Nerds That Geek Game Review – ‘Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​If there’s one thing I’ve come to learn through the years, it’s that a quality story will always leave you hungry for more. These are the kind of stories that motivate you to tell your friends about them every single chance you get in the hopes of getting them to take part in the experience, and they also leave you counting down the minutes until the next chapter in the tale either hits the shelves or the theaters and truth be told in 1990, that’s precisely where my mind was when it comes to the Space Quest series.
 
Because this quirky and magnificent saga was everything a young nerd could ask for, and thankfully, since I didn’t start this series until the summer of 1990, I was able to get my hands on the first three games with ease since they were still readily available in stores. But that sure didn’t make the wait in between playing them any easier. I had to know what was going to happen next and that motivated me to mow a few more lawns that summer to get enough cash to play the third entry in the saga, Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon and well, when all is said and done, this game ended up being well worth the extra summertime work.
 
Because this game, featured a grand and sweeping storyline, one that moved at a break neck pace shortly after Roger Wilco awakened from his suspended animation pod and really what impressed me the most about this tale is that it didn’t follow any particular sequel tropes. Instead of immediately bringing back Sludge Vohaul, the series left Roger lost in space so to speak, without a starship to travel the stars with and in a place, he’s never seen before and this…this was brilliant. It allowed for a sense of wonder and discovery to permeate this tale as we gathered our bearings alongside Roger and for lack of a better phrase, explored strange new and exciting worlds and fascinating places.
 
But what matters most, is that the spirit of adventure and the silliness and fun that were present in the first two entries of this game are brought to a whole new level in Part III. Because with an upgraded graphics engine, we are treated to some wonderful sight gags at Monolith Burger, and the entire sequence on Phleebutt is just as good as it gets when it comes to this series since you’re introduced to some wild characters all while enjoying some top notch Sci-Fi homages and really, everything comes together in the third act when Roger arrives on Pestulon and has to deal with Elmo Pug and his ScumSoft lackeys…
 
If anything, this is really when the series hit its stride, which is by no means an insult to the other two games because they were a blast to play. But this game, it’s something special, it’s really the Two Guys from Andromeda letting loose and seeing what sticks and well, everything works and man, I played this game for hours on end and replayed it I don’t know how many times because it’s just plain fun, it always made me laugh and well, what’s truly amazing is that this chapter was merely an appetizer for things to come. For Roger’s finest hours were about to arrive in a pair of adventures that actually managed to top this one. 

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