The Tesla Effect opens magnificently, with a flyover of a pretty well-rendered cityscape and an intriguing setup to a promising mystery. It uses visuals, a slightly discordant timeline, and sets the table just right.
Everything that follows is a pleasant but thoroughly lo-fi adventure game with one foot stuck in 1999. Which is fine for fans like me who have waited for this, but won't do much for anybody else. At one point my girlfriend walked through the room and saw me watching a cutscene, her first glimpse of the game, and said, "Oh my god! That background is not real!" She felt moved to speak at some length about the obvious compositing.
Yes, I'm sorry fellow fans, it's that bad.
The opening city shots were clearly done in an entirely different set from the rest of the game, which would probably look good if this game came out directly after 1998's Overseer.
So let's get my two major gripes out of the way. Considering the above, the Tex team went with a slightly baffling decision to render the game for 4K, which is like using a high-powered space telescope to photograph your lawn. To my understanding, this is why the game feels so insanely chopped up and incomplete; a lot of footage had to be left out for space constraints. If true, this is not a good trade-off and the resulting story is frequently rushed or even confusing.
Put it this way, long-time series fans; imagine explaining the story of The Pandora Directive to a friend. Now imagine explaining this game.
2nd gripe: Not enough Chelsea. The actress might have been busy, but any devoted fan is going to chase her ending and will only find her in about thirty seconds of screen time. It's jarring and does a lot to spoil the taste.
Which is a shame, because this game otherwise retains good form for the series, has a charming cast, and interesting if not-too-difficult puzzles. It serves its legacy well, but doesn't do anything to enhance it.
Tesla feels like a solid goodbye to Tex, and I'll take that.
