Released in Europe in 1998 and developed by the French company Kult, Hopkins FBI is honestly an adventure game unlike any I have ever before played. It pays homage to American horror and crime cinema (especially Pulp Fiction) and the crazed criminal masterminds of Superman comics in a juxtaposition that vacillates between grim realism and ludicrous surrealism. The gist of the problem with this game is that once you have been sucked in by the grittiness and determination of the Hopkins character and mission, you are then expected to suspend all disbelief (which is, of course, the cornerstone of all memorable fantasy literature) and engage in a cataclysmic battle against a villain who has a hideout and master plan worthy of Lex Luthor. By the time I had finished this game, I was scratching my head in wonderment and confusion.

Hopkins FBI begins with a scene worthy of and also reminiscent of Wes Craven's movie Shocker. As Hopkins's arch nemesis, Bernie Beckson, is about to be electrocuted for commandeering a nuclear missal bombardment on the state of California, the lights flicker, and when they come back on the electric chair is empty. Since Special Agent Hopkins was responsible for capturing Beckson the first time, he is immediately notified of the improbable escape. It is a great beginning that gets even better as the deranged Beckson then proceeds to kidnap, torture and mutilate renowned scientists and friends of Hopkins. The bodies are always found in a grisly fashion that recalls the classic Vincent Price movie The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Written clues are left at the scene of each progressively bloodier carcass in order to lead Hopkins to the next victim. Then in the middle of the story, there are two startlingly tragic occurrences that are totally unexpected, but instead of using this as a springboard to darken the mood of the story, Hopkins instead leaves the city and follows his foe first to a lush tropical island, then to an underwater lair that appears as though it were constructed by a supervillain and finally to the Realm of the Dead. What had been a wonderful drama quickly degenerates into a quirky, ludicrous comic book concentrating on cloning, death and resurrection. Shame on the writers for submitting to their basest juvenile tendencies and not following through with their original idea. A plot that would have received an A is instead reduced to a C-.

The puzzles in Hopkins FBI are actually a step above the usual fare we are accustomed to encountering in a point-and-click game. Whereas many adventure games would have you get your car keys off a table and then use them with your car, the creators of Hopkins went that extra step and required you to search under the sofa cushions to find where your keys have fallen out of your pants pocket. It is this type of small, homely touch that provides realism to the atmosphere. The mouse-driven interface makes it very simple to initiate the common talk, look, get, et al., commands that we are all familiar with. But it is the leads that Bernie Beckson attaches to each of his mutilated victims bodies that are the coup de grace. They encourage the player to do more than just randomly use inventory items on hot spots, as you must decipher the meaning of the clue so that you can figure out the next location to visit. There are only two drawbacks to the otherwise excellent puzzles: the majority of them must be solved in a linear fashion in order to make any progress in the game, and about midway through there is an absurd shootout in the forest that resembles a scene from a ten-year-old Nintendo 8-bit cartridge. As Hopkins walks from the right of the screen to the left, in what is supposed to be a forest labyrinth, criminals appear that you must draw upon and shoot. It is a simple scene to complete once you have figured out the timing pattern, but it adds absolutely nothing to the game and would have better served as a noninteractive cut scene. Overall, the puzzles are admirable--never too hard, never too easy. Puzzles--A-.

The graphics in Hopkins FBI are truly a hodgepodge of styles. When Hopkins must travel from site A to site B, we are presented with an overhead map of the city and must then click on the area we want Hopkins's car to reach. It looks very much like Grand Theft Auto, a controversial product that was released last year, as we watch Hopkins drive, street by street, to the designated spot. On the other hand, when Hopkins engages in conversation, the person he is speaking with appears full-screen as a hand-drawn color portrait superimposed over a black-and-white background with a dialogue tree in the bottom left corner. I do remember, for example, that the blonde police switchboard operator always looked as though she were about to burst out of her blouse. It was, at first, very disconcerting and reminded me of an awful Spider-Man adventure game that was released by Simon & Schuster a few years ago. The positive side of seeing these characters in such a manner is that you do have a great mental image of that character's features and build. Also, many of these still scenes and some of the cut scenes contain some of the most gruesome graphics and nudity that I have ever seen in an adventure game. Yes, nudity. There is more than one dead nude female body in full color, not to mention the nude women afoot in the Realm of the Dead. The majority of the graphics are the standard 2D adventure fare, albeit extremely detailed and realistic (well, I don't really know if the Realm of the Dead is realistic or not and I don't care to find out for quite some time). Finally, I must mention that there is one sickening scene of a bloody skull being sliced open in the FBI pathology lab that I could have lived without ever seeing. Graphics--B.

The sound effects and voice-overs in Hopkins FBI are average at best, but they are never mediocre enough to distract from the enjoyment of the game. What is very interesting, though, is the choice of musical soundtrack. All of the music in the game is classical rock from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Tobacco Road by the Blues Magoos, Feelin' Alright by Rare Earth and Lost Girl and I Can't Control Myself by The Troggs are all used in a similar mood-setting, foot-tapping, irreverent manner borrowed from Pulp Fiction. It is a nice touch. Music, sound effects and voice acting--B.

I would not hesitate to recommend Hopkins FBI to a true adventure fan. I do not know if there is to be a US release as Kult never answers any of my emails, but you can order the game from their web site. Be forewarned, though: it is not for youngsters, nor is it for impressionable individuals who are upset by graphic images of violence and nudity. Kult does hint at a sequel on its site. I do hope that the follow-up sticks more to the realistic atmosphere that was so well-done in the first half of the game and leaves the surrealistic elements of the second part of the story to the comic books.

Final Grade: B

System requirements:

Pentium 133, 16 MB RAM
Windows 95 or superior version
Microsoft DirectX 5 or superior version
20 MB available on your hard drive (90 MB recommended)
SVGA video card
4X CD-ROM drive
Sound card, mouse