You would not believe just how long I had waited for this game to come out. It seemed that there was a new King's Quest game released every two years, so since King's Quest 7 was released in 1994, I had expected one to be released in 1996. Of course, there came numerous delays in production that caused the game to take four years to be released. The summer before it was released, I actually hunted for a new computer in anticipation for the game because I knew that my old computer (the one I got because it came with the King's Quest 5 game) would not be able to run it. I remember checking the now-gone www.kingsquest.net website constantly right up to the day Mask of Eternity went gold. It was great! I got the game as a Christmas present from my friends, so I did not have to spend a single cent for it! Woohoo!

I went into this game knowing that it was not going to be the traditional King's Quest game. It is a 3D action adventure game with combat. There is no way around that fact. Each realm in Mask of Eternity contains many creatures and monsters that Connor must kill in order to survive and gain experience points. I personally had no problem with the combat. In fact, I have some games that have a bit of combat in them, such as Lands of Lore, Shadow Caster, and the Quest for Glory series. I played the game mostly in first-person person view, and that what-is-behind-the-corner feeling was something I really enjoyed! Is a monster back there? Can I ambush it from behind? Should I try to shoot it from afar or attack it head-on? There is a lot of control in how you deal with these creatures, which is the part of fun of the game! Many hard-core King's Quest fans who loved the series for its famous adventure-side of gaming were shocked and disappointed at the addition of combat. Therefore, if you simply do not like the idea of violence or combat in games, then Mask of Eternity is probably not the game for you. There is some bloodshed here and there, but it is nowhere near the level of some of these gross slaughter-'em-all games I have seen.

I have always liked computer games where you have free access to go and explore anywhere! This game was excellent in this manner. You can make Connor walk on the paths to get places, but you can also make him climb up cliffs, get up close to walls, get in caves -- pretty much to anywhere he is able to walk or jump or backflip. It made the previous games in the series seem to limiting in where you could go. In fact, a lot of people over on Sierra's Mask Of Eternity Message Board have discovered a lot of cool stuff off the map! Uncharted territory that is not supposed to be for the game!

There are lots of puzzles and mini-quests to solve in this game as it has been with all the games in this series. I personally found them quite challenging, and some of the puzzles were a bit on the Myst and Shivers side ... which I liked a lot. However, I must say that the puzzles are not as challenging as in previous King's Quest games, especially those in King's Quest 6, but they are still a lot of fun! I did wish the game had more of the traditional character interaction. While Connor does talk to the inhabitants in the realms and get information from them, there were not that many inhabitants per realm. I felt there could have been more. Daventry, the first realm you encounter, has almost no one to talk to except for 3 or 4 inhabitants. Everyone else was turned to stone. That sometimes frustrated me because whenever I played King's Quest games, I always resorted to talking to people in order to get information to help me out. Well, you really cannot get much information and help out of frozen people. It took some getting used to.

The 3D graphics in the game were good, but a bit too much on the pixelated side for me. I'm pretty sure it was the result of the graphics engine that Sierra used to make the game, but when you looked at things close-up, the pixels were HUGE! King's Quest has always been well-known to set the new standard in incredible graphics time and time again, but I was not too impressed with huge pixels, sharp edges, and visible seams in the environment. Overall, it was too polygonal in style for me. I preferred the traditional crisp-style and more artistic graphics of King's Quest 5 - 7.

Maybe it is just my nice computer and my patience for these games, but I really did not have too many problems with the game technical-wise after installing the game patch. It worked fine for me, but I must say that this is one of Sierra's buggiest games. I felt that the game was shipped too quickly -- before all the bugs were taken out. The latest patch fixes a lot of the problems, but it is very common for the game to not install properly, freeze, or have other little glitches here and there. However, most of it is fixable if you know the tricks or ask veteran players over on the Mask of Eternity boards who know the tricks. *wink* It is not a game to pass up just because of the glitches.

As a game by itself, it was overall a great game. I liked it a lot, even with its much darker mood and a non-royal family character. I know some King's Quest fans loved it and others simply hated it, and it is always surprises me to see who is on what side. I was surprised that I liked it despite the fact that it was not really a traditional King's Quest adventure-style game. I was also surprised to find out that Templeton -- the Sierra Game Sage -- hated it. I would not recommend this game as a family game like previous King's Quest games. It is a bit too dark and violent for the really young players. In fact, for some people (including myself), it seems fitting to leave off the King's Quest part of the title and just have it simply as Mask of Eternity. In other words, play it as Mask of Eternity and not as King's Quest to really enjoy what it has to offer. 4 out of 6 stars. -- Kimmie