Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure
Big Finish Games · 2014 · FMV, Adventure, Detective, Noir, Cyberpunk
PC
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About Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure
✦ AI summary
Tex Murphy wakes up with seven years of memories erased in a dystopian San Francisco, and must solve a maze of murders and Tesla conspiracies to recover his past before a terrifying future unfolds. This cyberpunk noir detective adventure combines full-motion video with live actors, fully explorable 3D environments, branching storylines, and multiple endings in the triumphant return of a legendary adventure game series after 16 years.
Winner of Best Character from AdventureGamers.com as well as 10 of their Readers Choice awards including Best Story and Best Adventure of 2014.
Tex Murphy wakes up – disoriented and head pounding – on the fire escape outside his office atop the Ritz Hotel. Another typical morning for the last of the old-school detectives. Except it isn’t. What starts out as the worst hangover in history becomes a baffling nightmare: something – or someone – has erased Tex’s memory of the past seven years. Motivated by lost love, revenge, and the world’s strongest coffee blend, Tex must retrace his own steps into a maze of unsolved murders, hidden agendas, and lost technologies of Nikola Tesla. Only by solving the mysteries of his past can Tex hope to regain his memory in time to restore what’s been lost…and stop a terrifying future.
Tex Murphy is finally back after leaving loyal fans on a cliffhanger for almost 16 years, so come get acquainted in a world filled with dangerous dames, morally ambiguous characters, and lots of mysteries to be solved.
Tesla Effect upgrades the classic Tex Murphy experience with HD live-action -- that's right, for those of you not old enough to have played adventure games in the 90s, Tex Murphy embraces the lost art of green screen full-motion video as it interacts with fully modeled 3D environments. Players will be challenged with logic puzzles, interactive dialogue, branching storylines, and alternate endings.
Tesla Effect shines with an eclectic cast of actors, including:
Tesla Effect is 6th title in the multi-award-winning Tex Murphy adventure series.
Starting in 1989 with Mean Streets, Tex Murphy was already breaking new ground by presenting full-motion video and digitized speech and sound which redefined what computer hardware was capable of at the time. While Martian Memorandum (1991) continued this tradition of excellent, engaging, and visually stunning gameplay, it wasn't until Under a Killing Moon (1994) that the series really took a leap into the forefront of PC gaming.
Under a Killing Moon not only provided players with rich full-motion video but was also one of the first games to feature a true Hollywood cast. As for the gameplay experience: it was unparalleled. Utilizing Access Software's amazing "Virtual World" engine, the game provided players with completely explorable full-3D environments. Crouch under desks, rifle through drawers, or stand on your toes to glance at the top shelf of a cabinet. Nothing was off-limits, and no other game utilized such immersive technology. Under a Killing Moon would go on to win many awards, including "Best Fantasy Role-Playing/Adventure Program" at the Codie Awards.
The Pandora Directive (1996) continued this tradition of groundbreaking technology by being one of the first FMV adventure titles to feature multiple endings, multiple gameplay paths, and shipped on 6 compact discs. It also featured Hollywood acting talent and won "Best adventure game of 1996" by both Computer Gaming World, and Computer Game Entertainment.
Tex Murphy: Overseer (1998) would come next, and would be the first PC game title to be released on the very new (at the time) DVD format. This enabled the game's full-motion video to be presented at levels of quality never before seen in a video game. While the game was a re-telling of the original Mean Streets story, it also featured Hollywood acting talent, and a completely redesigned 3D Virtual World engine.
16 years would pass between Overseer's release and Tesla Effect's continuation of the series (thanks to a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign). It would once again maintain Tex Murphy's tradition of ground-breaking adventure game entertainment with 2K full-motion video, full 3D environments, and a dynamic cast of actors to help bring the long-awaited continuation of the Tex Murphy saga to life.
To learn more about the Tex Murphy series, visit BigFinishGames.com.
Tesla Effect is a cyberpunk noir detective mystery adventure set in a dystopian post World War III San Francisco.
Tex Murphy wakes up – disoriented and head pounding – on the fire escape outside his office atop the Ritz Hotel. Another typical morning for the last of the old-school detectives. Except it isn’t. What starts out as the worst hangover in history becomes a baffling nightmare: something – or someone – has erased Tex’s memory of the past seven years. Motivated by lost love, revenge, and the world’s strongest coffee blend, Tex must retrace his own steps into a maze of unsolved murders, hidden agendas, and lost technologies of Nikola Tesla. Only by solving the mysteries of his past can Tex hope to regain his memory in time to restore what’s been lost…and stop a terrifying future.
Tex Murphy is finally back after leaving loyal fans on a cliffhanger for almost 16 years, so come get acquainted in a world filled with dangerous dames, morally ambiguous characters, and lots of mysteries to be solved.
Tesla Effect upgrades the classic Tex Murphy experience with HD live-action -- that's right, for those of you not old enough to have played adventure games in the 90s, Tex Murphy embraces the lost art of green screen full-motion video as it interacts with fully modeled 3D environments. Players will be challenged with logic puzzles, interactive dialogue, branching storylines, and alternate endings.
- Stunning full-motion video (FMV) presented in 2K resolution
- Fully explorable 3D environments (no pre-set nodes, go wherever you like!)
- Multiple story paths leading to 5 different possible endings
- Unique dialogue choices and character interactions
- Beautiful, moody, and immersive soundtrack
- Two difficulty settings: play casually or as a seasoned detective
- Built-in hint system to help guide you through challenges
Tesla Effect shines with an eclectic cast of actors, including:
- Todd Bridges (Willis from Diff'rent Strokes. Ask someone older if you don't know)
- June "TV's Greatest Mom" Lockhart (ask someone even older if you don't know)
- Larry "Soup Nazi" Thomas (you've seen Seinfeld, right?)
- Kevin "Tom Servo" Murphy (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
- The original Tex Murphy himself, Chris Jones
Tesla Effect is 6th title in the multi-award-winning Tex Murphy adventure series.
Starting in 1989 with Mean Streets, Tex Murphy was already breaking new ground by presenting full-motion video and digitized speech and sound which redefined what computer hardware was capable of at the time. While Martian Memorandum (1991) continued this tradition of excellent, engaging, and visually stunning gameplay, it wasn't until Under a Killing Moon (1994) that the series really took a leap into the forefront of PC gaming.
Under a Killing Moon not only provided players with rich full-motion video but was also one of the first games to feature a true Hollywood cast. As for the gameplay experience: it was unparalleled. Utilizing Access Software's amazing "Virtual World" engine, the game provided players with completely explorable full-3D environments. Crouch under desks, rifle through drawers, or stand on your toes to glance at the top shelf of a cabinet. Nothing was off-limits, and no other game utilized such immersive technology. Under a Killing Moon would go on to win many awards, including "Best Fantasy Role-Playing/Adventure Program" at the Codie Awards.
The Pandora Directive (1996) continued this tradition of groundbreaking technology by being one of the first FMV adventure titles to feature multiple endings, multiple gameplay paths, and shipped on 6 compact discs. It also featured Hollywood acting talent and won "Best adventure game of 1996" by both Computer Gaming World, and Computer Game Entertainment.
Tex Murphy: Overseer (1998) would come next, and would be the first PC game title to be released on the very new (at the time) DVD format. This enabled the game's full-motion video to be presented at levels of quality never before seen in a video game. While the game was a re-telling of the original Mean Streets story, it also featured Hollywood acting talent, and a completely redesigned 3D Virtual World engine.
16 years would pass between Overseer's release and Tesla Effect's continuation of the series (thanks to a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign). It would once again maintain Tex Murphy's tradition of ground-breaking adventure game entertainment with 2K full-motion video, full 3D environments, and a dynamic cast of actors to help bring the long-awaited continuation of the Tex Murphy saga to life.
To learn more about the Tex Murphy series, visit BigFinishGames.com.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
Tex Murphy is a fossil both in-universe, and as a game. 80% of this game's writing is Gen X humour (derogatory) and some equivalent of "Hey Tex, remember da time?" It's incredibly lazy to prop your "revival" game up with flashbacks to previous titles. I'm sure this was done to keep it in "the style of the time," but when you're having conversations with characters you can pick one of three vaguely-titled prompts, and heaven forbid you go pick the wrong one because an entire conversation thread is abandoned. Tex should've stayed in the past.2 found this helpful
I liked it a lot and was happy to play another Tex Murphy game. Really happy to see that Under A Killing Moon will get a remake. Btw, you were one of those developers that made a kickstarter and actually delivered within 2 years or so, and the game was good. Love you guys, thanks for the great games.1 found this helpful
Beautiful game
"Under a Killing Moon" will always be my favorite Tex Murphy game, simply because it was the only one that I played back in the time when it was released, so it is a big deal of nostalgia for me. Other 3 games I played in the past 6 months or so (2025-2026). And I must say that I will put "Tesla Effect" on the 2nd place! I liked it a lot. Only one thing that made me sad is that Tex Murphy (Chris Jones) and Chelsee got old :(
All the Tex Murphy Games have their flaws, but this annoyed the living sh,,,, out of me. The riddles are really convoluted and the last third is a drag. Also, the story is a mess.
What a weak sequel. They had the resources to make it something great, and it starts like that, but quickly loses speed. The story is boring, the puzzles are horrible and the last half of the game has nothing to do with a detective anymore, but is more like a game of hunt. The most jarring thing is in the middle of a scene, seemingly out of nowhere (the clock struck midnight?) the game suddenly plays this bombastic "it's a new day" cutscene. They make no sense. Was it that important to add more days so the game seemed bigger? Well at least I got the good ending.
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