The Colonel's Bequest

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Description

The year is 1925. Laura Bow is a young student attending the Tulane University in New Orleans, and an aspiring journalist. Her friend Lillian invites her to spend a weekend in a mansion belonging to her uncle, Colonel Henri Dijon, a veteran of Spanish-American war and the owner of a large, but decaying sugar plantation on a secluded island. During the dinner Laura meets members of Lillian's extended family and their alleged friends. As Laura begins to explore the mansion and talk to its inhabitants, she unravels old family feuds and realizes some of those people - if not all - have their own plans and schemes. It all gets much worse when strange accidents and murders start to occur. Laura must investigate those gruesome events and find the culprit.

The Colonel's Bequest is a detective mystery adventure game very similar in style and presentation to Agatha Christie's novels. The game world is confined to the island and consists of numerous interconnected areas, such as various rooms in the mansion, garden, smaller structures, etc. The player is free to explore much of the game's world right from the beginning, with only a few areas being initially inaccessible. The game's clock advances a quarter of an hour each time Laura performs an action pertaining to the plot. Characters have their own schedules and clues are often obtained by discretely observing their actions.

The player interacts with the environment by typing verb-object command combinations (such as "Look Garden", "Talk Colonel", etc.). Some of the most common actions have keyboard shortcuts. The gameplay largely focuses on exploration. Much of the plot stays in the background and can be uncovered by talking to the characters about various topics (mostly other people). There is an inventory and a few puzzles, but they play a much less prominent role in the game compared to other adventures by Sierra. It is possible to complete the game without having discovered the entire plot or even without having identified the murderer. There is no scoring system, but after the game is finished the player is given a detective ranking and told about story branches or other elements he might have missed.

Screenshots

Promo Images

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Alternate Titles

• "The Colonel's Bequest: A Laura Bow Mystery" -- Tag-lined title
• "Laura Bow 1" -- slang

Part of the Following Groups

• Game Engine: Sierra's Creative Interpreter (SCI)
• Laura Bow series
• Protagonist: Female
• Setting: 1920s

User Reviews

There's plenty to do in this top-notch detective game	DOS	Katakis | カタキス (43222)
Suspensful non-stop rollercoaster riding murder-mystery adventure game!	DOS	OlSkool_Gamer (102)
The embodiment of Roberta Williams' virtues and flaws	DOS	Colin Rowsell (45)
You had to have been there.	DOS	William Shawn McDonie (1180)
Top mystery game.	DOS	MAT (235303)
One big cliche but still fun	DOS	Travis Owens (7)

Critic Reviews

Amiga User International	Amiga	Jun, 1991	88 out of 100	88
CU Amiga	Amiga	Sep, 1990	84 out of 100	84
Adventure Classic Gaming	DOS	Nov 07, 2007		80
Info	Amiga	Nov, 1990	4 out of 5	80
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Atari ST	Jan, 1991	9.4 out of 12	78
Atari ST User	Atari ST	Apr, 1991	74 out of 100	74
Power Play	DOS	Apr, 1990	68 out of 100	68
Joker Verlag präsentiert: Sonderheft	DOS	1993	67 out of 100	67
100 aktuelle PC-Spiele	DOS	1990	6 out of 10	60
Amiga Format	Amiga	Oct, 1990	60 out of 100	60

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Trivia

Copy protection

In one of Sierra's more creative copy-protection schemes, The Colonel's Bequest came with a red-lined foldout with "fingerprints" of characters in the game. Using a special red-gel "magnifying glass," you would identify these fingerprints for entry before being allowed to start the game.

Fifi

In the sequence in Fifi's room while she get ready to meet her lover-boy Jeeves, when she goes behind the screen to change type in "Open Door" and you can see Fifi in her underwear.

Laura Bow

Laura Bow, the heroine, was modeled after Clara Bow, a well-known actress from the 1920's.

References

Once Laura is in the washroom, type in "Take Shower". Laura strips, gets in and scrubs away while the hooded killer slips in and murders her in a parody of the horror classic Psycho, complete with high-pitched violins playing.

Information also contributed by Itay Shahar and uclafalcon

Related Web Sites

• Hints for Colonel's Bequest (Complete solutions are revealed after you are given nudges to help you solve them yourself.)
• The Laura Bow Coalition Headquarters (Petition for another Laura Bow sequel.)