Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon

There's something in this kind of games, a magic you simply can't seem to find anymore. When the first FMV games arrived in all their CD glory, man were we stunned. And among the most brilliant exemples of what that bygone era had to offer, here is Under a killing moon. You want a great mystery in a sci-fi noir universe à la Blade Runner? With great dialogues, excellent puzzles, a lot of exploration, and of course a bucket of Chris John's charisma - and humor ? Here, take it and enjoy. They just don't make games like this anymore.

This game brings back fond memories. I was but a young teenage boy at the beginning of high school when this game came out. It was probably during a period where we saw the most technical advances in games ever, all due to CD-ROM. Virtual Reality was all the rage, as was streaming full motion video. This game combined both. Hailing from the time before graphics accelerator cards took games to yet another level, this game really pushed the envelope. On the down side, this probably makes the graphics look a lot more dated than what might have been the case if they had opted for hand drawn graphics. But since Access attempted to create an "interactive movie", only real actors would do. To anyone who experiences involuntary convulsions upon the mentioning of "interactive movie", rest assured, UAKM is a proper adventure game, and despite the age of the graphics, it's thoroughly immersive. Having finally played this game some 15 or so years after I first saw it at a friend's house (I couldn't play it at the time due to not having a working CD-ROM drive), all I can say is: WOW!!! Once you get past the ancient graphics, you'll discover a well told detective story, filled with absolutely the right atmosphere. Some of the acting is very bad, but it all seems to fit perfectly in this spoof-like detective noir tale. The thing I found most bothersome about this game is the control system, more specifically, the "virtual reality" travel mode. I didn't mind playing the game from a first person perspective, and felt that it helped the overall experience, but it would've been better if it handled more like a first person shooter. I was glad to discover that movement between locations became less painful if you use the "Travel" button on the control panel. I would've noticed it if I had bothered to read the manual properly, and I suggest that other players also give it a read first. I conclusion, I would say that this game is definitely far superior than the some of its parts, and a lot of fun to play, in spite of the control system. I would highly recommend it, and I would go as far as to say that this is one of few adventure games I can see myself replaying at a future date.

I remember eying the box of this game when I was a wee lad, dreaming about playing it and such. I had 2 barriers, my conservative parents and my equally conservative PC specs. You can imagine my delight when I saw this classic here on GOG this morning. So now I'm going to play this game nice and proper! Boot it up, light a cigarette, and lean back... This week I'm Under a Killing Moon.

Good time!! I have this game in original cd´s!! Tex is the best!!

For me, I guess...Why? Beats me...there is something about Tex Murphy that I can't describe. The Noir feeling? The first person view movent, which gives you impression, that you're actually realy there? The superb humor? Intriging story? Being a P.I.? Breaththaking music score? Hard to tell...but ever since i got in hand this game in 1994 when I was 18 years old...i simply felt in love with it. The only thing that bother me back than, was a slow PC which couldn't face the burden of high tech graphic (if i correctly renemebr it was a pentium with 3D voodoo graphic accelerator...never mind)...so when you moved around in full screen mode - it was like watching diapositives:) the other thing that bothered me was the dixk swapping. Now in 2011, thanks to GOG team, the copy of UAKM finally landed on my beloved macbook air and worked flawlessly there on Win7..I was so happy...like a kid in a candy store. After years of trying to figure out the Dos Box system and cd swaping - there was a simplified solution for only 10 bucks. That's like - a free game:) So...do yourself a favour - buy this jewel - as for me - this game made my life happier. Whenever I feel down, there will always be a Tex Murphy which will bring me up. Thanks to the GOG team (and people on Access software if I renember correctly), that made one human life on this earth happy as a hippo:)