Conquests of The Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

DOSBox, Conquests of The Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (1991) game

I can't believe I never found this before, but I downloaded loads of games off Abandonia years ago and went through it recently looking for something deep, but accessible, and this point-and-click adventure was ideal in both respects. It has attractive, painterly graphics, very good sound effects and suitable music, as well as a welcoming interface, easy to use, with a varied story including little mini-games to add to the immersion in this world (first person archery, ingenious point-and-click 2D fighting with a quarterstaff and the enjoyable, and properly antique (as in centuries, if not millennia old), board game, Nine Men's Morris). There's a depth to the gameplay with a score that can decrease as well as increase as you make decisions and approach your tasks, which makes you feel like you have an effect on the world, plus you get disguises to collect and store in your home cave that gives you something to return to for other options, rather than just having one persona and one set of clothing or items as in most games of this kind. It's well judged so as not to annoy, allowing the player to adjust the speed of the game to suit instead of waiting for Robin Hood to wander across the screens at his own pace, plus an excellent map that gives you the option to jump to key locations or take the scenic route.

Quite the pleasant surprise, I must say, and if I'd played it back in the day I'd probably rank it up there with 'Monkey Island' and others of that ilk. Even through today's eyes it's more than merely functional, working software, it's downright enjoyable and my only caveat would be that the humour is sometimes a little rude, but otherwise it has a fine and funny air with a good story and a strong sense of you and your Merry Men's band of brotherhood and friendship. For example, at the end of each day when the latest task has been accomplished you automatically gather with your men to discuss and muse upon the developments that have happened, before starting each new morning back in your cave where it's up to you where to go next for a clue on how to progress. Sometimes there'll be someone waiting outside to give a hint, other times it's up to Robin to visit the various haunts, and only in very few cases did I find myself wandering bemused in the woods. When you first meet Marion or when you have to catch a wood pixie, or times when you have to encounter and hide from the Sheriff of Nottingham's men, these were the only times when I found out what to do by accident, and everything else is logical and well laid out. Although I could get stuck on occasion, it was never for days on end, there was always a little something to do to put me back on track, yet it was certainly fulfilling when the puzzles were solved.

It really had the best of all worlds: nicely animated characters and environments, not too much pointing and clicking necessary, no laborious tasks designed to cynically extend the game's lifespan - if anything, that's one of its greatest strengths with the high score and number of outlaws available at the end an incentive to play through again to improve your stats. I'm not sure if the amount of ransom money to be raised could be increased, I think that was just there to serve the story. It may be that players might just cheat a little and use earlier saves when anything doesn't go as well as they wish - for example, a couple of times each of your men give you a possible plan in which to do something and each has different levels of success in terms of men lost and points earned, but even then there are little asides that encourage exploration and discovery to improve your score, such as talking to everyone at the town fair - if you do so you find beggars you can donate money to and this is another thing that will boost your score. It really was very well written and inventive (even the woman that wrote it gives herself a cameo, which was amusing as she accidentally takes away some of your points before giving them back, just to mess with you!), from beginning to end.

I think accessibility is a gold standard of gaming, especially in older games from the last century when production values were lower and often it was about making rock hard gaming experiences that you'd have to master to get the most out of. Point-and-click adventures were a different prospect in general because it wasn't about quick reactions (though they help in the well integrated arcade sections of this game), but lateral thinking and experimentation without falling into trial and error. Judging that accurately is tough, but here it was expertly handled. The action games spice things up and the environments keep the game varied in spite of its forest setting and I can only imagine what a boon it was not to have to walk through every screen to get to places and have to go through all that disk-swapping back in the day! Even the ending where everyone gets full justice under the return of the King is a lovely finale to cap off the adventure, and very satisfying to see the goodies and baddies awarded their just deserts. About the only way it could have been improved is if I'd played it twenty to twenty-five years ago and was coming back to it with nostalgic eyes, as I'm sure it would have been one of my favourite games had I played it on the Amiga. A real little gem of a surprise find in my DOSBox folder as I never really go in expecting much. For the record, my final tally was 22 Outlaws left alive and a score of 5950 out of 7325, so as I mentioned, it even has that ingenious replayability of making better choices to encourage another run through!

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