DOS

The Dagger of Amon Ra

I consider Laura Bow 2: The Dagger of Amon Ra to be one of the best Sierra games. It has a well developed plot with very good gradation. The tone is serious but not overly dry. The artwork was top notch when the game was released, and in my opinion holds up pretty well after all those years, and it's been a while since the game's release. On the downside, the dead ends make The Dagger of Amon Ra relatively difficult - which is not necessarily bad - and may be frustrating. For every fan of detective mysteries, The Dagger of Amon Ra is a must play.

The Dagger of Amon Ra is an excellent game for murder mystery fans. Though the graphics seem a little pixilated now, this is no problem as the gameplay easily rivals many games that are published today. The music is very good and, more importantly, the game sets up enough problems to keep you thinking and even gnashing your teeth occasionally. Also, it has the 'old' Sierra interface which allows you to 'look' at things (invaluable in a detective type game); and which also allows for the puzzles/problems be more complex and for you to do the 'detecting' rather than just clicking on everything in sight and waiting to see what happens.

Als Belohnung für geduldige Spürnasen winken gepfefferte Dialoge und eine sehr stimmige Präsentation. Die leicht an „Heart of China“ erinnernden und toll animierten Bilder stellen einen deutlichen Fortschritt gegenüber der (immerhin recht atmosphärischen) EGA-Grafik des Vorgängers dar; ähnliche Steigerungen sind beim Sound mit seinen Rhythmen aus den „Roaring Twenties“ zu verzeichnen. Dank der mittlerweile standardisierten Sierra-Iconleiste ist auch die Handhabung hier kein Thema mehr, von den leichten Macken bei der Klickerei mal abgesehen. Happy Crime-Time!
(page 67)

Mögen abgebrühte Fans der angestaubten Edelkrimis von Agatha Christie mit Lust und Wonne in die digitale Haut der Spürnase Laura Bow schlüpfen, dem logikgestählten Detektiv der 90er sind die haarsträubenden Puzzles des jüngsten Sierra-Adventures ein echtes Greuel. Von feinfühliger Überlegung oder Holmschen Sachverstand hat die junge Hobbydetektivin Laura Bow wohl noch nie was gehört. Mit der Brachialgewalt eines Schimanski (sprich: Wilde Klickerei mit der Maus) und nur einer guten Portion Glück sind viele der Krimirätsel zu knacken. Immerhin wiegt die gehaltvolle Historiengeschichte zwischen Charleston und Börsenkrach sowie die bunte Mischung aus Mumien, Mysterien und Mord einiges wieder auf. Laura Bow zieht locker am Magerkollegen Sonny Bond, stolpert aber bei mir privat über die Hürde zum „Gut“. Mehr Logik statt schicker Grafik wäre besser gewesen.

The Dagger of Amon Ra: A Laura Bow Mystery is the second installment in the Laura Bow Mystery series. In this sequel, our intrepid reporter investigates the theft of an ancient artifact that subsequently leads to several murders inside a museum. To many Sierra On-Line fans, this game is among the last decent adventure titles produced by the company before its eventual demise as a developer of adventure games.

And yet, should you succeed, The Dagger of Amon Ra has a brilliant conclusion, one of those (few and far between) moments of grace when the plot's flaws manage to disappear behind the game's artistic qualities and witty writing, showing what this sad farce of a game might ideally have been. My, what a sorry mess... What a sad, sad waste of talent... What to make of this game? If you think you can play it as just a typical Sierra game, with great music and graphics, clever writing, and some fun gameplay elements, and are not interested at all in trying to figure out the plot, then please do give it a try. But if you want a good murder mystery that doesn't insult your intelligence with lazy design... Well, just replay The Colonel's Bequest.