Graphic adventure games, of the classic ‘point and click’ variety, are seemingly a perfect fit for modern, touch screen smartphones and tablets. The menu based interfaces and pointer based movement are tailor-made for mobile. Indeed, the fantastic ScummVM emulator is proof positive of this, with classic graphic adventures running wonderfully on mobile.
There have been a few of the old games, such as Flight of the Amazon Queen, ported over as well as some LucasArts games, but aside from fine efforts from Revolution Studios, there have been surprisingly few brand new graphic adventures on mobile. It is strange, especially as they would be a good fit for indie developers.
Well, thankfully we do have a new one, Zeus Quest Remastered, to play. Well it isn’t completely new, as this is an enhanced and upgraded version of a game released a few years ago, but by current industry standards it certainly feels new.
It also feel unique, with a look to the game that is deceptively simple. The artwork is actually very good, and suits the good-natured script perfectly. The game uses a vector art style and it actually adds a fair bit of humour by itself as it lends the characters a paper puppet look that the developer constantly uses to add expression and farce to each scenario.
You follow the ruler of the gods, Zeus around on a quest that is quite bonkers but all the more refreshing for it. There are many twists and turns to the story, with puzzles to solve and plenty of dialog to work through.
Here, straight from the developer, are the app’s best features:
• Silly ‘Point and Click’ Adventure game, Old-School.
• Silly 60FPS fully animated characters.
• Silly plot & dialogues translated into 6 languages.
• Silly vector graphics in Full HD.
* Saves / loads progress from cloud to switch devices
* Getting started help – Tips system.
The plot mixes sci-fi elements such as time travel with classic Greek mythology and adds in a whole load of silly humour to good effect. Most of the puzzles are logical, although when you are mixing styles like this game does, you are bound to get an occasionally obtuse solution. However, for many gamers it is these kind of puzzles that help to make a game like this more memorable.
Overall, I can heartily recommend Zeus Quest Remastered as a brilliant addition to mobile gaming. I really hope that it encourages other indie developers to follow in CrazySoft’s footsteps, as I would love to see more graphic adventures on mobile.
