The Dame Was Loaded

My dad had this game when I was younger. It was fun to play when it came out and I would say it was still fun to play through it again today. Obviously doesn't have the visual of anything today, but if you are looking for something retro and will give you hours of entertainment this would be worth the few dollars it costs. It can be frustrating at times if you haven't found the right items and where to use them, as with any game similar to this.

Temu-TexMurphy

Made in 1991 The Dame Was Loaded was years ahead of it's time in terms of graphics and multimedia quality. It came out as DOS game when DOS based PCs were moving to Windows 3.1 and it was forgotten as if I recall the game did not play well in Windows. The entire production is nothing but talent all of which were Australians faking American accents including the lovely Shanyn Asmar who appears as Louise Creel. A classic game largely forgotten and glad Steam has brought it back.

This game is very nostalgic for me. When I was young and my dad got our first Windows 95 computer, this is the first game he bought and he and I used to play it all of the time. I still have our original boxed copy from back then. It is very nice to see that someone made this game more accessible to everyone as the Steam version is bundled with DOSBox, which makes it extremely easy to run on modern hardware. They even gave you a way to easily "swap disks" as was required with the original game as it was sold on two CDs. Now, for the actual review: This game is a combination of point and click and full motion video and has you play as a 1940s private investigator dealing with a case that ends up getting very complex. This game has an interesting story but has a lot of random items and crazy things you have to figure out to progress the story. On top of this you have different time limits throughout the game and, as you travel and do things, time progresses on a day/night cycle. Luckily, there are different ways to approach getting information and approaching certain obstacles while others only have one way to proceed. Because of the complexity, you can easily lose the game a lot as you figure things out. Saving regularly, which can only be done at the typewriter in your office, is a must. There are a few different endings you can get but a lot of the story progresses the same way out side of bad endings. If you are someone who will be bothered by having to try and retry things and hunt for weird solutions to problems, then this game is not for you. If you are going to be bothered by the fact that the video and graphics are lower resolution due to the age, then this game is also not for you. However, if you like a good mystery and don't mind spending time to figure out some wacky solutions to problems, then I would give this game a shot. This game does not hold your hand and makes you think. You will also be laughing along the way as there are definitely corny aspects and weird random zoom-ins on peoples' eyes when they talk at times. Also, as a tip for anyone playing, take the time to right click on selectable items. The main character you play as, Scott Anger, has a really interesting sense of humor and makes a lot of interesting and funny inner monologue as you examine stuff. Sometimes, I get distracted from what I was supposed to be doing because I am just listening to funny comments.

A sendup of hard-boiled film noir detective thrillers hammed up gloriously by a cast of (apparently) Australian actors...