Reader reviews for Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure page 3

I’ve been waiting for quite some time for Tex Murphy Tesla Effect to arrive, long before the Kick Starter campaign and anxiously ever since.

I have a lot of fond memory from my childhood playing Under a Killing Moon, Pandora Directive and Overseer, I also tried playing Mean Street and Martian Memorandum, but those gave an entirely different experience from the FMV games and it did not appeal to me as much.

...and so came the big day, the 8th of may 2014, Tesla Effect was finally released.

I tried pacing myself while playing it, but I couldn’t resist the temptation and ended up finishing it in 3 sessions of about 6 hours each.

Tesla Effect delivers the essential elements of a Tex Murphy game and more, that being said there were a few things that bugged me which i will expand on shortly, but all and all, after finishing the game i felt like i got the experience i was looking and remembered so fondly.

What is a Tex Murphy Game?

Tex Murphy, is a First Person, FMV, Adventure game, that is very story driven and filled with amusing dialogues and challenging puzzles.

So lets break it down to section:

-First Person-
In Telsa Effect there was a big improvement in the controls and navigation through the game’s world, instead of pushing Tex forward and backwards with mouse movements, you control Tex like in most First Person games, with the WSAD keys, which is a great improvement, although i would have given the choice to custom map those keys for a better UX, personally i would have even set the middle mouse button as a move forward trigger, the less i need to use the keyboard the better.
Another thing i missed from previous Tex games was crouching and stretching, simply because it made it easier to search inside drawers and cabinets and i also liked it when items could have been placed on the inside bottom side of a table, so you need to crouch and look up to see it, it adds another dimension to the game.

FMV:
Full Motion Video, This is a big part of the game, each time you meet a character you will see an introduction movie, then you will have a branching narrative that evolves the story-line and effects the path and outcome of the game.
Then you can interrogate the characters, ask them about other characters and get more information and clues that will help you move forward in the game.
The FMV in Tesla Effect is done very nicely in a stunning 2K resolution and some great acting performances from the old cast and the new, my favorite one besides Tex is and always was rook, look for him in the pawnshop.
Another thing i missed from the previous games in Tesla Effect is seeing the characters inside the playing environment and not just in the fmv, as much as it looked cheesy and did not add one bit to the game-play it made the world feel a little more alive.

Adventure Puzzle Game:
The adventure side of TE is pretty much the same as in the other games, there are 3 things you can do to advance.

1. solve inventory puzzles, most of the time the item you need will be close by to where you need to use it, but others will be located far away or even in a different location, this sometimes requires an insane amount of pixel hunting, but that was always a part of it.
You will also need to combine certain items to advance.

2. The dialogues, ask the right character the right question or basically make sure you talk with everyone about everything, even if it’s not required to advance, the dialogues are the most fun part of the game, so don’t skip any.

Another little thing that bugged me in the game was when i got stuck because a previous unavailable location became available and i had no idea that this location was even a part of the game, it was one of the rooms in the hotel, i would have give the player some indication that this location will be a part of the game later on, even if the character just scream at you through the door “Come back later, i can’t talk right now”, i would know i should try it again every time i get stuck (for those of you who played the game i am talking about Saffyre).

3. the puzzles in TE are not easy by today’s standard, but are easier and somewhat plainer than in the previous installments, I remember getting stuck on the Mayan calendar puzzle in Pandora Directive for over a week, but solving it was 7 times more satisfying and rewarding, i acknowledge that most gamer today do not have the patience for this type of puzzles and i believe that’s why they were dumb down, but this was not a deal breaker for me and i enjoyed the puzzles nevertheless.

There was a small issue that bothered me with some of the puzzle, the camera view was way too far and it was hard to see what’s going on in the puzzle, this happened in about 3-4 puzzles in the game.

4. the graphics, there was and still is a lot of chatter around the graphics and 3D models used in TE, the graphics are 10 time better than the previous games and that is obviously expected, but they are a little dated, which may draw back some of today gamers, i personally enjoyed the art and it didn’t bothered me one bit, so just watch one of the videos online and judge for yourself.

In conclusion:
As I said in the beginning of this review, I enjoyed playing TE, i got the experience i was looking for, but I think there is room for improvement on future installments.

I am looking forward to see how the gaming community will react to this game and hopefully i will get the pleasure of playing a new Tex Murphy game in the near future.

For now i’ll settle for a second run through with a different path on Tesla Effect.

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Time Played: 10-20 hours

I’ve known for some time now that this would be the hardest review I’ve ever had to write. I’ve waited sixteen years to play Tesla Effect, and I desperately wanted it to be great, because the fear was always that it would be terrible, and I would be forced to rip it apart in my review to maintain my journalistic integrity.

Ten days ago, I had the rare opportunity to attend the Tesla Effect premiere party, and I got my review copy of the game in person. I booted it up with just about the most anxious trepidation I’ve ever felt. Twenty minutes later, my fears had been destroyed more thoroughly than the Moon Child – Tesla Effect is excellent, a fantastic return-to-form for FMV games, and a glorious adventure filled with twists, turns, and surprises.

It’s not the most visually impressive game ever. Nobody’s going to be comparing this game to Crysis anytime soon, but for what the game needs, the in-game graphics serve their purpose admirably. I’m completely in love with the soundtrack. Bobby James has composed an amazing set of orchestral music for Tesla Effect, and it fits the tone of the game and the on-screen action like a glove.

The puzzles are, like the old games, a mix of challenge, with some softballs in the earlier chapters (called Days in the Murphy-verse), and a few hardballs later on. Sadly, the puzzles are also the source of Tesla Effect’s few bugs, but I should note that none of the bugs I encountered were game-breaking, just mildly annoying. And all the old Tex Murphy standard gameplay features are here and in fine form, like multi-path conversations, interrogations, inventory puzzles, and yes, even the semi-dreaded death traps.

Tesla Effect has been a long time coming, but it has been worth the wait. It’s easily one of the most entertaining experiences you can have for the price, and it’s unquestionably the best game I’ve played this year so far. This might be nostalgia talking, but it’s not quite as good as The Pandora Directive is. Having said that, it is really, really good. Fans of the series should be absolutely thrilled with this game, and those new to Tex will find themselves in for an awesome introduction to the series. Here’s hoping that the world still needs saving next year – there’s a damn good P.I. I can recommend for the job.

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Time Played: Over 20 hours

Overall, I’m very happy with the game. It feels like seeing an old friend again playing as Tex. Some good story, acting, music, puzzles, and interesting locations make this a very likable Tex Adventure experience. The only thing that I did not like was that the inventory/detective puzzles were way to easy. They were actually pretty well done and integrated into the environment, but you are given way too many hints on how to solve them, even when playing Gamer mode. Tex basically spells out the solution for you most of the times, which takes away all the fun and thought process that could have been. I was OK that Tex gave a proper explanation and guidelines for the Stand Alone/Isolated puzzles in the game. That is totally OK with me, since I’m not a big fan of guessing the logic for these kind of puzzles. There were also too many hidden object hunts that did not make sense and felt forced. A few of them would have been OK, but not for 6 instances (collecting 9 cards, 7 symbols, 7 letters, 7 puzzle pieces, 5 ladder pieces, etc). Some of them were actually fun, since it lets you explore the beautiful environment while doing some detective work (I loved walking around with the flashlight in the dark), but most of them feel forced and only exist to make the gaming experience longer. The last puzzle is also timed. Why??!! I thought we were over stuff like that these days of Adventure Games. I’m debating if I should give it 4 or 4.5 stars, but it will be 4 stars, solely based on the puzzles being too easy to solve from to much hints from Tex (even on Gamer mode), a little too many hidden object hunts, and a timed puzzle in the end. However from a gameplay and story perspective, Tesla Effect is on par with Pandora Directive and Overseer, which I rate as 5 and a 4.5 in my previous reviews.

Overall great story that will keep you coming for more, “good” hammie acting, interesting locations to explore, well integrated inventory puzzles (most of the time). In other words a awesome Tex game. Keep em coming.

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Time Played: 10-20 hours
Difficulty: Just Right