I discovered this game on my 1997 edition of the King's Quest collection; both The Dagger of Amon Ra and it's predecessor, The Colonel's Bequest, were included. They are both solid murder mystery adventure games with some "Sierra like" snags. Even though The Dagger of Amon Ra is now one of my favorite video games, I am giving it a solid 4/5 stars to account for some of its shortcomings that may not sit well with certain players. First of all, if you plan on playing this walkthrough-free; be sure to take some notes or at least be on your observation game. This title relies heavily on dialogue, both instigating it and listening to it. This can be tedious to some considering the amount of discussion that is necessary to have to beat the game, but others will find it enjoyable due to having a motley crew of characters. What drives this game is its silly tone and cast of zany personalities. Imagine "And Then There Were None" meets "Murder by Death." Really beautiful art and animation and some questionable voice acting that leans on the charming side. The puzzles can get rather obtuse, and concluding the game, or solving the mystery, is a little too difficult in my opinion, but overall this game is a really fun experience that has a lot of captivating elements. It is not the most cohesive adventure game, but it remains a joy to play. Beautiful soundtrack, interesting mechanics, and funny dialogue trees. Definitely a unique title within Sierra's catalog. My video retrospective for further interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DukV02gDq8
My favorite game of all time. The game is a beautiful tale of corruption and mystery, and the enhanced graphics and lighting of the remaster adds to the noir atmosphere of the game. I've always loved the prerendered backgrounds and character models of this game, the brilliant voice acting, and the soundtrack which is filled with jazzy tunes. The original tank controls are gone, a point-n-click interface now in its place, which makes the game far more playable, and the commentary is very amusing with a lot of notes about the technical challenges about the original game as told by some of the original devs. The achievements are also a cute touch. Very happy this game is available here and on other platforms.
