Remember those days of sitting around a table, playing the game of Clue and trying to guess who did it? Well, the experience has been updated for the modern age with the release of Hasbro Interactive's digital version. The characters now walk, move and talk in 3D rendered graphics. In the computerized game, you play one of the main characters from the old board game. You roll the dice, move around the board collecting clues and then try to figure out not only who murdered Mr. Boddy, but where and with what murder weapon.
The graphics in the game are amazing and help draw you into the game, although at times, they can be a hindrance, causing you to revert back to the old classic board game perspective to figure out where to move. The adjustment is necessary because the 3D side cut-away view that the game uses doesn't always represent the best vantage point. Unless you make all the walls transparent during movement phases, you'll have difficulty clicking on specific locations to which you wish to move.
The game sounds are spooky and add a scary aspect to the game. The announcer's voice is deep and mellow and contributes to an eerie atmosphere. The cards and all the views of the characters are extremely well done. The characters are very detailed and move fluidly during gameplay. The characters' actions are clearly representative of their various personalities. For example, Mrs. Plum moves with grace and style while Col. Mustard moves a little awkwardly, yet with dignity.
The game keeps track of all the observations and clues discovered during gameplay, thus eliminating the need for manual tracking of progress. The addition of Internet and LAN play is one of the best features the game has to offer, especially if you participate in online gaming. The game is easy to set up and usually connects quickly. The multi-player aspect features fast response time and is rarely beset by significant lag time.
Overall, the game is a great translation of the old Clue with a new and modern twist. It will keep you entertained with great graphics and wonderful sound and gameplay -- good clean fun for the entire family.
Graphics: Awesome views of the characters and the surroundings are just as good!
Sound: Nice and spooky with an eerie atmosphere.
Enjoyment: If you liked the old board game or the first computer version, then you should love this game
Replay Value: Unlimited.
If you've ever played Clue for any length of time, you'll be amazed at how good this translation to the PC really is. In fact, this is probably more fun than playing the board game.
If you've never played Clue at all, the basic setup goes like this: Six characters are at the mansion of Mr. Boddy, and through some underhanded means, one of the characters has murdered him. Playing one of the six characters, you move from room to room making suggestions about who killed him with which weapon. The suggested location of the murder is always the room in which you're making the suggestion. Once the suggestion is made, the other characters must show clues to disprove the suggestion if they have any. Through a system of cards, the actual murderer's name, choice of weapon, and location of the crime are chosen from a deck containing all the character names, weapons, and locations. The rest of the cards are handed out randomly to all the characters. When you make a suggestion, anyone disproving it shows you one of his cards that fills in one of the missing pieces of the mystery. By analyzing who's making what suggestions and knowing which cards you and others have, you try to accuse someone of the murder.
You might be saying that all this guessing still isn't going to get you excited about playing Clue. Here's where Hasbro Interactive has gone the extra mile. It added a bunch of great shortcut scenes that accompany the suggestions about the murder. You'll be amazed the first time you see Ms. Scarlet whacking someone with a lead pipe the size of Pittsburgh and hear the thud as the metal makes contact with the victim. Playing this game at work is one thing, but you really have to sit at home in a dark room with a couple of friends to get the true feel of murder solving. The cutscenes are different for each character and weapon, so don't think that they're just repeated animations. For a laugh, try suggesting Mrs. White with the rope, and you'll see her wrestle a chair out from under her hanging victim.
The other features during gameplay are also worthy of praise. Clue offers full animations of the characters walking from room to room. While this is interesting for a while, you'll probably want to play with the standard overhead view of the board. Along with the animations is a really good soundtrack that includes sounds of the storm outside the mansion and a forbidding butler who calls out each suggestion as it is played.
People who downloaded Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion have also downloaded:
Game of Life, Clue, Monopoly (1999), Battleship: The Classic Naval Warfare Game, Candy Land Adventure, Ultimate Yahtzee, Risk 2, Sorry!
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