Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon

When UAKM first arrived on the scene there had been some rather lackluster attempts at using FMV in games. But Access got it right - the acting even when cheesy fit right into the world, the story was fun, the characters were great, the mystery was even good. The humor! Oh the humor. I fell in love with Tex Murphy all those years ago and I guess I still am. In fact, I've plunked down my cash so I can play the Tex games again before Project Fedora comes out, without having to dig up my CDs and mess with them. This game is a must have for any aventure gamer.

The Tex Murphy series is without question one of the best FMV adventure game series and this is usually the first Tex Game people play first. When people get to the last game in the series they will realize that it was meant 'to be continued'.But the era of Good Old (Adventure) Gaming was coming to a close with mindless games for the masses taking their place. Now, however, people are finding that there is more to a game than mindless hack-n-slash or mindless crafting. Yes, these are also fun; but true immersion must always combine our creative imagination with the world we are being immersed in. In this case, you really feel for Tex as you are Tex, that hard-boiled P.I. down on his luck, and you do spend time to think over where the story needs to go and what choices you need to make as a detective. Fortunately, people are becoming aware of the well-known fact that there is more to a good game than good graphics (though FMV video sequences still look pretty neat today), for creative story-telling has been at the heart of our social interaction as human beings, right from the start. So now that the Good Old Games are making a comeback, from adventures like 'The Book of Unwritten Tales' to dungeon crawls like 'Legends of Grimrock', it is probably high time we all helped to also bring the best of the FMV series back to the people. And king among them is the humble P.I. we all loved and cherished on cold nights in the company of good family, friends and possibly of a glass of good bourbon. For this reason, I address my point here: please support the Kickstarter Project working to give us a Tex Murphy 6. It will not only continue the storyline cut off so abruptly from Overseer, but it will even help bring back quality FMV gaming to the masses. I think that we as GOGers should always support such projects. Google the words 'tex murphy kickstarter'. Give whatever you can so that we can have the Good Old Games come back: give the next generation a chance to appreciate once again the qualities of exploration, humor, note-keeping, interactivity and patience. Most of all, let us remember that the Tex Games are also social events meant to be shared with friends and family, each one making their one recommendations of 'what to do next'. Games that are as fun to watch as they are to play.

Nach dem enttäuschenden Martian Memorandum bin ich froh, dass die Serie mit dem dritten Teil wieder auf der Spur ist. Auch ohne nostalgische Bindung konnte mich das Spiel sehr gut unterhalten. Die Idee ein Point & Click-Adventure in 3D-Echtzeit-Umgebungen zu verlagern ist selbst aus heutiger Sicht eine tolle Idee. Ich würde mir wünschen, dass, der Abwechslung zuliebe, weitere Genrevertreter diesen Weg bestreiten. Das Gameplay wurde glücklicherweise stark entschlackt, so dass die aus Memorandum bekannten Störfaktoren größtenteils entfallen (ja, es gibt auch keine permanenten Sackgassen mehr). Die wahren Stärken sind natürlich die tollen Charaktere und der Humor, die wohl den größten Verdienst am Kultstatus von Under a Killing Moon aufzuweisen haben. Die Story ist gut, erinnert mich persönlich jedoch wirklich zu sehr an Mean Streets. Einziger richtiger Wermutstropfen ist jedoch die sehr, ich wiederhole, sehr gewöhnungsbedürftige Steuerung, die selbst nach der Eingewöhnungsphase noch äußerst schwammig daherkommt. Solch einen groben Mangel kann ich leider nicht ignorieren und ist hier auch der Hauptgrund dafür, warum ich keine höhere Wertung vergeben möchte. Dennoch gibt’s von mir eine Kaufempfehlung für Adventure-Fans, die mal was anderes, als das typische 2(,5)D-Adventure erleben möchten! Pro und Kontra: Pro: - gelungene, teils schräge Charaktere - toller Humor - ungewöhnliches, bis heute unverbrauchtes Szenario - 3D-Echtzeit-Grafik statt Renderbilder, ist selbst heutzutage noch relativ ungewöhnlich für ein Point & Click-Adventure - Spielmechanik und Trial & Error-Aspekt wurde seit Martian Memorandum stark entschlackt - integrierte Help-Funktion - gelungene Gesamtpräsentation Kontra: - zum Teil recycelte Story (wer Mean Streets gespielt hat, erkennt zu viele parallelen) - schwammige Fortbewegung per Maussteuerung, die einiges an Eingewöhnungszeit erfordert. - vereinzelt nervige Spielpassagen (Kugelspiel, Sicherheitsdrohne und andere) - Pixelhunting - Help-Funktion nicht immer hilfreich - der FMV-Stil ist etwas holprig und generell nicht jedermans Geschmack

The answer is no.

I enjoyed the noir genre to begin with, so liking this game comes easy. The plot is good, it keeps feeding you, teasing you to keep playing. I also appreciate the humor, and iinuedo found liberally throughout the game. My only complaints may be simply because of the lack decent resolution. It makes finding some the items and hotspots difficult. Not difficult in the good way, but more like "where the heck is that?!" Anyhow I recommend it to anyone.