The Colonel's Bequest
Encyclopedia
The Colonel's Bequest is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1989. This graphic adventure game
was the first of the short-lived Laura Bow Mysteries series created by Roberta Williams
and used many elements from the original Mystery House
. It was created with SCI0
. It uses 4-bit color (16 colors) and a typing interface. A sequel, The Dagger of Amon Ra
, was released in 1992.
style.
The game's main character is Laura Bow, a Tulane University
student, daughter of a detective and aspiring journalist. Laura is invited by her flapper
friend Lillian to spend a weekend at the decaying sugar plantation
of Colonel Dijon. When the reclusive, childless Colonel gathers his quarrelsome relatives for a reading of his will, tensions explode and the bickering leads to murder.
Throughout the game, Laura remains stranded on the island surrounded by suspects and potential victims in a classical Agatha Christie
manner. Laura's task is to learn the family secrets, and, ultimately, who the murderer is. There is also an optional, secondary backplot concerning a hidden treasure.
The storyline advances by a quarter-hour when new plot elements are witnessed. Sometimes a quarter-hour can advance in a few real-time seconds, if Laura happens to be in the proper place.
, W. C. Fields
, Gloria Swanson
, Clara Bow
, and Clarence Darrow
. Most are heavily based on well-used archetype
s.
There is no obvious point system in the game, although some actions are recorded and scored at the end of the game. At the very end, the game will give the player some hints and things missed in order to achieve a higher score the next time, hinting that the game is intended to be replayed.
Characters make plans to be in certain places at certain times and may be followed. Characters may get annoyed with Laura if they catch her snooping on them or asking too many questions, although this is obvious only in dialogue, and the plot is not affected.
Although death lurks around every corner Laura Bow is almost never endangered by the mysterious villain because she is unrelated to the Dijon family. In typical Sierra adventure game fashion, most, but by no means all, deaths experienced by the player occur by accident or misadventure, such as falling off a balcony, being crushed by a falling chandelier
, tripping down a dark staircase, or being attacked by alligator
s. The player may, however, be killed by the murderer in the later phases of the game. In two cases, the murderer's arm reaches out at specific locations and snatches Laura away. In another case, the murderer appears in the darkness and strangles Laura to her death. One of the more notable non-accidental deaths occurs when the player simply attempts to shower; the murderer stabs Laura in a reference to the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho
.
The unusual title is due to Sierra's long-standing tradition at the time of including "Quest" in the title of nearly every graphical adventure they published (a bequest is a legacy or gift handed down to someone in a will). Other "quest" games include King's Quest
, Space Quest
, Police Quest
, Quest for Glory
(which was originally titled Hero's Quest), Conquests of Camelot
and Conquests of the Longbow
, and Goblins Quest 3 (originally titled Goblins 3).
The game was reissued in 1993 to supplement the release of the sequel The Dagger of Amon Ra
. This version corrects some errors with the special effects. Notably, the fireflies in the opening boat ride and around the dock are more visible and move less erratically.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
was the first of the short-lived Laura Bow Mysteries series created by Roberta Williams
Roberta Williams
Roberta Williams is an American video game designer. She is most famous for her pioneering work in graphical adventure games, particularly the King's Quest series.-Career:...
and used many elements from the original Mystery House
Mystery House
Mystery House is an adventure computer game released in 1980 by Roberta and Ken Williams for the Apple II. The game is remembered as one of the first adventure games to feature computer graphics and the first game produced by On-Line Systems, the company which would evolve into Sierra On-Line...
. It was created with SCI0
Sierra's Creative Interpreter
Sierra's Creative Interpreter is the scripting language created by Jeff Stephenson of Sierra On-Line for its adventure games after the older AGI, and the runtime environment for such adventure games....
. It uses 4-bit color (16 colors) and a typing interface. A sequel, The Dagger of Amon Ra
The Dagger of Amon Ra
Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in: The Dagger of Amon Ra is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game is the second and final installment in the Laura Bow Mysteries line of adventure games, the first of which was The Colonel's Bequest...
, was released in 1992.
Story
The Colonel's Bequest is set in 1925, and the game employs a distinctive, Art DecoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style.
The game's main character is Laura Bow, a Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
student, daughter of a detective and aspiring journalist. Laura is invited by her flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
friend Lillian to spend a weekend at the decaying sugar plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
of Colonel Dijon. When the reclusive, childless Colonel gathers his quarrelsome relatives for a reading of his will, tensions explode and the bickering leads to murder.
Throughout the game, Laura remains stranded on the island surrounded by suspects and potential victims in a classical Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
manner. Laura's task is to learn the family secrets, and, ultimately, who the murderer is. There is also an optional, secondary backplot concerning a hidden treasure.
The storyline advances by a quarter-hour when new plot elements are witnessed. Sometimes a quarter-hour can advance in a few real-time seconds, if Laura happens to be in the proper place.
Characters
As with classic murder stories, the plot revolves around characters, most of which are potential victims (and murderers). Most of the game characters are named after prominent figures of the time, such as Rudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
, W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
, Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, and Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
. Most are heavily based on well-used archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
s.
- Laura Bow - Player characterPlayer characterA player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, journalism student and daughter of the detectiveDetectiveA detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
John Bow. - Lillian Prune - Laura's friend from Tulane. Her father died when she was young. She is also Ethel's daughter.
- Colonel Henri Dijon - A reclusive, rich, eccentric old man, who fought in the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
and lives alone on an antebellum sugar plantation island. - Ethel Prune - The alcoholic mother of Lillian and younger sister of the Colonel.
- Gertrude Dijon - The snobbish widow of the Colonel's brother, and the mother of Gloria and Rudy.
- Gloria Swansong - The daughter of Gertie and the sister of Rudy. She was a Hollywood actress, who'd gotten into some trouble, and was suffering from some sort of disease.
- Rudolph Dijon - The son of Gertie, the brother of Gloria. He's a slick womanizer and gambler.
- Clarence Sparrow - Henri's sneaky lawyer and a previous lover of Gloria.
- Dr. Wilbur C. Feels - The Colonel's long-time and questionable personal physician.
- Fifi - The sexy French maid that lives with and "serves" the Colonel (and secretly also Jeeves).
- Jeeves - Butler in the Colonel's house, who usually remains silent.
- Celie - Henri's cook from New Orleans, whose parents were slaves in the plantation. She is the only character who will befriend Laura.
Details
This is one of the few Sierra games which is more character-driven than puzzle-driven. Although solving puzzles is crucial for obtaining a high score, discovering information about the characters' backgrounds and their relationships with each other is more important to the game. In fact, it is possible to get to the end of the game without solving any puzzles. It is also possible to complete the game without discovering many important details about the characters—or even being certain of the identity of the murderer.There is no obvious point system in the game, although some actions are recorded and scored at the end of the game. At the very end, the game will give the player some hints and things missed in order to achieve a higher score the next time, hinting that the game is intended to be replayed.
Characters make plans to be in certain places at certain times and may be followed. Characters may get annoyed with Laura if they catch her snooping on them or asking too many questions, although this is obvious only in dialogue, and the plot is not affected.
Although death lurks around every corner Laura Bow is almost never endangered by the mysterious villain because she is unrelated to the Dijon family. In typical Sierra adventure game fashion, most, but by no means all, deaths experienced by the player occur by accident or misadventure, such as falling off a balcony, being crushed by a falling chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
, tripping down a dark staircase, or being attacked by alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s. The player may, however, be killed by the murderer in the later phases of the game. In two cases, the murderer's arm reaches out at specific locations and snatches Laura away. In another case, the murderer appears in the darkness and strangles Laura to her death. One of the more notable non-accidental deaths occurs when the player simply attempts to shower; the murderer stabs Laura in a reference to the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
.
The unusual title is due to Sierra's long-standing tradition at the time of including "Quest" in the title of nearly every graphical adventure they published (a bequest is a legacy or gift handed down to someone in a will). Other "quest" games include King's Quest
King's Quest
King's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
, Space Quest
Space Quest
Space Quest is a series of six comedic science fiction computer games that follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named Roger Wilco, as he campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice and really clean floors"....
, Police Quest
Police Quest
Police Quest is a series of computer games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1993. The original series was composed of four adventure games, the first three of which were designed by former policeman Jim Walls, with the fourth title designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F....
, Quest for Glory
Quest for Glory
Quest for Glory is a series of hybrid role-playing/adventure computer games designed by Corey and Lori Ann Cole. The series combined humor, puzzle elements, themes and characters borrowed from various legends, puns, and memorable characters, creating a 5-part series of the Sierra stable.Although...
(which was originally titled Hero's Quest), Conquests of Camelot
Conquests of Camelot
Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail is a graphic adventure game released in 1989 by Sierra. It was the first game in the Conquests series designed by Christy Marx and her husband Peter Ledger. The only other game in the series was 1992's Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood...
and Conquests of the Longbow
Conquests of the Longbow
Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood is a graphic adventure game designed by Christy Marx and published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. It is considered the second part of the Conquests series, which began with Conquests of Camelot...
, and Goblins Quest 3 (originally titled Goblins 3).
Reception
Upon release, the game sold moderately well. Critics claimed the game was interesting, and displayed a large amount of effort in production and story. However, it was criticized as being slow-paced, disjointed and tedious as the player must visit several places repeatedly in order for an event to occur or not occur.The game was reissued in 1993 to supplement the release of the sequel The Dagger of Amon Ra
The Dagger of Amon Ra
Roberta Williams' Laura Bow in: The Dagger of Amon Ra is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game is the second and final installment in the Laura Bow Mysteries line of adventure games, the first of which was The Colonel's Bequest...
. This version corrects some errors with the special effects. Notably, the fireflies in the opening boat ride and around the dock are more visible and move less erratically.
External links
- The Colonel's Bequest: A Laura Bow Mystery on the Sierra Chest