Space Quest V: The Next Mutation

Description

Roger Wilco has returned to the Starfleet Academy, where he was a student and a janitor in the game before this one, having spent the previous game traveling through time in both directions. Roger is finally given the rank of captain, his own ship (a garbage scow), and a mission: to explore strange new worlds (which no man in his right mind would explore), to seek out new life and new civilizations (which grew out of the massive amounts of trash Roger will collect along the way), and to boldly go where no man has gone before. Roger cheated his way through the Starfleet Aptitude Test. Step by step, Roger will have to reveal a plot involving the disposal of biohazardous material across the galaxy, uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of a fellow Starfleet captain and his ship, and engage in a confrontation with an operative of an old adversary.

The fifth installment in the Space Quest series, titled Space Quest V: The Next Mutation, is an adventure game. Along the same lines as its contemporaries, it is distinguished by witty language and circumstances, in addition to a wealth of options for the protagonist to meet a grisly end. The player interacts with the world by clicking on locations, people, and things on the screen. They can cycle between various activities (walking, looking, touching or taking, conversing, etc.), by clicking the right mouse button or using the icon bar. The game is completely controlled by the mouse. The latter also includes icons that give the player access to Roger's inventory, allow them to exit the game, and adjust the game's settings.

The commands for smelling and tasting have been eliminated, but there is now a dedicated icon for issuing commands. It can be used on any item or character in the game, but its primary use is to provide particular commands to the crew members: Roger presides over the crew of the Eureka, which is his garbage scow. The story is the primary focus of the game, and it has cutscenes drawn in a style reminiscent to comic books. The story progresses in a linear fashion, although each planet that the protagonist travels to typically comprises of multiple screens and has its own set of objectives and puzzles to solve. There are also potentially dangerous scenarios that could arise on the spaceship itself, which require action to be taken.