Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure
I have been a fan of Tex Murphy since Under a Killing Moon – nearly twenty years! That said, I will not do this game or the community a disservice by writing anything less than a fully honest review. The game succeeds far more often than it fails, but is far from perfect, so I will not score it 10 out of nostalgia, or 0 out of disappointment.
First, let me give this game a score out of ten. In my opinion, it falls somewhere around 7.5. I think this game will please Tex fans and newcomers alike, even if it isn’t perfect. If you like a good story or adventure games, then check this one out. If you like it, I highly recommend trying out Tex’s past adventures.
– Real player with 31.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Noir Games.
As a Tex Murphy fan, I was stoked after hearing about the newest installment, and boy was I eager to play! But after playing half-way through, I found myself questioning whether I should even bother finishing the game. It was only through sheer force of will and a weird, nostalgic obligation, that I managed to see it through to the end. sigh So where to begin?
Let’s first talk about the things it did well:
Revisiting Chandler Avenue and reuniting with the old cast was a treat for old Tex Murphy fans like myself. And honestly, I didn’t mind the mediocre graphics, as it felt reminiscent of the old Tex Murphy games. The FMV sequences were well-done for the most part, and I enjoyed exploring areas without running into loading screens or having to change discs. (I know I’m throwing a bone here, but it’s the little things that count, right?) Unfortunately, that’s where the good ends. Now on to my personal gripes:
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Contradiction - Spot The Liar!
This is a FMV detective & mystery game developed by Baggy Cat, created thanks to a kickstarter campaign. Since I love detective games and tv-shows I decided to give this one a go. This is a lovecrafted masterpiece, great from start to finish. I’m gonna try to explain why.
You play as detective Jenks, investigating a girls suicide in an english village. Mysteries surrounding the suicide quickly leads to a murder investigation. Jenks only have a day to solve the mystery. He quickly finds out about a private school for adults called Atlas that uses some questionable methods, and you learn more and more as you go. Every chapter is an hour in the game, but every chapter took me more then an hour each. It’s a pretty tricky game, but you can use clues if you get stuck.
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Crime Games.
TL;DR: It’s a very fun and interesting game,
! with a very, very, VERY bad (and extremely) unsatisfying ending
I’m probably very late to the “reviewing contradiction” party (what a weird party), the game being almost 6 years old now and having been talked about in the ExtraCredits YouTube channel (the reason why I bought it in the first place!), but I’m gonna have a go at it anyways.
Contradiction is an FMV game where you must investigate in one night a supposed suicide in a small village. The investigation is done almost entirely by talking to people (i.e. watching small bits of questioning), though some evidence is found by walking and snooping around (in fact, I’m no lawyer or law-enforcement officer, but I feel like a quite a few of the evidence found wouldn’t be admissible in court!) But the main aspect of the game is asking people about things, which can directly lead you to new evidence, but will always lead to a set of statements from each person. This is where the main mechanic of the game comes in: you can select two statements (they must be from the same person though, hold this for later) that contradict each other and if they do, indeed, you get a new line of questioning where detective Jenks brings up the contradiction to the person in question, usually leading to new evidence. When you reach key milestones in the investigation, the time moves forward, and some new witness can become available (or unavailable), and going certain places can unlock certain events that can give you new evidence to ask around about.
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
PCI Public Crime Investigation
Excellent game with such a great style… been waiting for a game that plays as legit as this one! Everything in it is full of realism.
Full support!
– Real player with 19.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Investigation Games.
Really interesting concept and very well executed. PCI casts you as an armchair detective. The French police are asking for assistance with some of their cases. You must create an actual account in order to play online as a team or by yourself and accrue points after finishing up cases. There are 6 cases total ranging from around 30 minutes to 4 hours. The content is VERY dark in some cases and deals with some heavy realistic topics (I’ll list some TW’s at the end of this). While I felt uncomfortable during playing I was so hooked. The cases are riveting and the quizzes at the end really engage you actively with the material. The actors/actresses do a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life (even the worst ones) and not even making you realize they’re acting.
– Real player with 8.4 hrs in game
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Case of the Mummy’s Curse
I really like this game. I’ve played several Sherlock Holmes games and I prefer this format as opposed to the hidden clue/ solve puzzle type. You actually have to investigate to solve the murders, so yes, I recommend this game.
My main reason for placing a comment here is to offer a solution to a problem I had. For some reason the Mummy’s Curse stopped running; when I clicked on the play button a blank screen would open and the game would just stop there. The odd thing was the other two cases run without any problem. I tried a number of solutions, updating drivers, reinstalling the program even cleaning the registry but nothing worked.
– Real player with 41.3 hrs in game
Edutainment out of the past!
You have to know that the “Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective” series is a game series that was produced in the early 1990’s. Back then they were, although they barely could be called games, quite a successful series. Professional actors tell you a story, you are actually deciding only which story is told - you can follow even red herrings and wrong leads (which are quite costly in points) aim of the game is it, to get as close as possible to the rating that sherlock holmes achieved in a specific case. So you test your mettle against the hero of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles stories himself.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Case of the Tin Soldier
Playing this little full motion video game is just like taking a history lesson, one about the era of early multimedia efforts that at the time, early 90’s, was the next big deal. It was, but not too much for videogames, since this kind of stuff was suffering from replay value and that was it demise. Interesting, also, these games were released, late 90’s, for regular DVD players.
Honestly it looks just like old TV shows, cheap ones. The main thing is to solve a mystery using clues from newspapers and visiting suspects. The less fooling around you do the best score you achieve. Once you have enough evidence you go to the judge and present your case. That’s pretty much it. There’s nothing else.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
Not so bad as the others in this series, in that there’s a decent red herring of a plot thread, which was however resolved extraordinarily abruptly - seriously,
! surely there should have been something about calling the police or Interpol or someone about Volkov?
I wish they weren’t co-opting Holmes and Watson into these stories. If you’re going to use those names, you should have a story that can live up to to the originals, and that’s just not there. Still, that seems to be the way all the adaptations this century are going…
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Tex Murphy: Overseer
First thing first: You need the K-Lite codec and FFDSHOW to be able to play this without issues. That being said, Tex Murphy: Overseer is the 5th Tex Murphy game and probably one of the best FMV games ever released, featuring actual gameplay with lots and lots of dialogues.
Overseer is basically a remake of Mean Streets without the ridiculous flight simulator and it ends with a cliffhanger which was resolved 15 years later with Tesla Effect.
A sci-fi noir adventure of old at its best.
– Real player with 37.2 hrs in game
I think i reached my limit in this game. I keep getting error messages as i am at Gideons house using the poles to try and get across the pressure sensitive floor. As a kid i played this game and would get stuck all the time because we didnt have a strategy guide online to follow like i do now. Makes it a lot easier but it is also a clear MUST if your going to play this game. Anyone thats says its cheating and they never used it is a liar OR they spent YEARS trying to beat this game. If they can fix the game i will finish it. As of now i am S.O.L. !
– Real player with 34.4 hrs in game
Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive
Tex Murphy is one of those things you either had to grow up with or which you’ll probably never get.
That being said, it remains one of the least worst FMV series in existence. Some would even go as far as to call all of them a masterpiece. Personally, I won’t but there’s definitely historical merit to them and the story is indeed actually quite cool.
The acting is not as cringeworthy as the old C&C in between mission movies and has its moments, but all things considered this age pretty terrible.
– Real player with 126.2 hrs in game
Truely awesome game. Had this back in the day but forgot how good it really was. The story line is great and the puzzles are devious but not un-doable with a little logic. All in all, it took me 38 hours to complete. ( although that includes time spent going off to make a cup of tea while I thought about where to go next) . Some of you may find that the initial scenes, discussions and traveling a little tedious at first but the game does become more exciting as it goes on.
The Tex Murphey games are the leaders in this genre. IMO.
– Real player with 71.4 hrs in game
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Case of the Mystified Murderess
Again - remember this is a 6 year old game, utilises videos and text instead of animation, and covers a single case!
Now that’s out of the way… it’s short, but not bad for a single session of gaming. If you enjoy the board game (221B Baker Street, etc) or the interactive movie version of Clue, then you’ll enjoy this one. It’s a lot of reading, picking out the relevant names and following up only on those. As it’s ‘demerit point’ based, you want to have as low a score as possible - so visiting the wine dealer is really unnecessary (yes, I went to the wine dealer!).
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
Out of all three of the games on Steam, this was the weakest of the three. I won’t spoil. But if you get a deal on all three, then why not play it. But if buying them individually buy the other two. I will recommend the game in spite of that because the game itself was bug free, and good for an early 90s game. Enjoyed the video clips mostly. I was a bit unhappy at the Baker Street Irregular implementation. Can’t be sure, but in every case I tried them, they were useless - you may find out differently, in which case you can lower your score ( a low score is a better score.)
– Real player with 6.1 hrs in game
Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon
When Under a Killing Moon debuted in 1994 it was a marvel, the first story-based adventure game to incorporate both 3D first person movement and FMV (Full Motion Video). When it showed up on Steam at a bargain price I decided to replay it and see how it held up against the recent spate of indie-made story games that I’ve been playing. The verdict - it’s still pretty amazing.
Sure, the graphics are pixellated and the controls are a little…odd. But the production values are stellar - great sound, acting, writing, and game design. The mouse-based movement control took a little getting used to, but actually worked much better than the fidgety controls in recent games like Edith Finch and Stories Untold, which just about drove me mad.
– Real player with 23.0 hrs in game
Trawling through the relics of adventure gaming’s past can often be more frustrating than fun, but I’m happy I gave Tex Murphy a chance! Under a Killing Moon tells a great tale set in a near-future, post-apocalyptic world, done up in the most advanced tech 1994 could muster. Even if – unlike myself – they don’t see beauty in jerky live-action videos so low res they contain weird rainbow blotches, everybody who enjoys adventures will find something to love in the silly-serious narrative, and especially in the character of Tex Murphy: a down-on-his-luck, fedora-wearing PI torn straight from the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel. Some of the actors are pretty good, some are so bad they’re good, and some of them are just straight-up bad – tough, yet affable, yet goofy ol' Tex, though, is consistently played to perfection (perhaps that’s because he’s portrayed by Chris Jones, who is also the series' head designer). It’s easy to see why this character picked up such a cult following!
– Real player with 16.8 hrs in game
Deluded
GENRE
An experimental fusion of narrative FMV (Full Motion Video), point and click investigation and quick time event (QTE) based interactive games.
DELUDED
The latest live action crime thriller game by New IDEA Games.
THE STORY
A “classic” hit ‘n run case or at least it seems like. Play the detective’s role and try to solve the case with your assistant, Susan. Pay attention to the details during your investigation, find the clues and evidence, complete the puzzle and be sure you are ready to face your demons and answer all the questions, since your life depends on it…