Chex Quest
Chex Quest | |
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multiplayer |
Chex Quest is a
In 2019, General Mills rereleased Chex Quest and its previously unofficial 2008 sequel, and presented a mini-documentary on YouTube.[13][14]
Gameplay
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Chexquest.png/220px-Chexquest.png)
Originally based on the Doom engine, the gameplay present in Chex Quest is substantially identical to its predecessor.[1] The game is played in a first person perspective with the player character navigating through quasi-3D environments while enemies attempt to attack and immobilize him. Along the way, various cereal-themed power-ups, weapons, and ammunition can be found that can boost the player character's health and make him better able to counterattack or flee his enemies. When the final boss is defeated in the last level, the game is won.
A few notable differences from Doom are evident, however, regarding enemy profiles (specifically the loss of long-range attacks in low-level enemies and the loss of movement in high-level enemies) and the number of levels in each world (restricted to 5 levels in Chex Quest).[15]
Plot
Set on a distant planet named Bazoik, the game follows the Chex Warrior, a soldier clad in a Chex-shaped suit of
Development
Produced with a small team of developers on a budget of around $500,000, Chex Quest began life as the brainchild of the WatersMolitor promotion agency – an award-winning group that had been hired by
The development of Chex Quest differed from traditional video game development in that the basic game engine had already been created and the bulk of the creation process consisted of aesthetic changes made to the music and artwork from The Ultimate Doom. For budgetary reasons, Id Software was contacted and an inexpensive license was obtained for the Doom engine which was considered obsolete in light of Id's then-recent release of Quake. Chex Quest was the first foray into professional game development for lead artist Charles Jacobi and programmer Scott Holman, though both had previously modded Doom levels in the past. In an interview with PC Gamer magazine in 2009, Jacobi stated that the biggest reason for the lasting success of Chex Quest has been that it is still essentially a disguised version of Doom with basically unaltered game dynamics.[10] Indeed, the game has been recognized for having a sense of humor about its identity and origins.[17]
Humorous aspects of the conversion take the form of ironic in-jokes related to Doom resulting from the more or less exact "translation" of previous non-essential Doom decorations into their non-essential Chex Quest equivalents. Thus the bloodied bodies and the twitching torsos from Doom become the goo-covered cereal pieces and the cereal victims twitching to extract themselves from goo in Chex Quest. Likewise, according to the plot the "health" meter represents the Chex Warrior's ability to move, with 0% representing being completely covered in slime and unable to move. The picture of the Chex Warrior in the status bar display becomes progressively more coated in slime, as opposed to bleeding as does Doomguy's face in the Doom status bar. Because time was limited, pre-existing tools popular with the Doom fan community (such as the level creation tool Doombuilder) were utilized in level design, and sound effects such as the distinctive vocalization of the Flemoids were created by creative director Dean Hyers and audio designer Andrew Benson playing around in a sound booth.[18]
During development, aesthetic decisions had to be run by Ralston for approval and this resulted in a number of modifications. The zorchers, for instance, were originally intended to look like a classic
Additional development team members include: Producer Kimberly Hyers, Technical Coordinator Dave Brus, Project Manager Mary Bregi.[20]
Promotion
In support of the promotion, coupons and advertisements were included in newspapers and magazines with total circulation of 42 million; promotional art was added to the front of all boxes containing the game; a 30-second television advertisement was broadcast; and a website (chexquest.com) was launched to present game tips, Chex recipes, and further plot details such as character biographies.
Comparison with Doom
Some parameters used to start Doom are also used to start Chex Quest. Despite Chex Quest's major changes from its predecessor, there are still a few remaining relics (e.g. levels from other Ultimate Doom episodes and some in-game text).
While Doom has a
Leftover levels
Chex Quest has only the first five levels from The Ultimate Doom converted for the game.[23] Some leftover levels are playable (as Chex Quest conversions) only via the level warp parameter at startup.[24] These leftover levels include maps 6 through 9 from episode 1 as well as all maps in episodes 2, 3, and 4. In these levels the music reverts to the original score from Ultimate Doom. After the level warp parameter is used to access maps E3M1 or E4M1, the remainder of the levels (through map 5) within the episode selected can be accessed by completing the levels in the episode in order (just as with the standard level progression in Doom or Chex Quest). Unfortunately, bugs prevent any of the other levels from launching upon completion of the level before it, and similarly E4M9 cannot be reached from E4M2 as previously. Completion of E2M5 (via either exit) displays the end graphic originally displayed at the end of The Shores Of Hell, the second episode of the original Doom, and completing E3M5 displays the end sequence from Inferno, the third episode. Likewise, completing E4M5 displays the end graphic from Thy Flesh Consumed, the fourth and final episode of The Ultimate Doom. Both of the latter two end sequences feature a decapitated rabbit named Daisy.[23]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0d/Chex_quest_you%27ve_done_it.jpg/220px-Chex_quest_you%27ve_done_it.jpg)
Episode intermission texts which originally (i.e. in Doom) were displayed upon completion of E1M8, E2M8, E3M8, and E4M8 are now found in modified form for Chex Quest.[23][24] Thus completion of E1M5 in Chex Quest now displays the new message: "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE NEXT MISSION? PRESS THE ESCAPE KEY TO CONTINUE..."[25] Completion of the leftover level E2M5 displays the message: "YOU'VE DONE IT!"[26] which never appears in The Ultimate Doom.[24] Likewise, the episode intermission text displayed upon completion of E3M5 reads: "WONDERFUL JOB!",[27] and that displayed upon completion of E4M5 reads: "FANTASTIC"[28] again neither of which ever appeared in the original game. Charles Jacobi has said that there were never any plans to produce more than five levels[18] and that he knew Scott Holman, another programmer, ran through the text strings and changed any that seemed inappropriate, without knowing where they went.
The skins for the more difficult enemies from Doom have not been converted as these enemies were not employed in Chex Quest levels, but rather the skins have been removed entirely.[23] This introduces an additional experience for those playing the "leftover levels" as these difficult enemies still exist in a completely invisible form.[24] This also goes for items like the partial invisibility, berserker pack, light amp goggles, and all skull keycards. In addition, the music from the original registered Doom as well as the overworld graphics (depicting Gigeresque scenes of death and hell) and maps that were not modified (E1M6 through E4M9) were left intact,[23] allowing anybody with WAD file editing knowledge to create their own copy of registered Doom (specifically The Ultimate Doom).
Reception and legacy
Publication | Score |
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AllGame | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
On release, the game was received largely positively by players. Consumers of diverse ages gave enthusiastic feedback, and there were many requests for the development of sequels.[6][11] Corporate sales of Chex cereal also saw a tremendous boost with incremental volume over base increasing by 295% and volume share increasing 48% from the previous year.[6][11] These increases were directly attributed to the release of Chex Quest, and General Mills deemed the promotion "highly successful."[30] Although the promotion only lasted 6 weeks, the game continued to be played well beyond the promotional period and promotional marketing groups considered the brand image to have been revitalized "from old-fashioned and stodgy to exciting, fun and modern."[6]
Despite this, what little critical attention Chex Quest received in the video game press tended to be negative. Comparisons of the game to its forerunner (Doom) and to other similar games of the day were often unfavorable to Chex Quest, which was pejoratively labeled a "Doom clone", and the game was regarded as an imitation with little to no innovation.[31] Noted cereal scholar Scott Bruce decried General Mills' decision to invent a new mascot for Chex cereal for such frivolous purposes, and dismissed the Chex Warrior as not compelling enough to sell the product.[32]
In modern times, Chex Quest is often considered to have been highly innovative[33][34] and to have pioneered the use of licensed modding to insert product placement into established titles.[35] Although at least 5 million copies were released, the original CDs are uncommon on the secondary market as they were noted by collectors as having great collectible value in the mid-1990s.[36] The game has attracted a sizeable cult following, and its fanbase has been noted with interest by critics for the continued devotion to the game despite its great age.[12] Other critics, however, have characterized the game as bad even for a Doom clone.[37]
In a retrospective review,
Sequels
Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis
Digital Café's 1997 sequel entitled Chex Quest 2: Flemoids Take Chextropolis was made freely available for gamers to download from the Chex Quest homepage.
In this sequel's plot, the Chex Warrior returns to his home planet and lands in Chex City only to discover that the Flemoid threat has reached his homeworld. There, the player battles through a terrestrial spaceport, a cinema (showing three videos each endlessly looping), a museum, and the eponymous city (Chextropolis), until reaching the sewers to confront an end
Chex Quest 3: Invasion!
In 2008, Chex Quest 3: Invasion! was developed and released as a service to fans
The plot for this sequel is set ten years later than the events of the first two Chex Quest games, with the invasion of the planet Ralston by the Flemoids. The breadth of the story was expanded to a much larger scale, possessing a seemingly more grim scenario than the predecessors—the latter of which Charles Jacobi dispelled as unintentional, in that he simply "wanted it to feel bigger" than the first two games.[18]
Chex Quest HD
In response to an interview question regarding the possibility of a canonical Kickstarter-funded Chex Quest 4, Jacobi pointed out that the franchise is owned by General Mills so a funded project would likely violate copyright and trademark laws. However, freely distributed non-tarnishing modifications created by hobbyists would probably be protected as free speech.[18]
In 2016, Jacobi revealed that a high definition remake of the original game called Chex Quest HD was in development using
The remake was released on May 18, 2020, and can be acquired through Steam. It was also released on March 11, 2022, for the Nintendo Switch.[44]
Fanbase
Similarities have been drawn by fans between Chex Quest and
Chex Quest has gained a devoted fanbase since its cereal-box release in 1996. Often simultaneous fans of
Notes
- ^ Although WatersMolitor was hired by Ralston, Ralston's subsequent sale to General Mills in 1996 meant that Chex Quest would eventually be released under the General Mills name.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Sicherman, Al. Taste: Tidbits. Star Tribune. 13 August 1997.
- ^ a b Thompson, Stephanie. "WatersMolitor Promo Links Chex and AOL." Adweek - Midwest Edition. 10 February 1997.
- ^ The Vindicator. Wednesday August 13, 1997. C2.
- ^ a b Hyers, Dean. Digital Café Projects Archived 2008-09-19 at the Wayback Machine. DeanHyers.com.
- ^ Vale, Heather; Comm, Joel. Closed Door Session #5 - EXPERT: Michael Koenigs. Closed Door Session DVD Series. 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Reggie Awards Case Studies: Reggie Gold Award Winners - Chex Quest. Promotional Marketing Association. 1998.
- ^ Ross Miller (2008-04-18). "Ask Joystiq: Chex Quest, He-Man and broken 360 gamepads". Joystiq. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- Advertising Age. Pg.S-4. 17 March 1997.
- ^ Sharkey, Scott. The 37 Best Free PC Games: Chex Quest 3. GamePro. 2 March 2011.
- ^ a b c Lahti, Evan. Backspace - Chex Quest: Never Forget. PC Gamer. No.190. Pg.96. August 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g Molitor, Dori. Return of the Flemoids Archived October 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Hub Magazine. July 2008.
- ^ a b c d e PC Gamer staff. PC Gamer Panel - PAX 2010: The Five Wonders of PC Gaming. (audio available). PC Gamer. 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Chex Just Rereleased 'Chex Quest'— Its Beloved CD-ROM Game From the 1990s". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on June 10, 2019.
- ^ Apple News/Food & Wine Magazine May 24th 2019.
- ^ a b Take That, Orphan Annie!. The Buffalo News. 10 August 1997.
- ^ "Moby Games - Chex Quest for DOS". MobyGames. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ a b Plante, Chris. The Forgotten First-Person Shooters You Need to Play: Chex Quest Archived February 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. UGO. (reprinted at 1up.com Archived 2012-07-10 at the Wayback Machine) 24 September 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lock, Chris (13 April 2012). "Interview with Chex Quest Team Member Charles Jacobi". LevelSave. LevelSave LLC. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ Jacobi, Charles. Chex Quest 1 Concepts! Chucktropolis. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ Info provided by Creative Director
- ^ a b Gaw, Jonathan. Business: Chew on this - Chex will put CD-ROM in cereal; $5 million high- tech promotion comes as General Mills takes over brand. Star Tribune. 31 January 1997.
- ^ Chex Quest Cheats & Codes Archived 2013-03-07 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. 2012.
- ^ PC). Digital Café.
- ^ a b c d Foster, Neil. Chex Quest Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine. Hardcore Gaming 101. 13 February 2014.
- PC). Digital Café. Level/area: E1M5.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE NEXT MISSION? PRESS THE ESCAPE KEY TO CONTINUE...
- PC). Digital Café. Level/area: E2M5.
YOU'VE DONE IT!!
- PC). Digital Café. Level/area: E3M5.
WONDERFUL JOB!
- PC). Digital Café. Level/area: E4M5.
FANTASTIC
- ^ Allgame. Archived from the originalon November 17, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- Advertising Age. p. 48. 29 September 1997.
- ^ Arsenault, Dominic. Video Game Genre, Evolution and Innovation - Part III. Game Genre and Innovation: Imitation and Evolution Archived 2020-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture. Vol. 3, no. 2. pp. 149–176. 2009.
- The Boston Herald.
- CiteSeerX 10.1.1.117.3375.
- CiteSeerX 10.1.1.157.9787.
- ^ Vedrashko, Ilya. Advertising in Computer Games - Part III: The Many Ways to Advertise - Product Placement: Modding Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Department of Comparative Media Studies. Pg. 58. September 2006.
- The Boston Herald.
- ISBN 1-933771-11-9
- ^ The Gasman Cometh. The Buffalo News. 16 February 1997.
- ^ a b Plante, Chris. Chex Quest 3 Released; Cereal fans set down spoons to rejoice. UGO (archived via Internet Archive). 15 September 2008.
- bit-tech. 12 September 2008.
- ^ Yu, Derek. Chex Quest 3. TIGSource. 11 September 2008.
- ^ "Doom mod Chex Quest is getting a HD remake". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
- ^ "Here's some long-awaited footage of Chex Quest HD". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
- ^ "Chex Quest HD Exists, And It's Getting A Switch Port This March". Nintendo Life. 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ Decker, Logan. FanService. PC Gamer. #207. Pg.5. December 2010.
External links
- Chex Quest official website from General Mills
- Chucktropolis Archived 2022-11-24 at the Wayback Machine - Charles Jacobi's "Chex Quest 3" webpage where you can download the game for free.
- Chex Quest Gallery Archived 2023-05-31 at the Wayback Machine - The only website where you can still download the original Chex Quest 2 installer, recommended if you still have the original Chex Quest CD and wish to play the game in DOS.
- ZDoom Archived 2022-11-02 at the Wayback Machine - The official website where you can download ZDoom and GZDoom!