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This second and final game in the Laura Bow series, is set in a museum in
the 1920s and reflects the Egyptology craze
of the period. You play as Laura Bow (one of the first female protagonists in a game),
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 logistical 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. Unlike in The Colonel's Bequest, the identity of the murderer is not
automatically revealed at the end of the game. Instead, the player is asked a series
of 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
uses the more advanced SCI1 (Sierra Creative Interpreter, version 1) engine which
features a point and click interface, VGA graphics capable of 320x200x256 resolution,
and digitized sound effect. It also utilizes a toolbar located at the top of the screen
that allows limited selection of actions, system commands, and access to the inventory.
The CD-ROM version adds enhancements such as the voices of the characters, the sounds
of the city, and the growl of the museum’s resident dinosaur that are not available in
the original version. |