It's DOOM. What more do I have to tell you? If you haven't played it, you need to buy it. This isn't some generic brown "Call of Doody". There's no corridors that you're forced to follow. Just 4 episodes of you against the spawn of Hell. Eight weapons at your disposal ranging from a chainsaw, fist and a pistol, to a shotgun, chaingun, rocket launcher, plasma rifle and the ubiquitous BFG (Big F-king Gun). Capacity for multiplayer is still present through several source ports. And if you haven't tried the Brutal DOOM mod, you haven't lived. This is the FPS that most call daddy. (The granddaddy is actually Wolfenstein 3D)
I came across Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum about 6 or 7 years ago as a budding teenager in a CD compilation of some Access Software classics called "Private Eye Mysteries". It came with Mean Streets, Martian Memorandum, Countdown and Crime Wave, all classic games. Mean Streets is where we first encounter future adventure game icon Tex Murphy, a down-on-his-luck private investigator from a futuristic San Francisco who's itching for a case. He got more than he bargained for. A dead man and a blonde. Tex must look into the apparent suicide of Dr. Carl Linsky, a scientist involved with a secret project. He was seen jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge and the police are determined to stick it as a suicide. But after poking around, Tex sees what they're selling and he ain't buying. So it's up to him to uncover the real truth and to save the world. Mean Streets was pretty groundbreaking for its time. It's split into three phases. The first phase you'll encounter is close to that of a flight simulator, where you have to guide Tex's hovercar to the proper destination. You can also get some leads by calling your secretary or your helpful informant (Lee Chin, I believe her name was..) which will lead you to more locations to land and look at. Depending on where you go, you may or may not encounter the next phase and that is the shooting phase. You must go from one side of a scene to another, alive. There's baddies rushing you with guns and you got a limited amount of ammunition. Good luck! But if you succeed (or don't have to engage in combat at all), you'll reach an all too familiar phase. The adventure phase, where you ask questions, examine and grab objects, solve puzzles, and bypass obstacles. Sound was accomplished through a technology known as RealSound, which'd rear its head in other games. Basically, RealSound made close to realistic sounds and music through that scratchy 4.77 MHz PC speaker. Graphics depended on what mode you set. There's 16-color EGA, CGA, Hercules and I believe Monochrome as well. Martian Memorandum on the other hand, is a bit easier on the eyes and the ears. So in Mean Streets, you saved the world and got the girl. Well, unfortunately for you, the girl ran off on you and..yep...you guessed it, the rent's due and you need a case. Well my friend, consider yourself lucky because the tycoon of a Martian terraforming corporation wants you to find out where his daughter ran off to. Jackpot! That is, until he winds up dead. Time to take a vacation to Mars, where you'll be on the trail of his daughter and the priceless artifact she possesses that a madman is burning to get. And if he gets ahold of it, the Red Planet is doomed, and the Blue one may be next. Martian Memorandum is a point and click adventure. No flight sim phases, no fighting scenes except for what you have to do to accomplish an objective, but there's still the good old adventure game formula of poking around, moving objects, conquering obstacles and talking to people. Speaking of which...if you have the likes of a Sound Blaster, you'll get digitized speech, though unfortunately its not for every instance like in later Tex games like Under a Killing Moon, but it does a good job. All in all, I strongly suggest that you take a walk down Lombard Street (and Memory Lane) and pick up Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum from GOG. It's cheaper than what I paid for from that CD compilation (5.99 compared to close to $12 is always good). Now go on, grab your trenchcoat and pay the rent!
Police Quest was a well-lauded adventure/simulation series created as a joint effort between Sierra and retired California Highway Patrol officer Jim Walls, who was recovering from an injury sustained while on duty. The first three games place you in the shoes of officer Sonny Bonds in the city of Lytton, California. Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel starts you off as a traffic/general enforcement officer that moves up into narcotics investigation and ends up putting down big time drug lord Jessie Bains. You face off against Bains again, this time working Homicide in Police Quest 2, which is where you stay in Police Quest 3, though for a time you'll start off as a sergeant in charge of the traffic unit. Police Quest 4: Open Season, departs from the Lytton setting and Walls' design (who went off to work with Tsunami to create Blue Force) and this time enters Los Angeles and the designs of former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates (who regrettably passed away last year). While the first three games used painted backgrounds, sprites and the like, Police Quest 4 strove for a more photorealistic view. All four games stress proper police procedure. It took me several tries and the advice of my dad (a retired Ohio deputy sheriff and small-town police chief) to clear a felony stop in PQ1's enhanced remake. But if that doesn't convince you, consider the many law enforcement agencies that used the series as a training tool. It's classic Sierra, and if you've always wanted to know what it feels to wear the blues, you can't go wrong with the Police Quest series.
