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| 29 JAN 2005 at 7:30am |
STooGE4444, EastCoastDoom...Schattenjger
Posts : 2099
Joined: 15 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Killing Under a Moon......or is it Under a Killing Monn
1-28-2005
Hey all. I finished UAKM last night and I have to say that it was very fun. I don't know why I never tried this series a long time ago but I should've (and you should too.) Just to let you know I had never played any of the other Tex games.
I am not going to spend time describing all specific features because you can find that elsewhere. In the past, I've stayed away from First-Person Adventures but I am beginning to like them much more just because of games like this. FMV is a great thing to add to the realism of a FP-Adventure.
The game is setup upon two views: Interactive Mode and Movement Mode. Interactive mode is where all the meat is: Inventory, Dialogue, Puzzles, Interface. You must switch between these modes constantly to reposition yourself and then examine what you are looking at. It was cumbersome at first, but you will get used to it. The Interactive Mode is very straightforward and well-laid out. Inventory is easy to use. ialogue trees are simple.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the 3D mode. I thought the texture detail was quite well done for that time. Most of the props are just sprites whereas big props like desks and tables are actual models.
The acting in the game is TOP quality. Even the designer and lead character, Tex, is awesome, which I was really surprised by. However, his shoes are very nerdy.) The immersion in the game is greatly attributed to the cast. The humo(u)r is also a really great aspect of the game; gives a real edge to Tex and the other characters.
The music also set the mood for the variety of locales and was well composed albiet simple. There are not a lot of environment sound effects but where they existed, they served their purpose well.
The Inventory based puzzles are varied and fit well into the story. The puzzles are mostly combining items and stuff and basically all of them are logical. There are also jigsaw-like puzzles to put together, which were fun.
The game starts just like a good detective story. You get introduced to some of the characters and their situations. There doesn't seem to be an evident main plot but it comes to view and the intrigue sets in. Overall, the story was great and easily understandable. However, I think there was a little lack of personal confrontation between Tex and the Antagonists at the end but o-well.
I ran this using DOSBox and had barely any problems. Using Movement Mode was a little slow but not that bad. There was one lockup crash but nothing else bad. I also want to say that you can die. And there is one dead end. But if you save often you'll have no problem. The dead end occurs towards the end of the game and it happens if you don't pick up a certain item.
I don't really have anything bad to say except it sucks that most of the items you are looking for are sprites and therefore flat. Thus it can be easy to miss a tiny little thing (I had this problem once but it was for a major item in a strange place.) Therefore, look high and low just like you would in real life; not everything is in plain view.
The game took me approximately 12 hours; it was pretty easy. Very straightforward
I definitely give it an A. I was looking for a detective-ish game to supplant my craze for Gabriel-Knight. UAKM isn't to replace GK: it serves very well on its own.
~rbeeler SVT &&Name's STooGE$$$$ Valpurgius TNT; it's not PLURAL&&[img]http://www.riseaboverecords.com/sleep/image/sleepfront.gif[/img]&&151.Generally speaking Sludge Doomsters are Angry, Gothic doomsters are sad, funeral doomsters are barely breathing, death doomsters are dirty, drunk and dribbling, Stoner Doomsters don't care, drone doomsters are out of it and traditional Doomsters are permanently pissed off, mainly with other doomsters
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| 29 JAN 2005 at 9:18am |
RevliskciPrivate Detective
Posts : 724
Joined: 9 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Excellent review. I agree the Tex Murphy series is a fine piece of work.
Glad you liked it.
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| 29 JAN 2005 at 11:32pm |
Goddess of All Things MagicalSchattenjger
Posts : 1565
Joined: 27 MAY 2003
Status : Online | I just got it running on the latest OSBOX version. Just what I needed-got to love TEX! Now I can finally say that have I played all the Tex Murphy games. FUN! FUN! FUN!
Mean Streets
Martian Memorandum
Under a Killing Moon
Pandora Directive
Overseer
&&&&Listening to XM Radio Starbucks Cafe Channel 45&&[IMG]http://img227.echo.cx/img227/8458/dancelikenooneiswatching6ld.png[/IMG]
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 1:40am |
| Deleted User | Great review Stooge!
Originally Posted By Narcotic Priest, STooGE4444... (29 JAN 2005 7:29am)
The acting in the game is TOP quality. Even the designer and lead character, Tex, is awesome, which I was really surprised by. (However, his shoes are very nerdy.) The immersion in the game is greatly attributed to the cast. The humo(u)r is also a really great aspect of the game; gives a real edge to Tex and the other characters.
I remember when the game got out,there was interviews of Marggot Kidder and the indian-guy in every game magazines. To bad that their career ended there .
No, seriously, it was my first FMV game (appart from 7th guest which doesn't count ) and it's still the best of all. I hope that you have Pandora Directive right there, it's even better IMO!
@Romnut:
I just got it running on the latest OSBOX version. Just what I needed-got to love TEX! Now I can finally say that have I played all the Tex Murphy games. FUN! FUN! FUN!
Do you need DOSBOX to run Overseer (DVD)? I have it here but I don't want to fiddle to much with my now-nicely-working-WINXP, so I haven't dared...
By the way, the Amazing Race rocks! I'm sad though, cause Lori&Bolo was my favorite team :'(
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 4:47am |
Goddess of All Things MagicalSchattenjger
Posts : 1565
Joined: 27 MAY 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Randdom (30 JAN 2005 1:40am)
@Romnut:
Do you need DOSBOX to run Overseer (DVD)? I have it here but I don't want to fiddle to much with my now-nicely-working-WINXP, so I haven't dared...
By the way, the Amazing Race rocks! I'm sad though, cause Lori&Bolo was my favorite team :'(
Randdom, Overseer runs just fine on XP PRO. There's just one spot near the end of the game where you'll need a saved game from someone in order to continue.
Yes, I was sorry to see Lori&Bolo go also. So many of the contestants are so mean to their partners. Lori&Bolo seemed to get along better than most, although they had their moments of agitation.
The Amazing Race is amazing. Imagine getting to go all over the world and having such challenging experiences.
[IMG]http://img170.exs.cx/img170/516/theraceblinkie4bv.gif[/IMG]
&&&&Listening to XM Radio Starbucks Cafe Channel 45&&[IMG]http://img227.echo.cx/img227/8458/dancelikenooneiswatching6ld.png[/IMG]
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 4:56am |
STooGE4444, EastCoastDoom...Schattenjger
Posts : 2099
Joined: 15 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Actually, guys and gals, I don't have Pandora with me yet......I've been waiting for it on eBay. I do have Overseer. Should I wait to get PD or just jump to Overseer?
Originally Posted By Romnut (29 JAN 2005 11:32pm)
I just got it running on the latest OSBOX version. Just what I needed-got to love TEX! Now I can finally say that have I played all the Tex Murphy games. FUN! FUN! FUN!
Mean Streets
Martian Memorandum
Under a Killing Moon
Pandora Directive
Overseer
YEs, but did you beat them? Is your UAKM running well. If not, I can give you some other tips.......
~rbeeler SVT &&Name's STooGE$$$$ Valpurgius TNT; it's not PLURAL&&[img]http://www.riseaboverecords.com/sleep/image/sleepfront.gif[/img]&&151.Generally speaking Sludge Doomsters are Angry, Gothic doomsters are sad, funeral doomsters are barely breathing, death doomsters are dirty, drunk and dribbling, Stoner Doomsters don't care, drone doomsters are out of it and traditional Doomsters are permanently pissed off, mainly with other doomsters
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 5:39am |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Narcotic Priest, STooGE4444... (30 JAN 2005 4:56am)
Actually, guys and gals, I don't have Pandora with me yet......I've been waiting for it on eBay. I do have Overseer. Should I wait to get PD or just jump to Overseer?
Overseer is not a sequel to PD. It is a remake of Mean Streets, the first Text Murphy game. So if you can't wait, playing Overseer first and PD next should not cause you any trouble.
I forgot my sig.
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 3:46pm |
Goddess of All Things MagicalSchattenjger
Posts : 1565
Joined: 27 MAY 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Narcotic Priest, STooGE4444... (30 JAN 2005 4:56am)
YEs, but did you beat them? Is your UAKM running well. If not, I can give you some other tips.......
Narcotic Priest, STooGE4444.....
Yes, I have beaten every Tex Murphy game except Under a Killing Moon which I am playing right now. I'm on Day 2 at the moment. Everything is running fine, and I sometimes forget that I am playing an old game.
The old big budget games had everything: amazing music, great intros, solid storyline, and snappy dialogues.
When the intro for UAKM started, all I could think was "Oh, man, this IS the bomb."
&&&&Listening to XM Radio Starbucks Cafe Channel 45&&[IMG]http://img227.echo.cx/img227/8458/dancelikenooneiswatching6ld.png[/IMG]
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 9:36pm |
SusanGuild Master
Posts : 5485
Joined: 13 OCT 2002
Location: 0
Status : Offline | FYI, Overseer combines the two modes into one, which gives an environment similar to GK3 where you move and interact in the same one. No need to switch and much easier to use.
Do you need DOSBOX to run Overseer (DVD)? No. There are one or two things needed to get the game running. I think there is a patch, too. If you are running the DVD version of the game and it doesn't work in your DVD drive, you do need some downloaded DVD software.
The irony is that the DVD version came out before most people had a DVD drive. But now that they do, they're too "new" for that particular DVD!
I miss my Bubba: 1986 - 2006.
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| 30 JAN 2005 at 10:49pm |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By Susan (30 JAN 2005 9:36pm)
No. There are one or two things needed to get the game running. I think there is a patch, too. If you are running the DVD version of the game and it doesn't work in your DVD drive, you do need some downloaded DVD software.
The irony is that the DVD version came out before most people had a DVD drive. But now that they do, they're too "new" for that particular DVD!
Yes, I asked because I recall that not long ago you seemed to have trouble with it. I am just too lazy to go search for the threads.
But didn't you finally played the CD version?
@Stooge
Actually, guys and gals, I don't have Pandora with me yet......I've been waiting for it on eBay. I do have Overseer. Should I wait to get PD or just jump to Overseer?
Like Michal said, it is probably not necessarily (I haven't played Overseer yet, so...), but I guess that Overseer is technologically and graphically (a little ?) more advanced so I would have waited if I were you. (I find it tough to "downgrade"
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| 1 FEB 2005 at 4:04am |
SusanGuild Master
Posts : 5485
Joined: 13 OCT 2002
Location: 0
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Randdom (30 JAN 2005 10:48pm)
Yes, I asked because I recall that not long ago you seemed to have trouble with it. I am just too lazy to go search for the threads.
But didn't you finally played the CD version? Search the Tech forum as I think that's where I posted about it - when you're done feeling lazy.
I did end up playing the CD version b/c I wanted to play the game rather than worry about some software to play the game. I did d/l two different kinds of DVD software (I think the largest one was 20MB) but haven't played the DVD version yet. I intend to, though, to see what those non-interlaced videos are like.
I miss my Bubba: 1986 - 2006.
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