Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

About Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (1991) is Christy Marx's richly researched Sierra adventure in which Robin Hood raises King Richard's ransom while evading the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood in Depth

Robin Hood, a gallant, yellow-bearded woodsman and master of disguise, sets out to restore King Richard I to the throne by raising enough money to pay his ransom, while the Sheriff of Nottingham tries to capture and hang him and his men. Maid Marian leads a double life as a Nottingham noblewoman and a pagan forest priestess who equates the Virgin Queen of Heaven with the Virgin Mary, fearing she will be burned as a witch if caught; she is Robin's love interest and his link to the Queen Mother Eleanor of Aquitaine's network of spies and loyalists, also working to raise the ransom.

Most of the game is standard point-and-click adventuring with Sierra's icon interface from King's Quest V, travelling between areas via hotspots on a map, plus minigames of archery, combat and nine men's morris at adjustable difficulty. Play is divided into days, each ending with a cut-scene of Robin and his men discussing events, and vital tasks can be left undone, leading to a worse ending. Several puzzles are purely language-based, and the game is written in British English. Score is kept three ways: puzzle points, ransom money collected and outlaws still alive. There are four endings, from Robin being hanged to a pardon, a royal post without Marian's hand, or a noble title and marriage to Marian.

Making Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

Designed by Christy Marx and published by Sierra On-Line in 1991 with VGA graphics, it involved considerable historical and cultural research for its setting and puzzles. Mark Seibert directed the music and sound effects, with synthesised score by Ken Allen, Christopher Braymen, Orpheus Hanley and Aubrey Hodges. Dragon gave it five out of five stars, and White Wolf found its "diversity" of combat, puzzles and arcade sequences most impressive. Adventure Gamers later gave it 4.5 out of 5, praising its puzzles, writing, research, branching plot and graphics while criticising unresponsive action controls, and called it a classic despite its relative obscurity.