After being kidnapped, managing to escaping, and uncovering a conspiracy involving your dying sun in the last game, you (Apo Lanski) had finally returned home to tell your Captain of your discovery. You were given a new assignment. Your Captain has ordered you to join the research team on Pitla, and help them with researching an inhabited system that could become your third home.

Now the story continues. You have dreamed of going to Pitla for so long, and now it's finally going to happen! Oh boy, you can't wait! The Captain has even given you a decent shuttle for your journey. Of course, it's not quite that simple. After all, there's just a small matter of your out-of-date ID Card...

Eventually your shuttle takes off, and you are on your way to Pitla. But your troubles are not over yet. After getting through the Border Police (a problem in itself), and finally arriving on Pitla (phew, it's just been one thing after another, hasn't it), it seems that there is no-one to greet you. No-one to say 'Welcome to Pitla'. Not a friendly face in site. But where-ever you go, trouble is never far behind. And before you know it, disaster strikes. So what will happen to you now? There's only one way to find out!

Cosmos Quest 2: To Find A Sun is the second of the Cosmos Quest games, and continues on from where Part 1 ended. Apo has just been given his orders to travel to Pitla to help the research team. The Space Quest influence is wonderful to see here. The game has an interesting story and a wonderful atmosphere, although the tricky arcade sequences and unforgiving dead ends tend to spoil it somewhat. The 4 arcade sequences (an arcade game, a meteor storm*, a deadly crab chase, and a shooter) are hard, and seem to be stuck in, just to make the game longer. The deadly crab chase can be explained, since it is obviously based on the spider droid in Space Quest 1. But in Cosmos Quest 2, the droid is a lot more relentless, and it's very hard to escape. I also advise you to Save often in different slots, so if you hit a dead end, you can easily restore an earlier game.

The game is controlled by using your mouse. A menu bar at top of page (just move your mouse up there) allows you to interact with the game world, with actions such as Look, Pick Up, Talk, etc, as well as giving you access to your inventory. You can also Save, Load, or Quit the game from this menu bar. The game has several spelling and grammar mistakes, but this is perfectly understandable, given that Ilia (the creator) is Bulgarian, and English is not his first language. However, I thought that Exits from some screens, as well as some items, can be quite tricky to find. So hunt carefully. Having said that, I do like the fact that you can quickly 'jump' to the next room, simply by double-clicking on the 'Go' sign. Puzzles can be a bit... obscure. But that's all part of the fun. Be imaginative, and experiment.

*If you are having trouble getting through the meteor storm, I have uploaded a Saved Game as you arrive at Pitla, immediately after the storm. You can find this Saved Game under 'Extras'.

Save your game as soon as you enter the Captain's shuttle. It is essential that you insert Radioactive Block Spray into the plug here. If you fail to do this, then you will die from radiation before you reach Pitla.

Graphics is Cosmos Quest are quite amazing. Backgrounds are pre-rendered, and are very rich and lush. In contrast, Apo is a modified Roger Wilco sprite from Space Quest 6, and I just love how he walks. The two styles work well together, and is very impressive to see. Kusur XT2 is beautiful, and very eerie-looking, with lots of strange hills and peaks, but it can be confusing to find your way through. Speech is shown as text placed above whoever is talking, so it's easy to follow conversations. Inventory items are shown as small icons, which is nice to see. But just like the last game, there are some spelling & grammar mistakes scattered throughout the game. Also, some things are hard to spot, so you have to search carefully.

Background music is very atmospheric. Sometimes it's very haunting, and other times (like the piano music in the bar) it is very cheerful and upbeat. And it always seems to fit the situation. Sound effects are equally impressive. Everything from the hovering sounds of the ID robot, to the lift going up and down, to the lovely whooshing sounds of the trans gate all help to bring the game to life. You even hear a sound as you earn more points. One improvement that this game has over the last one, is that this game has some digitized speech, which I loved. It was amusing to hear the ID robot repeatedly tell Apo that he is an 'unauthorized person', lol. Voices from the tannoy system in Pitla were effective, as was Apo's painful 'Ouch' when he fell.

SUMMARY

Cosmo Quest 2: To Find A Sun is a lovely adventure game, that continues the story from Part 1. Apo's planet is doomed. His sun is dying. Apo has been ordered to join a team based on Pitla, and research another planet that could become their third home. Game play is point & click style, with menu bar hidden at the top. The game has some hard arcade sequences that really spoil the mood at times, as well as unforgiving dead ends (so Save you game often, and in different slots). These arcade scenes do bring the game down somewhat. Some spelling and grammar mistakes are noticeable, but don't affect the game in any way. Graphics are amazing - a real pleasure to see. The combination of pre-rendered backgrounds and Apo's sharp, crisp image work well together. Exits, and some objects are tricky to find, so you have to search carefully. Music is lovely, and very atmospheric. Even funky piano music in the bar is pleasant. Digitized speech was a real pleasure to hear. In short, a lovely adventure game, marred by annoying arcade scenes, and frustrating dead ends.