Another release from my vault of the past, this one is a sequel to the Laura Bow point-and-click adventure game released by Sierra. Introducing: Laura Bow and the Dagger of Amon-Ra!
Title: The Dagger of Amon Ra
Released: 1992
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Created three years after the first, this sequel has you controlling Laura Bow after she finishes college. Thanks to her father, she has a job waiting for her in New York, and she travels by train up to the Big Apple. All the way, mischief is brewing aboard the Andrea Doria, where an egyptian exhibit is being carefully unloaded for the Leyendecker Museum.
Laura Bow starts her job at the New York Tribune, who's Chief Editor, Sam Augustini, is real close with her father. Doubting her abilities as a reporter due to being a woman, he gives her a simple assignment to start: cover the opening of the new Egyptian Exhibit later that night at the Leyendecker. He also sends her off to her desk, where she can begin her story. This is how it all starts for the snooping sleuth now turned reporter.
The events of the first game don't make an appearance in this, however, she does make mention she's seen her share of death. Upon arriving at the museum, a dead body turns up, and it is from there that Laura's snooping lessons come into practice. With a large cast of colorful characters, and plenty of motive from all of them, it is up to you to browse through the museum and work up your article.
Sierra had done away with text prompts by the time this game came out, using the icon sets that many other adventure games used during this time. You had the Walk icon, which you used to get around; the Look icon, which is sometimes helpful for getting a closer look at certain things; the Touch icon, which was used to pick up items; the Greet icon, which merely started up a conversation with the person you used it on; and the Question icon, which allowed you to ask about anything you've learned. You'd come to use the Question icon a lot, in order to learn more about people or items you may have collected.
Originally, the game was released on a floppy, and due to this, it didn't have as much room as it did later on the CD. Therefore, the difference between the two versions is that the floppy had no voices (except for one song, still in the first act). The CD version gave Laura a country accent, which went along well for where she came from, and it was amusing to hear some of the other characters when they talked. Furthermore, the CD version threw away the copy-protection that worked its way in from time to time on the floppy version.
This was a major improvement over the first, but I can't help but realize it as a stand-alone game on its own. Laura Bow was quite a sleuth in those days, and it'd be much nicer if Vivendi picked up the series and actually continued onto it. I'm sure she'd have plenty more adventures, as well as fans, if they did. However, I'll leave this post with a link to the song in question from the earlier paragraph. The song's called "I Want to Marry an Archaeologist", and it was hilarious to hear this song randomly go on in the speakeasy of the first act.
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