The Colonel's Bequest
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By Bridget McKenna

Computer adventure game players the world over know Roberta Williams as the designer of the bestselling King's Quest series, but five years before the first King's Quest game was published, Roberta Williams was already making computer history with Mystery House, the first computer adventure to combine graphics and text.

A FRESH LOOK AT AN OLD FAVORITE

In 1988, Sierra game Mystery House over into the public domain, but the idea of a murder mystery game — one that was as complex, interesting, and sophisticated as the current line of Sierra games — still seemed like a good one. The elements that made Mystery House so intriguing — a spooky old house, suspicious characters, a buried treasure, and lots of murders, were good beginning ingredients…

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"People love murder mysteries, and it's not a genre that's being done much in computer games. We had done one, but it was so long ago, most people probably wouldn't remember it. It seemed to me that it was time to expand ourselves in the storytelling area — we don't always want to do the same thing." -Roberta Williams

ENTER LAURA BOW

It's a dark and stormy night in the spring of 1926. As Laura Bow, college student and amateur detective, you are looking forward to spending the night in your roommate Lillian's old family mansion, where a gathering of friends and relatives is taking place. A ferry transports you across the dismal swamp and deposits you on the grounds of the dreary and rundown Dijon plantation. It will be back in the morning, but the murders begin at midnight.

"I think everybody has a bit of natural detective in them…" -Roberta Williams

Who is killing the relatives and associates of rich and eccentric old Colonel Dijon, one by one? Is it the sneaky lawyer, the drunken doctor, the slick gambler… or did the butler do it? Whoever is responsible, they aren't likely to take kindly to a would-be private eye snooping around, so you'd better be careful as you discover facts (and falsehoods) about your fellow guests and their relationship to the old man whose money will be inherited by whoever survives him.

WHEN IS A QUEST NOT A QUEST?

"This game is unusual, I think, compared to what we've done before — it's not quite as 'puzzle-oriented'. There are puzzles — clues, but it's much more story-oriented than our previous games, and the characters are much better developed. There's a lot of dialog… you can carry on conversations with them. It's really more of an interactive story." -Roberta Williams

Will you be able to keep from being the murderer's next victim as you explore the plantation for clues to the killer's identity? Will you know who to believe when you talk with the Colonel's family and friends, each of whom is hoping to inherit the fortune? Danger, adventure, and mystery with a touch of voodoo await you when you attempt to solve the mystery of The Colonel's Bequest.


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