achievements. Its follow-up, Space Quest IV, was released in 1991.
Plot
Taking place within a universe that satirizes well-known series such as Star Trek and Star Wars, Space Quest III continues the adventures of Roger Wilco following the events of Space Quest II. The story begins with Roger awakening from cryogenic suspension aboard an automated trash freighter. After repairing the abandoned ship named Aluminum Mallard located in the freighter’s cargo bay, he escapes and journeys to the arid world of Phleebhut. There, he confronts an Arnold Schwarzenegger-inspired android terminator dispatched to eliminate him due to an outstanding debt but cleverly outmaneuvers it to obtain an invisibility belt.
While visiting an orbital Monolith Burger station, Roger uncovers a concealed message embedded within an arcade game. This message reveals that its creators—referred to as the Two Guys—have been kidnapped by ScumSoft, a nefarious video game company operating on Planet Pestulon under the leadership of Elmo Pug, head of the "Pirates of Pestulon." ScumSoft intends to exploit these programmers to saturate the galaxy with substandard games. Determined to save them, Roger first disables a shield generator located on a volcanic moon orbiting Pestulon.
On Pestulon’s surface, disguised as a janitor and utilizing his invisibility belt, Roger infiltrates ScumSoft’s headquarters. He finds the Two Guys but is subsequently captured by Elmo, who compels him to fight in a giant Mecha robot arena. After defeating Elmo in combat, Roger escapes with the programmers and repels pursuing ScumSoft vessels. When their warp drive malfunctions without a set destination, they are transported through a black hole into a parallel dimension near Earth. Roger delivers the programmers to Sierra On-Line’s president, Ken Williams, but is refused employment as a janitor before departing.
Gameplay
The PC editions feature support for mouse control alongside an enhanced text parser. Initially, mouse navigation was rudimentary; Roger would halt at obstacles instead of automatically circumventing them. Sierra improved mouse functionality in subsequent releases.
Astro Chicken
Astro Chicken is an arcade minigame where players attempt to land a chicken safely on a trampoline, reminiscent of Lunar Lander. If the chicken lands too forcefully, it bounces back unharmed. Achieving high scores reveals a secret message from the Two Guys from Andromeda. The soundtrack features a variation of Chicken Reel, a folk melody commonly associated with cartoons. Sierra distributed this minigame as a promotional demo for Space Quest III.
Development
The development of Space Quest III utilized an early iteration of Sierra's SCI engine. Unlike earlier entries, the main character’s name is fixed as Roger Wilco rather than being selectable.
The musical score was composed by Bob Siebenberg, drummer for Supertramp, and the game was among the pioneers supporting the Sound Blaster sound card. It includes digitized audio clips such as Roger’s voice uttering "Where am I?" during the introduction on Tandy, Amiga, and Macintosh platforms. However, due to an incorrect audio driver, these sound effects were unavailable on IBM PC Sound Blaster systems.
A memorable scene at ScumSoft parodies Sierra executives Ken Williams and Rick Cavin portrayed as overseers cracking whips over developers, reflecting designer Murphy’s critique of company culture at that time.
Released on March 24, 1989, Space Quest III inspired multiple fan remake projects that were eventually discontinued. A non-interactive VGA demo appeared in 2003, and in 2023 a fan-produced 3D remake featuring voice acting titled Space Quest 3D was launched.
Reception
The Atari ST edition of Space Quest III earned an 83% rating in the September 1989 issue (No. 94) of Computer and Video Games, being described as both "addictive and enjoyable". In the same year, Dragon magazine awarded the title 4 out of 5 stars, with comparable scores given to the Macintosh and PC/MS-DOS releases. Compute! commended the game’s visuals and sound card audio, considering them the finest in the entire series. The publication STart emphasized the ST version’s impressive graphics and audio quality, stating it was accessible for newcomers to adventure games despite its text-adventure format and frequent need for saving and reloading. Computer Gaming World provided a favorable review, highlighting enhancements in presentation and action elements, and honored it with a Special Award for Achievement in Sound in 1989. Additionally, the magazine ranked one of the game’s distinctive death sequences as the second-best on its "15 best ways to die in computer gaming" list released in 1996.
The editorial team at Game Player's PC Strategy Guide recognized Space Quest III with their 1989 accolades for "Best PC Adventure Role-Playing Game" as well as "Best PC EGA Graphics".
In May 1990, Games International lauded the title as "Brilliant!" featuring "superb" graphics alongside what they described as the finest musical soundtrack found in any computer game to date. The humor was consistently praised, though criticism was directed at lengthy loading times and frequent disk change requirements. Both gameplay and visual elements received high marks, each earning a score of 9 out of 10.
Sierra On-Line reported that by March 1996, total sales of the entire Space Quest franchise had exceeded 1.2 million copies.
External links
- Space Quest 3D – A freeware fan remake released in 2023, featuring point-and-click gameplay in a 3D environment developed using Unity (game engine)
- Articles with short description
- 1980s interactive fiction
- 1989 video games
- Adventure games
- Amiga games
- Atari ST games
- DOS games
- Games commercially released with DOSBox
- Point-and-click adventure games
- ScummVM-supported games
- Sierra Entertainment games
- Single-player video games
- Space Quest
- Video game sequels
- Video games developed in the United States
- Video games set on fictional planets