Lock's Quest

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Lock's Quest
Single-player, multiplayer

Lock's Quest is a real-time strategy tower defense video game developed by 5th Cell and published by THQ. It is 5th Cell's second Nintendo DS game.[1] It was released in North America on September 8, 2008, in Europe on September 26, 2008 and in Australia on September 25, 2008.

Gameplay

Lock's Quest is a real-time strategy game, incorporating tower defense gameplay elements. The battlefield, viewed from an isometric perspective, is displayed on the DS's lower screen. Combat is divided into two phases, Build and Battle. During the Build phase, the player has a limited amount of time and resources to construct defences, which consist of walls, towers, cannons, machines, and traps. The Battle phase follows the Build phase, and involves fighting waves of enemies while maintaining defences.[1][2]

Plot

The game is set in the kingdom of Antonia[3], built using a mysterious substance known as Source. The builders of this kingdom, the Archineers, studied source in an attempt to better understand its properties. The greatest archineer was Agonius, who discovered a remarkable property of source - that it can emulate life. Agonius started creating lifelike beings from the source, but the King, who understood the dangers of this, demanded that Agonius halt his work. Agonius refused, and so was banished from the kingdom.

Seeking vengeance upon the King, Agonius assumed the mantle of Lord Agony and created a clockwork army with the intent of destroying the kingdom. A war ensued, with heavy casualties on both sides. Eventually, two kingdom archineers, Kenan and Jacob, infiltrated Agony's fortress. The exact nature of the events that happened therein are not revealed until the end of the game - all that is known, at first, is that Agony was defeated, and Jacob was missing, presumed dead. Kenan, now a hero, took up the position of Chief Archineer.

The game itself begins some years after the events above. Lock is a young man living in the coastal village of Seacrest, along with his sister, Emi, and grandfather, Tobias. When the village (and entire kingdom) are attacked by a new army of clockworks, under a new Lord Agony, Lock enlists as an archineer and helps to fight the clockworks. After a 75-day campaign, the Kingdom force prevails and the new Agony is defeated. At the climax of the plot, it is revealed that the new Lord Agony is in fact Jacob. Long ago, when Jacob reached Agonius' chamber, he found Agonius a frail and broken man. He also found the young Lock, who was himself clockwork, the greatest creation of Agonius. Jacob took Lock and raised him as a human, under the guise of Tobias. He created Emi, who is also clockwork, and the village in which Lock was raised.

At the end of the game, the King tells Lock that, despite being clockwork, he was truly alive, because Agonius had given Lock his soul. As Emi lacked a human soul, she would eventually die. It is implied that Jacob, repentant and sorrowful for having waged war on the Kingdom, eventually sacrificed his soul to keep Emi alive at Lock's request. The final scene of the game is Lock and Emi playing tag on the beach.

Development

E3 2008 in July.[7]

In September 2008, as promotion for the game's release, 5th cell held a competition to win a custom DS Lite on their website.[8] A similar competition was held by THQ Australia in October.[9]

Reception

Lock's Quest was well received by most critics.

cut scenes, but said it "succeeds as both a love letter to, and an evolution of, the tower-defense genre".[12] Nintendo World Report said Lock's Quest was "just a few design tweaks away from being a fantastic game", claiming that it is "definitely disappointing in light of all its great assets and originality".[15] GameZone called it "unique" and "perfectly suited for the DS".[14] GameDaily praised the story, gameplay, graphics and music, and called it "an excellent game".[18] GameSpot praised the "lengthy single-player campaign, exciting multiplayer, and addictive gameplay".[2] Eurogamer criticized the battle phase of combat and the enemy artificial intelligence, while praising the "excellent graphics and repetitive but gripping gameplay".[13] The Sydney Morning Herald described it as "entertaining", but criticised the controls as "frustratingly imprecise", and gave it 3.5/5 overall.[19]

It was a nominee for two Nintendo DS-specific awards from IGN for their 2008 video game awards, including Best Strategy Game and Best New IP.[20][21] GameSpot nominated it for Best Game No One Played.[22]

Rerelease

On January 6, 2017, the German game ratings board Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) rated Lock's Quest for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, which indicated that the publisher was developing a port for the game.[23] On 16 February 2017, THQ Nordic officially announced that they were developing a remaster for Lock's Quest scheduled for May 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC with development by Digital Continue.[24][25]

On 5 September 2019, Lock's Quest was released on mobile devices on both the App Store and Google Play store.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Bozon, Mark (5 September 2008). "Lock's Quest Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Light, Austin (September 26, 2008). Lock's Quest for DS Review Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine. GameSpot. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  3. ^ "Lock's Quest". GOG.com. Archived from the original on 2024-04-07. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  4. ^ Bozon, Mark (2 April 2008). Construction Combat: Lock's Quest Announced Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on September 5, 2008.
  5. ^ Bozon, Mark (April 2, 2008). Lock's Quest Preview Archived 2008-09-26 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on September 5, 2008).
  6. ^ Harris, Craig (July 25, 2008). SDCC 08: Lock's Quest at Comic-Con Archived 2008-08-11 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on September 5, 2008.
  7. ^ IGN Nintendo Team (July 25, 2008). Nintendo DS Best of E3 Awards Archived 2008-09-14 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on September 6, 2008.
  8. ^ Fletcher, JC (4 September 2008). "Lock's Quest to give you a custom DS Lite". Engadget. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  9. ^ Fletcher, JC (17 October 2008). "Australia gets their own awesome Lock's Quest DS and more". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  10. ^ Lock's Quest Reviews Archived 2008-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. GameRankings. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  11. ^ Lock's Quest: Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  12. ^
    1UP.com
    . Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  13. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (October 1, 2008). Lock's Quest Review Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine. Eurogamer. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  14. ^ a b Platt, Dylan (September 19, 2008). Lock's Quest Review Archived 2008-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. GameZone. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  15. ^ a b Metts, Jonathan (September 21, 2008). DS Review: Lock's Quest Archived 2008-09-25 at the Wayback Machine. Nintendo World Report. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  16. ^ IGN DS: Editors' Choice Awards Archived 2008-07-03 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on September 6, 2008.
  17. ^ "Nintendo DS Game of the Month: September 2008 - IGN". 30 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  18. ^ Holzhauer, Grant (September 24, 2008). Lock's Quest on DS Review Archived 2008-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. GameDaily. Retrieved on October 29, 2008.
  19. ^ Hill, Jason (2008-10-02). "Lock's Quest". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
  20. ^ "IGN DS: Best Strategy Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  21. ^ "IGN DS: Best New IP 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  22. ^ "Best Game No One Played". GameSpot.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-23. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  23. ^ Sal Romano (6 January 2017). "Lock's Quest rated for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in Germany". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Lock's Quest coming to PS4™, Xbox One and PC". THQ Nordic. 16 February 2017. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  25. ^ "Lock's Quest - release date moved to May 30th 2017". THQ Nordic. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  26. ^ Gregson-Wood, Stephen (5 August 2019). "Lock's Quest is re-releasing on mobile, you can pre-register now". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2024-04-04.

External links

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