The Dame Was Loaded was one of those games that elicited a sigh of weariness when it was plunked down on my desk. "Wonderful," I thought, "another half-baked genre game from a company I've never heard of." It seems like everyone's trying to make an adventure game nowadays, and most of them are abysmal; replete with poor production values, abstract puzzles and an interface torn straight from the 1982 game developers' playbook.
After installing TDWL and starting to play, however, I soon realized I was dead wrong - in this case, at least. This is a quality game with a clean interface, a logical plot and a compelling storyline. Even if you're not a fan of the 1940s detective films that TDWL is based on, I think you'll agree that this is a great production all around.
The plot of TDWL is simple enough. You play Scott Anger, a private detective with a lot on his mind. Scott's nightclub-singer girlfriend was recently murdered in the alley behind his office, and the case has not yet been solved. Hopelessly depressed, Scott turns to alcohol. The game begins with Scott finally cleaning himself up enough to go to work, where he's immediately hired by a certain Carol Klein to locate her missing brother. So the story begins: you have three days to solve the case, at which time you must start on another case.
The interface of TDWL is clean and transparent, with no peripheral clutter to block the attractive full-screen graphics. The cursor changes shape to warn you of hot spots and exits from your current location, and clicking both mouse buttons takes you into Scott's inventory. The inventory is presented as a notebook listing objects in hand, notes on the people Scott encounters, and tasks that Scott must perform.
Graphics are uniformly well-done, consisting mainly of photo-realistic settings. Video clips move the plot along and show character dialogue, though strangely, some conversations will use video clips while others use voice narrative over a still picture. This is only a minor distraction, though, and when the full-motion video does appear, it is extremely smooth (albeit low-resolution). Characters don't look like they were filmed in front of a blue screen and then slapped into a virtual set. Rather, the video is seamless and engaging.
Scott gets from place to place by driving around in his car. A map in the glove compartment lets him select where to go. Important sites in the game are typically quite small, so you won't be making elaborate maps or walking through endless corridors in a time-wasting attempt to squeeze clues out of a location. Scott knows exactly what he's doing, and goes directly to the important parts of each location without messing around with the details, much like the no-nonsense film detectives his character is based on.
Time is an important part of the game, and not just because you've only got three days to solve the case. Newspapers come out every day, and certain other events are triggered by the passage of time: you really get the feeling that you're in a realistic world, even though you aren't free to walk the streets in an unrestricted manner. Scott can force time to pass by sleeping in his office, or by moving the hands of his watch forward while he's sitting in his car. This is a very innovative way of letting the player control exactly how much time is passing, and it adds a lot to the game.
You can only save the game in Scott's office, while he's sitting down at the typewriter. This kind of trick is often used to artificially increase game difficulty, because the less you get to save, the more you have to re-play when you get killed. I didn't get that impression in TDWL, however: the save-game mechanism was well-integrated and didn't prove to be much of a nuisance.
It's the little things that make TDWL a superior game. Scott's voice acting has just the right Sam Spade quality to make it work. Actually, the whole game is free of poor acting: there are no abysmal performances that kill the mood, as you find in all too many adventures nowadays.
Scott has an opinion on everything, and he isn't afraid to give it to you. It's one of the minor miracles of the game that his running narrative doesn't get old, as runing narratives are so often wont to do. He holds off on the lengthy descriptions once you've visited a location more than once, so that you aren't forced to hear him constantly repeating himself. For example, the first time you visit the alley where his girlfriend was murdered, he goes into a long discourse. The second time you go there, he says much less. After that he only spares a word or two, and of course you can avoid the alley altogether. This allows the game to flow along nicely, and adds immeasurably to the total experience.
Other nice elements include the profusion of hot spots, many of which are only there to let Scott make a wisecrack or two. Conversations are menu-driven and don't feature too many options, but the ones you've got are direct and to the point. Businesses close at night, which adds a certain realism. And Scott's dashboard even lights up when it gets dark.
Some people will want to avoid TDWL simply because of the genre: if you dislike the hard-boiled detective thrillers of the 1940s, then a lot of TDWL's charm will be lost upon you. And like many adventure games, TDWL is quite linear, though the game does a good job of concealing that fact. Despite these particulars, I nevertheless think you'll find this an entertaining and worthwhile game. It doesn't break any new ground, either visually or otherwise, and it isn't terribly long, but it does deliver a solid, engaging adventure with an eye for detail.
