A gnarly demon lord destroyed the world. Literally ripping it apart, killing everyone in the process. Thousand years in the past, a sole guard is sleeping in a drunken stupor during his shift at the gates of Wrinklewood. Little does Tondbert know, that this wasn't the proper night to sleep on the job. When he wakes up the next morning, he learns that the princess of Wrinklewood has been kidnapped during the night. What is the lone guard to do? The obvious, obviously, is to pledge to the king, that Tondbert will personally see to the rescue of the fair princess.
Guard Duty is divided into three chapters. The first chapter has Tondbert in the city of Wrinklewood looking for clues of the kidnapping as well as figuring out how to get out of the city. The second chapter happens in the wildlands, where Tondbert has to find the knights sent after the princess as well as find the way past the ravine dividing the planet. The 3rd chapter time warps into the future, where you control agent Starborn, who is looking for a crystal that can be used to defeat the evil demon lord.
While the summary doesn't sound like it, Guard Duty is actually a comedy. It's perhaps more inspired by Simon the Sorcerer than anything else, but there's some Terry Pratchett in the mix as well. Not much, but some. I didn't find it super funny, to be honest, and the voice acting is a bit trying at times, but it does have some chuckles in it as well as a couple of pretty decent more dramatic plot twists as well.
The Simon the Sorcerer influences are even more evident in the graphical style of Guard Duty. While Guard Duty does not have as nicely detailed pixel art, the stylistic influences of the Adventuresoft classic are quite noticeable. The same goes for character art as well.
I don't really have much else to say about Guard Duty. It's decent enough of a game for what it is, a retro-themed point and click comedy set in a fantasy world. It works as you'd imagine and the puzzles are mostly pretty fair. It doesn't do anything badly, but it's not really anything remarkable either. In a word, it's something you can play if you don't have anything else in the sights.
For those intrigued, you can get Guard Duty from GOG and Steam. You can get it for consoles as well if that's your preference. It's a decent purchase even at full price, as it's not really that expensive of a game.
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