Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness is a video game that combines elements of adventure and role-playing games. It is the fourth game in the Quest for Glory series created by Sierra On-Line. This game is unique because it is the only one in the series to remove numbers from its title.

Plot

The game Shadow of Darkness continues the story from Quest for Glory III: Wages of War. After winning a battle in Fricana, the Hero is suddenly taken to the dangerous Dark One Caves in Mordavia, a land filled with ghosts and spirits. This world combines stories from Slavic traditions with eerie, strange elements. When the Hero escapes the caves, he meets a young woman named Katrina, who helps him throughout his journey. The Hero helps townspeople solve their problems and faces old enemies, such as the nearly-dead Ad Avis and the giant witch Baba Yaga. He also gains unusual new allies. The Hero is forced to help Ad Avis’ Dark Master gather Dark Rituals, which are needed to bring Avoozl the Dark One (a character inspired by the monster Cthulhu and possibly the Slavic god Chernobog) into Mordavia’s world. The Hero breaks free from this control, stops the plan, and defeats Ad Avis. After a victory celebration, the wizard Erasmus and his companion Fenrus appear, summoning the Hero to the land of Silmaria.

Gameplay

The game continued with the use of a graphical, point-and-click interface from Quest for Glory III. It also added a new combat system that showed battles from a sideways view. Players could choose to let the computer handle the fighting instead of controlling it themselves.

Development

Quest for Glory IV includes darker themes but keeps the humor from earlier games by using parodies of famous actors like Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. The game centers on a dark cult trying to summon an extremely powerful evil, which is very different from earlier villains like Baba Yaga. The monsters in the game, such as undead creatures and Lovecraftian monsters, are much more serious than the lighter monsters in previous games. However, there are also vampiric rabbits that resemble characters from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The game was influenced by gothic fiction, old horror movies, and books about vampires and werewolves.

The game’s development took longer than expected, which caused Sierra to release it without enough testing. The first version of the game, stored on floppy discs, was nearly unplayable. A year later, a re-release on CD improved the game because a programmer had time to fix problems. A later digital version on GOG fixed many remaining issues. According to the game’s director, Corey Cole, the budget for Quest for Glory IV was $750,000.

One detailed part of the game involves a character named Gypsy Magda using a deck of Tarot cards to predict the hero’s future and identify possible enemies or allies. The images used in the game came from the Russian tarot of St. Petersburg, a version of the Rider–Waite–Smith deck. The layout of the cards used in the game is unique but somewhat similar to the start of a Celtic cross layout.

Shadows of Darkness was created using SVGA graphics.

The CD-ROM version of Quest for Glory IV was the first in the series to include voice actors. Important voice actors include John Rhys-Davies as the Narrator, Jennifer Hale as Katrina, and Bill Farmer as Leshy. The game also had an original soundtrack by Aubrey Hodges, which included a reprise of the Hero’s Theme from earlier games and a version of "Anitra’s Dance" by Edvard Grieg, played as background music in the Hotel Mordavia.

According to an article in InterAction magazine, John Rhys-Davies spent over three weeks recording his lines, leading him to call the game the "CD-ROM from Hell." Quest for Glory IV was the first game in which Jennifer Hale provided voice dialogue. The voices of three local farmers are notable for their focus on jokes and conversations, even when they do not match the text on screen.

The end of Quest for Glory III referred to the game as Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness. The original game manuals called it Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness. Later, it was named Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness in the Quest for Glory Anthology collection. Quest for Glory II referred to it as Quest for Glory III: Shadows of Darkness.

Release

The game was first released in December 1993 on nine 3.5" floppy diskettes, like many other Sierra adventure games at that time. This format was chosen so players without CD-ROM drives could still enjoy the game. However, the rush to release the game before the holiday season caused problems, such as bugs that made the game difficult to play. Other issues included the game's large scale and complex design, which were more advanced than other adventure games. At the same time, Sierra's SCI engine, the technology used for their adventure games, was being updated during development. To fix these issues, Sierra released a free patch called version 1.1a on January 10, 1994, to players who requested it. This game was among the first published games to include known software bugs that the publisher planned to correct later. A final version of the game was released in September 1994 on CD. This version included full recorded dialogue, a new introductory movie, and improved gameplay. The CD version came with a jewel box containing the game CD, manual, store catalog, and legal documents. The floppy disk version included a smaller and less detailed manual.

The floppy disk version did not use copy protection that required a specific device, so players had to complete several checks at the start of each game. The CD version only required the disc to be inserted.

Reception

In March 1994, Computer Gaming World described Shadows of Darkness as offering "a unique mix of dark mystery and light humor" and noted it was an "award winning adventure." However, in April 1994, Scorpia of the same magazine had mixed feelings. She praised the game's automatic combat feature, which she said was helpful for players who disliked fast-paced action. She criticized the puzzles as "weak to obscure" and called the final boss "a letdown." Scorpia also pointed out many bugs in the game, calling it "the sloppiest product ever released by Sierra." She mentioned that the game required multiple patches and that players had to replay parts of it many times. She noted that the game's early release, due to "financial reasons," hurt Sierra's reputation for making high-quality games. She hoped this was a one-time mistake and warned that Sierra should not become like other companies that release poor-quality products and rely on patches and upgrades to fix them. Scorpia concluded that Shadows of Darkness was disappointing.

In May 1994, James V. Trunzo of White Wolf #43 reviewed Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness and gave it a "Very Good" rating. He stated that the game would not satisfy players who enjoy "bloody and macabre" themes but recommended it for those seeking "challenging fun" in a gothic setting.

In later years, several critics praised the game. Rowan Kaizer of Engadget and Ryan Stevens of GameTrailers called it the best entry in the series. Michael Baker of RPGamer said the game was "worth money even twenty years on" and gave it a 4 out of 5 star rating. Adam Rosenberg of G4TV called Shadows of Darkness "the most elaborate and well-designed" entry in the series. PC Gamer’s Richard Cobbett described the game as "absolutely wonderful." In 2011, Adventure Gamers ranked Shadows of Darkness as the 23rd-best adventure game ever released.