Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

A solid stand-out Sierra game, masterfully crafted and an amazing overall game experience. A highlight in Sierra's already impressive library. Some of the best music that gaming of this era has to offer.

I'm not that interested in Robin Hood or medieval England, but I do appreciate a polished adventure game with a well-told story and a subtle sense of humor. A lot of research and care went into making the experience feel authentic, from the music and graphics to the plot and dialogue. Not only is the atmosphere immersive, but the player is actively involved in shaping the direction of the story. Puzzles frequently have multiple solutions (some more favorable than others), and there are several optional actions that add depth to the narrative. Your choices determine how the ending plays out, and even dying is treated as part of the story—Robin's men gather around the campfire to lament whatever terrible or comically incompetent fate has befallen their leader. Because the narrative and gameplay are so intertwined, the puzzles end up being very intuitive and the challenges quite varied. Persuasion, tactical planning, stealth, exploration, sharpshooting, memorization, mastering a secret code, solving riddles, and dodging rocks are all part of a day's work. Although it is possible to create unwinnable scenarios that dead-end the adventure, the game usually gives ample opportunity to correct mistakes and go back for things you missed. Moreover, there's a difficulty slider for the few arcade sequences, a fast travel option to minimize unnecessary backtracking, and some obvious cues when you've made a bad decision. My only complaint is that entirely too much time is spent wandering through the forest, which is a massive mess of similar-looking screens, in search of the next plot point. If you've visited every fast travel location and still can't figure out what to do, it probably means there's an event waiting to be triggered on some screen you'll only stumble on by accident. Otherwise, this is a really solid game that's just plain fun. It's worth noting that the game contains frequent (depending on how you play) bloodless violence and a small amount of mild nudity.

This game is one of my favorites of all time. The writing is excellent, and the characters are delightfully different and memorable. It hits all the right spots of the Robin Hood legend (disguises, stealing from the rich, archery, King Richard's ransom, etc.). There is limited (druid) magic in the game, however, so if you're expecting something striclty realistic, you will be disappointed. I have no idea if this game is worth it if you've never played it before. But I can replay the game every couple of years and still thoroughly enjoy it. I even bought a physical version of the Nine Men's Morris board/pieces because of this game.

played this a couple of years ago and it was as good as it was when i played it as a kid. The narrative is broodingly pagan and celtic, rather than christian, and evokes an England that is still populated by its ghosts....

Admittedly I have only played this game about 10 minutes or so (because I'm going through a crazy point and click adventure nostalgia phase and am just buying everything from the 90s that Sierra and Lucasarts produced) but those 10 minutes left such an impression I felt like I needed to review this game. I grew up on the point and click adventure games and I would play these with my older brother who died in 1996, so replaying most these has a lot sentimental value more than actual gameplay value, but I had never seen this one growing up and decided to try it out before replaying some of the games I came to buy, and was utterly flabbergasted at how much freedom this game gives you right off the bat and I can tell is much more of an open world game than current release Bethesda games offer. If you are into immersive adventures that require you to use your wits and gives you options on what to do and you never played this, do yourself a favor and buy it already, this game is definitely the gem all the reviews are saying it is and really deserves waaaaaay more attention; I feel bad for the original game designers for having their brilliance overlooked by the more campy and easy to digest point and click games that Sierra was pumping out back then, and it's not those games aren't enjoyable for the charm and environments they offer, but this game really takes the cake for what a point and click game could have been.