Clue Download (1996 Board Game)

The board game Clue has been around for decades. It's a classic and has been delighting would-be sleuths and detectives for years. The object is to move around the board trying to figure out who did what, where they did it and with what murder weapon. While the objective is the same, Clue suffers from that old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This is exactly what Hasbro has done by taking a classic board game and turning it into a horribly executed full-motion video game.

Gone is the famous game board as Clue takes the graphic adventure/"interactive movie" route. You point-and-click from room to room, moving your icon over objects to examine them and interact with all the partygoers who may or may not have killed Mr. Boddy. It's up to you to interview everyone carefully and ensure you don't miss any small details of the crime.

While this may sound like fun, it's really not. There are supposed to be twelve different "scenarios" spread out over three separate mysteries (each has four difficulty levels). When you're done with the novice game, you can try the detective skill level. The problem with this is that the game is set up almost exactly like the movie

Graphics: The full motion video sequences aren't too bad, but they get very repetitive thanks to repeating storylines.

Sound: At least the actors are good and do a good job of filling in each character with the proper voice. There are also some oldies music samples, which aren't too bad.

Enjoyment: Clue isn't a very enjoyable experience. How fun is it to watch repetitive full motion video sequences over and over again while witnessing almost the same story over and over again?

Replay Value: Because there is a lack of multi-player (online) support, the replay value is diminished to slim or none, depending on whether or not you feel like watching the same video clips for the third or fourth time.

Clue is a full-motion video adaptation of the popular board game of the same name. It is an amalgamation of two earlier CD-i titles where (up to six) players take turns investigating a mansion where a murder happened, uncovering clues and evidence to reveal the assassin. There are three storylines with four difficulty levels, each with a unique solution making it altogether twelve different mysteries:

Deadly Patent

Mr. Boddy steals a formula to produce artificial rubies from Professor Plumm.

The Road to Damascus

Mr. Boddy almost dies in a car accident. He is rescued by the monks of the Order of Silence. Upon his return, he decides to join the order and give his fortune to it.

Blackmail

Mr. Boddy convinces all his acquaintances to invest on Bolders Brewery.

The movement system, where the player moves the cursor to a portion of the screen and clicks on it to move or turn to that direction is similar to the one found in the The 7th Guest. Inside the rooms the screen switches to a 360° panorama that can be scrolled by moving the cursor to its edges. Clicking on clocks starts a flashback video of what happened on the room before the crime was committed. Clicking on suspects brings up the interrogation screen, where they can be inquired about weapons, their alibis, etc. Clicking on secret passages transports the player to another room. Clicking on the bell calls the butler and the accusation menu, where the player chooses the weapon and the murderer. Afterwards, the butler informs if the player made the right choice. A notebook keeps track of all the information collected, and can be accessed at any time. Each of the four difficulty levels have a different number of accusations available (3 on the easiest level, 1 on the hardest one). In the easier levels the room positions are fixed, while in the tougher levels they are random. In each player's turn they can perform two moves, two actions or a action and a move. A move is defined by entering and leaving a room. A action is defined by examining items, interrogating suspects or watching a flashback.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

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Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion, Game of Life, Battleship: The Classic Naval Warfare Game, Monopoly (1999), Sorry!, Chessmaster 9000, Risk 2, Ultimate Yahtzee