Tex Murphy: Martian Memorandum

10x the game Mean Streets is but no where remotely in the same dimension as Under A Killing Moon. If you're thinking of going back and playing the original Tex Murphy games, don't. Watch a Lets Play instead. And I say that as someone that played plenty of DOS games when Win 3.1 was the newest os. That said, I did gain an appreciation for what came before UAKM and it's lore.

**Tex Murphy: Martian Memorandum (1991)** I started playing **Tex Murphy: Martian Memorandum (1991)** again — a truly hardcore point-and-click game, but with a great story. It’s a pure **DOS experience**, and honestly you’ll probably need a **walkthrough** at some point. Still, the way you can handle **conversations** makes up for a lot. The game also uses **FMV content**, which really adds to that classic Tex vibe. The conversations are what it’s all about. There’s even a **hint system** that can help you move forward step by step if you get stuck. I haven’t needed it yet, because I played the game in the past — just never finished it. Because of that, I still remember most things… up to a certain point in the game. One thing I definitely remembered: **save often**. Martian Memorandum can be ruthless. Sometimes you’re forced to reload an old save, and if you’ve been thinking “I’ll save later”… well, you’ll regret it. That happened to me right away: I hadn’t saved yet, I’d played for hours, and then suddenly I was stuck and had to reload — from the very beginning. Those are the less fun parts. Still, I’m going to try to push a bit further and see how far I can get this time. Ac…

Alexis Alexander, daughter of business tycoon Marshall Alexander, has disappeared. Daddy believes she has been kidnapped and hires me, Tex Murphy, to find her. That's a pretty simple case for a veteran private investigator as myself. Don't be fooled, though! Finding Alexis isn't that easy. And it's mostly the old school user interface making it so hard. That, and the pixel hunting. Thankfully, the "HELP" verb works as a hotspot locator. Usually I try to avoid those, because I often think they make an adventure game too easy. But this time, I must admit it's pretty essential. Basically I go around trying to convince people to giving me information, either by choosing the right combination of dialogue options (thankfully if you fail and get thrown out, you can just visit them again and start over as if nothing happened) or by offering them a key item. The list of topics you can question people about will slowly grow, and you can also contact your secretary Stacy through your comlink to ask for further information -- if she has something to offer, that is. I lost count of how many times I had to reload. Not only is this a game where you can die, apparently there's also a dead-end …

It's a very old school point and click adventure game. You'll need to follow a walkthrough the entire time. It's far too easy to get stuck in a no-win situation.

The mouse cursor shoots to the right edge of the screen every time I barely touch the mouse. It's kind of hard to play a point & click game when the pointer instantly makes a run for it like a toddler with his overalls jam packed full of chocolate cake.

Spectacular