The Dame Was Loaded is a detective/murder mystery game. It is
a spoof on all the film noir movies of the 1940s and as such,
it is sufficed to say; don't take it too seriously. It is a game
in which players have to find clues, piece together different
accounts of the same story to get to the truth and basically try
not to get killed before time runs out. Players get into a first-person
P.O.V. through the character of Scott Anger--self-proclaimed gunshoe
extraordinaire and ex-alcoholic--in order to find the diamonds
stolen from Carol Klein, your attractive client, then get the
money from the case to pay the rent. If that isn't enough to deal
with, there are several people out for your hide: Gangsters will
try to get you when you get close to the truth, the police don't
like you because you're a P.I. and the landlord is just about
to kick your sorry butt out the door for not paying the rent.
Personally, I enjoy mysteries. The Dame Was Loaded has an interesting premise, but unfortunately I can't recommend it even to mystery lovers because of the following five problems.
First, the game suffers from an interface that is, at the very best, cumbersome. There are seven different possible icons that the mouse can be changed to--depending on what the player wants to do--and none of these are easy to get to. Secondly, since the game's graphics are VGA, the FMV sequences looked pixilated and rough when played on a P90. Third, the machinations that must be performed in order to get anywhere are tedious and unnecessary. Players must get into their car, open the glovebox, pull out the map and finally click on where they want to go. Next on the list of problems is the fact that once players do get somewhere, it is not certain that they will be able to do what they need. For example, when you go to the bar during the day, it's closed; so you wind up wasting time driving to and from the bar with no results. While I realize that this is part of the game's flavor--the frustrations inherent in a P.I.'s line of work--with regards to the game's progression, it is simply a hinderance. Lastly, I think that for the shelf price of $39.99, players could do better with a different title. Now the game does have some laughs and interesting characters--like the waitress at the diner who is just charming as all hell--but the rest of the game might leave the player who is in search of a true mystery wanting more than The Dame has to offer.
-Scott Gehrs