The Dagger of Amon Ra
| The Dagger of Amon Ra | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Director(s) | Bill Davis Bruce Balfour |
| Producer(s) | Bruce Balfour |
| Designer(s) | Bruce Balfour |
| Programmer(s) | Brian K. Hughes |
| Artist(s) | Cheryl Sweeney |
| Writer(s) | Josh Mandel |
| Composer(s) | Chris Braymen Mark Seibert |
| Engine | SCI 1.1 |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | 1992 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in: The Dagger of Amon Ra (also known as Laura Bow II) is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game is the second and final installment in the Laura Bow Mysteries line of adventure games, the first of which was The Colonel's Bequest. Unlike the first game, it was not written or designed by Roberta Williams, but she was a creative consultant on the project. It uses 8-bit color and a point-and-click interface. The CD-ROM version included voice acting. The Dagger of Amon Ra was developed using Sierra's Creative Interpreter (SCI1.1). Overall, this sequel owes little to the original game and is a much more traditional point-and-click game.
The Laura Bow games were distinctive in that they required some actual logical detective work on the part of the player; for the most part, though, the puzzles were of the typical variety of inventory and environment interaction (and frequent, often unexpected, player character death) found in most Sierra adventures.
Gameplay uses a point-and-click interface featuring icons for different actions, similar to other Sierra games that were published during that time. An additional icon is used to ask characters a question about a topic listed in Laura's notebook, which auto-populates with names, places and other subjects that she has previously heard or encountered.
The identity of the murderer is not automatically revealed at the end of the game. Instead, the player is asked a series of a questions, ostensibly by the police, to prove that Laura had solved the crimes and discovered the secrets of the other suspects. If the questions are answered incorrectly, the coroner will give a hint to point the player towards the path that would have revealed the correct answer in subsequent playing of the games. The ending of the game can change depending on the answers given to the questions, most notably in that Laura can be killed if the player doesn't know the identity of the main murderer.
The game includes "The Official Guide to the Leyendecker Museum", which also serves as the game's manual. It features a map of the main level of the museum and a rough drawing of the lower level.
The game is set in 1926, primarily in a museum, and reflects the Egyptology craze of the period. The protagonist is Laura Bow (a reference to Clara Bow), a Southern belle who has just graduated from Tulane University and moved to New York City, where she has landed a job at a prestigious newspaper. For her first assignment, she is asked to write a straightforward, lightweight story on a benefit held at a local museum to celebrate their new Egyptian exhibit. When a murder occurs during the party, however, she is locked inside with all of the other suspects. As other guests begin dying one by one, Laura must solve the numerous crimes occurring before the culprits escape or kill her.
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