The Colonel's Bequest (Laura Bow 1) is one of the first 'murder mystery' games that I played growing up. In short you are Laura Bow and you are trying to figure out the who-did-it of a rich colonel's murder. You are the daughter of a detective that taught you everything he knows. You must find clues and talk to the colonel's so-called "friends and relatives" to find who the killer is without becoming a victim yourself.
This games plays in the style of the King's Quest/Space Quest series and other similar games.
The graphics are the best that the late 1980's have to offer - GREAT back in the day! I like that the game requires that you think your way through the different aspects of it. It's not all just shot them up and win. Without a sharp mind and problem solving skills you will never make the connections necessary to beat the game.
Some annoyance include that the game requires that you save regularly to avoid dying and having to start way back where you last saved (Normal for these types of games). The sound is also less than desirable because it uses the PC speaker. Also some of the connections that need to be made can be less than obvious and you
must keep trying everything you can think of to progress. Good thing that nowadays there are "hints" online to help you out if you get stuck. Back in the day you were out of luck!
There are 8 "Acts" each encompassing a 1-hour block of time in which you have to make certain connections and find certain clues before the storyline continues.
One of the best scenes (in my opinion) is when you are walking through the colonel's mansion and looking at one of the suits of armor that he keeps on display. If you "look" at it, it tells you all about the suit. But, the moment you "touch" it the ax dislodges from the hand and slices you right down the middle of your body. The graphics don't do much for this part but the catch line is: "Got a splitting headache Laura?” Of course this ends the game with your death but the comical value is worth having to save and reload your game.
In summary, The Colonel's Bequest is a great game if you want to relive the old DOS days of murder mysteries. This game provides hours of entertainment and real murder-solving fun. I recommend this to anyone who grew up when this was as good as it got!
