Alabama Smith is back for a whole new adventure! Years after uncovering an amulet that allows travel back into the past archaeologist AlabamaAlabama Smith is back for a whole new adventure! Years after uncovering an amulet that allows travel back into the past archaeologist Alabama Smith finds himself hunting jewels in Machu Picchu. It is hoped these jewels will lead to an artefact of incredible power. Things however do not go according to plan and he will have to reunite with his old flame Anastasia while getting help from his university’s dean if he hopes to stop an ancient set of crystals from being misused. All hope rests on you the player…
The first game in this Indiana Jones knockoff series Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii (2008) ended on a cliffhanger that hinted Anastasia’s father’s cult was after them. All of these appear to have been dropped for the sequel as Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate (2009) begins ten years later without any explanation as to the events in between. Alabama now has a chiselled look about him to show his age yet somehow he still works for his university with ancient artefacts. His journey to locate a powerful archaeological weapon means having to use the medallion he assembled in the first game to travel back and forth through time. With the sequel there are more screens to do this on. In terms of story it’s a slight step up from the original and feels more complete than Escape from Pompeii although it’s not perfect by any means. Anastasia is completely useless throughout the game and becomes a liability. The opening Templar quote bares no relation to the plot of the game which is set in Machu Pichu. There’s also the fact that Alabama Smith at certain points gets sidelined as the player is asked to control other characters. I mean you at one point have to control Alabama’s university dean! Is Alabama such a boring character the developers have to transfer stages to other characters? I guess so. It probably doesn’t help their stages prove to be the more interesting ones. At least this game has an ending. Alawar Stargaze continue this series as a HOPA however there are now hidden object screens where objects on a list need to be found. The puzzles themselves are much, much harder than in Escape from Pompeii. I had to use a walkthrough guide for a lot of them due to their difficulty. On the whole one of the main problems with the sequel is a lack of learning curve. It begins hard and ends hard. That is not taking into account the difficult to find hotspots. There is a built in achievements system to provide the game with a bit of longevity. This becomes important as a couple of achievements can only be completed on Hard mode where you get the best ending. You will want the best ending as well.
The character was never that interesting but Alabama Smith in the Quest of Fate is a step up from the original game. The story is a little more involving, the supporting characters are a bit more interesting and while the puzzles are much more elaborate which causes difficulty solving them as a self contained game it comes together quite well. The biggest issue with the whole character is he’s been done better in other games and the same goes for the time travel elements. Even when the series finds its personality with this game the character still remains a cardboard cut out of Indiana Jones. There’s nothing wrong with character knockoffs but the question remains: could the developers not have tried a bit more to make Alabama Smith unique?… Expand
