The mean (but fewer) dick moves of Space Quest V

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Features by Adventure Game Hotspot staff
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While Space Quest IV seemed to gleefully delight in mercilessly punishing players, by 1993 adventure games had begun to thankfully grow out of the phase where "cardinal sins" like unexpected deaths, softlocks and masochistic puzzles were something to celebrated rather than condemned for the abominations they were. So that means there'll be none to be found in Space Quest V, right?

Well, not so fast. Though they're certainly fewer and farther between than ever before, and the change to a sillier, more cartoony approach under the direction of Mark Crowe helped lighten the focus on high-stakes consequences, this IS still Sierra we're talking about. And so the Space Quest Historian once again tries to save us – or at least amuse us in our shared frustration – from experiencing the worst his favorite series has to offer in his latest "dick move" exposé of Roger Wilco – The Next Mutation.

So yes, there's a lack of direction and a few maddening timed sequences, with or without killer androids on our heels, along with some poorly explained mechanics that make things like dodging toxic loogies or snagging a drifting spacefarer far harder than they should be. And even if you can't technically call them softlocks, woe betide the poor sap who forgot to note important keycard details or grab some liquid nitrogen early on, because nothing but death awaits waaaaaaaaay later near the end.

It's a good thing it has these bugaboos, of course, or we wouldn't be able to laugh about them more than 30 years later. So click, watch, and enjoy – you don't want to miss SQH's epic rant about dealing with a cryochamber!

The Space Quest Historian is part of the Adventure Game Hotspot Network, a collective of talented, dedicated content producers who work entirely independently but have joined forces to promote each other’s efforts. All opinions expressed belong solely to the original creators.