A new website, Sarien.net, has come up with a rather interesting concept that not only brings the ability to play old Sierra adventure game classics via the web, but adds a unique multiplayer twist into the mix.  The service is free, and recently went live for most common Internet browsers.

On its surface, Sarien.net seems rather simple, as it has ported Space Quest,  Space Quest II, Leisure Suit Larry I and other Sierra games to the web.  The special part of playing these classics is the fact that when you get to a screen where another player is also at, you can chat with them, and see their person in the game.  It is a strange concept to explain, but once you play it, it seems like such an obvious thing to try.

Here is the best attempt I can give you in regards to how the system works.  In the above picture, you are entering the cantina in Space Quest I.  While you are in this area, another person walks into the bar.  This person is not an NPC but another player live on the Sarien.net service.  At this point, you can start up a conversation with that person, or even see some of the things that they try to do in the game.  It is a really interesting thing to see in action.

The multiplayer aspect is not the only thing that Sarien.net has added to the classic restorations of these games.  They have also added the ability to jump forward and backwards in the game with a couple of clicks, making it so much easier to go back and get something that you might have missed for a puzzle.  This is a feature that I would of loved in Space Quest IV when it came to picking the right plug interface at the halfway mark.  That choice can come back to haunt you at the end of the game if you have picked the wrong piece.  With the innovation, you could just jump back to that point in the game, select the right piece and jump forward, eliminating unnecessary replay due to picking a wrong choice.

Sarien.net is free at this point, and seems to play lag-free.  They have a good selection of games, and hopefully, they can open it up to other publishers.  It also works with IE6 and higher, Firefox 2.1 and higher, Opera, Chrome, and even the Wii browser.  Let us know what you think of the service and if you like the idea of these kind of changes occurring in classic titles from years gone by.