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GF! Archival Version Copyright 1995-2004


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Snapshot
Ups:Stays true to the board game with a nice graphical interface.
Downs: Graphical interface slows down the game play.
System Reqs:
Pentium 133, Windows 95/98, 16 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 15MB free hard drive space, DirectX 5.0.
clue1.jpg (9747 bytes)Mr. Boddy is dead! The tenor of your evening suddenly changes from gaiety to suspicion and suspense as you desperately search for the clues that will exonerate you from this heinous crime or maybe you simply want to throw the other guests off your guilty trail. Regardless of your motive, you must quickly gather clues to determine the answers to the following questions: Who killed Mr. Boddy? Where did the murder take place? and What weapon was used to commit the foul deed?

My cousin and I spent countless hours searching for those clues when we were in elementary school. When the deluxe edition of the board game was released, I begged my parents to get it for me. I never did receive that edition of the game, so it was with eager anticipation that I awaited the arrival of Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion. I was
concerned that the game wouldn't run very well on my P100 as the minimum requirements call for a P133. Yet, the installation process went smoothly, and I was soon firing up the game.

clue2.jpg (14767 bytes)Initially, I was impressed with the graphical interface of the gaming board. It was fun to watch the characters walk the halls of Boddy Mansion. They were surrounded by a "halo of light" that would illuminate the gaming board as they moved. The walls, partially transparent so the character could be seen, became solid when the character passed by. It only took one game for these cutesy features to become tiresome. I changed the preferences to leave the lights on in the entire mansion, remove the walls completely, and stop the walk animation. This did help speed up the game play somewhat, but I forgot to turn off the "suggest movies" option.

When a player makes a suggestion, a window opens with a brief movie showing the suspect wielding the weapon in question. Again, these little movies were fun in the beginning, but they became annoying after the second game. With the majority of the options off, I still found myself playing most of the game viewing the standard board game instead of the graphical interface.

clue3.jpg (12302 bytes)When it came right down to it, I realized that the game was not nearly as fun as it had been with my cousin all those years ago. I needed to play against someone other than the computer. So, I decided to learn how to play the game over the Internet. I logged into the Internet Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com/), signed up for membership, downloaded the patch for Clue, and attempted my first online game. Clue started exactly as the Zone directions had indicated, but the hosts for the first two games I attempted were flakes and kept canceling the games. I never did get to play a full game online.

After my online fiasco, I wanted to see what the game would be like playing with several people sitting around the computer. Unfortunately, that option isn't very much fun. Every time I wanted to look at the cards in my hand, all of the other players had to
look away from the monitor. We quickly abandoned our game of Clue to sit at the kitchen table to play an old-fashioned board game--Star Wars Trivial Pursuit!

clue6.jpg (12500 bytes)Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion is a fun game and brings back memories, but it simply can't replace the traditional board game. Will I continue to play the game? Yes! It certainly beats playing 20 games of solitaire in one sitting. Would I recommend it to others? Absolutely. If you enjoy Clue, you won't be disappointed with this game.  Do I know who killed Mr. Boddy? Sure; it was Mrs. White with the lead pipe in the dining room!

--Amy Ulen