Sierra On-Line, 1989
Despite the fact that The Colonel’s Bequest was Sierra's first attempt at developing a mystery adventure game, they succeeded very well at it. Murder, mystery and intrigue abound in this graphic adventure. You take on the role of Laura Bow, a part-time sleuth attempting to solve a series of murders at the Prune Estate in New Orleans. This is no easy task, as everyone in the family has motive to kill. Shortly before his death, the Colonel announced that his great fortune was to be equally distributed among his surviving family members--and this means that everyone's a suspect! To solve this mystery you'll have to delve deeply into the family's hidden past and uncover it's deepest and darkest secrets.
Sierra has nicely utilized graphics and sound technology of the era in this game but the weak plot has somehow reduced the real fun. While the character development is good, some events and especially the ending sequences leave the player unsatisfied. I will only recommend this game if your life really depends on playing murder mystery games but if it's not then you're better off playing the Infocom mystery series.
