Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive

I played this recently, not long after playing Under a Killing Moon for the first time. I really like the interactive movie style of these games and there is some decent acting. Look for Tanya Roberts, who played Donna's Mom on That 70s Show, as she plays Regan in this game. The game continues Tex's story in the sassy noir detective style, complete with some cornball humour that I enjoy. The downsides: I find it virtually impossible without the walkthrough, even on Entertainment Mode. I played on my own at first until I got stuck, then realized I had missed so much - often times you have to jump up or crouch to find an item that is in 2D on top of an object, ie you would never know it was there if you don't have the camera angled exactly right. The labyrinth parts near the end are very frustrating and I had to find a cheat map online to get through it without throwing my computer across the room. The combining of certain items is not intuitive but essential to getting through the game, much like Under a Killing Moon. I wanted to play the Mission Street/Good Tex ending, but blew that without knowing it very early on. It's not always clear when you're talking to people what responses would be considered "good" vs "neutral" vs "bad" and so I ended up doing the Mission Street Walkthrough after completing about 10% of the game and I still ended up with a Lombard St/ Neutral ending. Some puzzles are fairly easy, others not so much. I didn't play in the other mode but I can't imagine having to do some of these tasks with a timer ticking down. There are a couple times when you do have to do things very quickly, and then the controls can be annoying. Fairly well written, well acted, mostly fun game if you are comfortable using a walkthrough (or the in-game hints which dock you points). If I had played this when it came out, it likely would have taken me months to complete and I doubt it could be completed fully without some hints.

The Tex Murphy series brings back so many fond memories of my childhood that of course it's risen to the status of classic. This series is always at the top of my favorite games list. The characters, the dialog, the story, all of it remind me of the times I would sit in front of the computer all night being immersed in Tex's world. The game, however, isn't perfect. If you're playing it for the first time with no nostalgia, you're probably going to tear your hair out at some of the illogical, out of the blue puzzles that were a staple of adventure gaming at the time (and probably the reason adventure games died around the time gaming took a more mainstream turn). The story twists at the end are also a reach and head squarely into camp territory. If you could get past that, then check out one of the best games to ever grace the shelves.

Simply the best of the so-called "interactive movies". But Tex is far more than that. It's one of the best adventure series ever and the Pandora Directive is unbeaten. I remember buying the paperback novell after playing the first time (long time ago now...) and I loved both - video game and the book.

This is by far one of my most treasured games of the 90's! This game is very entertaining, funny and full of surprises. The only thing that dampened my enjoyment while playing was the constant disc swapping but wait.... now you can download Pandora Directive from GOG.COM and play it without any disc swapping!!! GOG has made my most treasured game even better! Thank You GOG!!!

in an age were it seemed a million titles were out a day few jems can be looked back on with enough fond thoughts to play again for me myst, riven, and the tex murphy games shine thru with PD being the best of them all if your a fan of newer games like dragon age origins and mass effect not so much for there fighting but there story and puzzles well then this is the perfect game for you