The Dagger of Amon Ra

The Good
This was the very first PC game I played when I got a computer at home, so I'm somewhat biased towads it.

This is another in Sierra's long line of fine adventure games, and it doesn't fail to please. You get the chance to play a brainy, but inexperienced, reporter/detective trying to solve a string of murders in 1920's New York. Surprise surprise though, the character is female. At the time of this games release, a strong female lead character was almost unheard of. Kudo's to Sierra for choosing to take this risky path.

The plot includes all the best ingredients from classic murder-mysteries, with a dash of the egyptian thrown in for spice. Graphically, the game delivers Sierra's usual sumptious hand-painted backgrounds, combined with their trademark less-than sumptious rotoscoped characters. The game has almost no bugs in it's initial release, a rarity among Sierra's fare at the time.

One final point I should make are the "extra's" packed in with the game. Included with the requisite disks and manual are a small pamphlet giving directions to the fictional Leyendecker Museum portayed in the game as well as a longer pamphlet describing all the latest displays at the museum. These are professionally designed and are great keepsakes that really enhance the games atmosphere. I only wish more games these days came with these types of cool extra's.

The Bad
While as stated before, there are few bugs in the game, but the ones present are game stopping, of the variety "oops, you did something we didn't expect, now the game has to crash". Save often is all I can say.

The only other bad point I can find with the game is the ending. Your asked several questions about all the murders, alliances, and conspiracies that took place during the game. But at no point during the game or manual is it mentioned that you should take notes while playing. Trust me, the questions asked are tough enough even if you do take notes, and your sunk if you didn't take any. Keep a pad and pen handy while playing and write down everything "significant" that a reporter would about the mysteries.

The Bottom Line
Overall a superb game that I wished continued in a few sequels. Be sure to check out the first game in the Laura Bow series, "The Colonel's Bequest".