The Dagger of Amon Ra

Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in: The Dagger of Amon Ra
Developer(s)	Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s)	Sierra On-Line
Designer(s)	Bruce Balfour
Engine	SCI 1.1
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	1992
Genre(s)	Adventure game
Mode(s)	Single player
Media/distribution	3.5" floppy disk and CD-ROM

Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in: The Dagger of Amon Ra (usually just called The Dagger of Amon Ra) 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. The sequel, unlike the first game, was not written or created by Roberta Williams. It uses 8-bit color and a point-and-click interface. It contains voice acting, though this is only available on the CD-ROM version. 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.

Story

The game is set in 1926, primarily in a museum, and reflects the Egyptology craze of the period. The protagonist is Laura Bow (a pun on 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.

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.

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. Some fans^[who?] have complained about this approach, since it can require replaying the game from nearly the beginning to reach the optimal ending; while others^[who?] believe it makes game play more interesting and challenging.

Characters

Laura Bow

After graduating from Tulane University, Laura Bow was hired as a reporter by a prestigious New York newspaper. Her first assignment is to investigate and report on the theft of the Dagger of Amon Ra, taking over from the reporter Crodfoller T. Rhubarb.

Dr. Archibald Carrington III

Formerly a curator of the British Museum, Dr. Carrington was appointed to become the new president of the Leyendecker Museum after the death of the previous president, Sterling Waldorf-Carlton. When the story begins, Archibald had worked at the museum for only a few weeks.

Yvette Delacroix

Yvette is the amorous French secretary of the Leyendecker Museum president. She has worked as a secretary under both Dr. Archibald Carrington, the current president, and Sterling Waldorf-Carlton, Dr. Carrington's late predecessor. Years ago, Yvette worked as a call girl at a speakeasy. She has a deep sexual fondness for men and maintains relationships with several men at the same time including Ernie Leach and Detective Ryan O'Riley.

Dr. Pippin Carter

An arrogant, self-important archeologist, Dr. Carter was the one who discovered the Dagger of Amon Ra within a long-buried temple in Egypt. In the weeks before the story begins, he had been busy preparing the new Egyptology section for the Leyendecker museum. He is fastidiously attentive to his personal hygiene and appearance.

Wolf Heimlich

As Chief of Security at the Leyendecker Museum, Wolf is obsessed with order and takes to his duties with an almost fanatical devotion. Dressed in a German military uniform, Wolf can often be found patrolling the museum grounds in a goosestep march. He also collects weapons of various types, keeping them in his office. Wolf is in a relationship with Dr. Olympia Myklos.

Dr. Olympia Myklos

Dr. Myklos is a curator at the Leyendecker Museum, specializing in paleontology. A native of Athens, Greece, she has a morbid fascination with death and keeps exotic pet animals, including a ferret named Daisy and an Egyptian cobra named Barney.

Ernie Leach

Ernie is a custodian and handyman of the Leyendecker Museum. A hard-working, African American man, Ernie took employment at the museum to pay off his gambling debts to a loan shark.

Ryan Hanrahan O'Riley

An Irish detective in the NYPD, O'Riley is the detective assigned to investigate the theft of the Dagger of Amon Ra. He keeps fit every day and is fond of grapes.

Steve Dorian

An art student, Steve Dorian works as a part-time dockworker to meet his financial needs. His name is a pun on the word "stevedore".

Dr. Ptahsheptut "Tut" Smith

A curator from the Egyptian Museum who is deeply opposed to Dr. Carter's claim over the Dagger of Amon Ra. His arguments with Dr. Pippin Carter concerning the Dagger have almost come to blows at times.

Lawrence "Ziggy" Ziegfeld

A small-time local criminal who sometimes works for the NYPD as an informant in exchange for leniency. He has many connections and resources within the criminal underworld and can often be found in one of New York's many speakeasies. Because of his status as a "stool pigeon", he is distrusted by criminals and police officers alike. Because of this, he is extremely paranoid and his face often twitches nervously. He also seems to be familiar with Yvette Delacroix, though she pretends not to know him when others are watching. Recently, he has been seen meeting with Countess Lavinia Waldorf-Carlton several times.

Rameses Najeer

An Egyptian accountant of the museum, he is opposed to Dr. Carter's claim of the Daggar of Amon Ra. Ramsees is a successful man who is married with one child, with another on the way. He mysteriously disappears from time to time. Rameses is extremely proud of his Egyptian heritage despite the fact that he has lived in the United States for many years. Others describe him as a hard worker and a good family man, but he can be intense and passionate at times. Ramsees speaks characteristically with an interdental lisp.

Countess Lavinia Waldorf-Carlton

The widow of the previous museum president, Sterling Waldorf-Carlton. She is currently engaged in a legal battle concerning Sterling's will and her entitlements as his spouse. Apparently, Sterling and Lavinia met during a trip on board an ocean liner about than a year ago and married only a month or two later. Lavinia claims to love her late husband, but others have suspicions that she was only interested in his wealth. In a local speakeasy, a flapper claimed to have seen the Countess and Ziggy meet several times.

Sam Augustini

The editor-in-chief of the New York newspaper, he is Laura's boss and the one who hired her to write a story of the museum's benefit party. He is close friends with Laura's father, John Bow, who once saved the editor's life.

Crodfoller T. Rhubarb

Laura's co-worker, he tries to help Laura whenever possible, but is also reluctant of Augustini's decision to send Laura to write a report of the dagger's theft when she is only just a rookie. If Laura fails to solve the murder mysteries and dagger theft, he would take over the case and solve them instead.

Lo Fat

Lo Fat is the jocular, Chinese-American owner of Lo Fat's Laundry; a Chinese laundromat in New York City. Originally from Newark, New Jersey, Fat is a faithful patron of the Leyendecker Museum. Through his business, he has made acquaintances with many major contributors to the museum. Laura acquires the names of many of the supporting characters through Fat's connections. He is married, but implies to Laura that he is having an affair with Yvette Delacroix in exchange for free laundry service. Fat is also responsible for providing Laura with her distinctive evening dress to the museum party.

Watney Little

A fugitive and con man who murdered one of the guests in the intro sequence and came to the benefit party disguised as his victim. He has a role to play in the dagger thief too.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #189 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.^[1]

See also

• Cozy mystery

References

1. ^ Lesser, Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk (January 1993). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (189): 57–62. 

External links

• The Dagger of Amon Ra History & Review, Adventure Classic Gaming
• The Dagger of Amon Ra at MobyGames
• The Dagger of Amon Ra at Game Nostalgia