DOS

The Dame Was Loaded

Wow, was für ein Spiel! Auch wenn beim ersten Antesten bereits nach einer Dreiviertelstunde feststand, daß ich weder zum Privatdetektiv noch zum Englisch-Dolmetscher tauge, ließ mir "The Dame Was Loaded" trotzdem keine Ruhe. Die gelungene Atmospähre, die liebevolle Aufmachung, die kauzigen Charaktere - keine Frage, Genrefans werden hier voll auf ihre Kosten kommen.

All in all, this game went from being very frustrating to really engrossing in a matter of 24 hours. The first 24 I hated it, and then as I was persistent the game slowly started to open up. The more I played it, the more drawn into it I was. Soon I found myself starting to get very paranoid and didn't want to trust anyone. I found myself saving the game frequently and trying out different approaches. The plot was well-thought-out and there are more than enough weird people to interact with, to keep you interested. I especially liked playing poker with the boys ... although they usually relieved me of some of my money, I picked up a lot of valuable clues and even beat them in a hand or two. If you like a good detective thriller and can overlook a bit of overacting, I would encourage you to check out this game. It is guaranteed to keep you occupied for a long time.

Even so, murder mystery fans will find enough here to enjoy that they'll probably be able to look past the flaws, and veteran gamers won't feel cheated by blowing through the game in a few hours. If you're looking for a truly interactive video-based adventure, this could well be the ticket.

Despite the fact that The Dame was Loaded was a pretty good game, I think its major problem was the designers. Like so many other games, if the designers had just put a little more thought into the details, this could go from a good game to a great game. First of all, you can only save the game in your office. Well, since this is a time based game, traveling to your office takes time. And since you only have three days to solve the case, travel time eats up much of that.

Überraschende Wendungen im Fall helfen der Motivation zwar einiger Zeit auf die Sprünge, aber für einen langanhaltenden Reißer hält das mittelmäßige Detektivspiel nicht her. Englischkundige Hobbydetektive sollten lieber zum amerikanischen Original greifen.

In the end, the real time nature of the game prevented me from enjoying this outing. I decided early on to forget about time, and simply play as I normally would. Then when time ran out, I would review what I had done, and try a different path through the game. This got me through, but I saw a lot of the same parts over and over, every replay detracting from the overall experience.