Customer Reviews

The Pandora Directive: A Tex Murphy Interactive Movie

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me get to the BUT first: This game was originally released in 1996. That means it will run under Windows 95 or DOS ONLY. You can play it on a new machine, but only if you have a program like DOSbox or the like to simulate DOS.

That being said, it's worth whatever you have to go through to get Pandora Device to run on your machine. They didn't make them any better than this, and I hardly have the words to tell you about it. Acting and directing are professional and first-rate, graphics are stunning, writing is brilliant, puzzles are intelligent, interface is intuitive, music is staggering -- I could go on and on.

The game is looooong (several days, even the second time through) and also has great replayability. You can play so Tex, the main character, is a nice guy in a rotten world, or you can play it so he's a cynical crumb, with completely different scenes and interactions depending which path you take. There are a total of about eight different endings possible. There's also an easier puzzle level available, plus there are in-game hints (for a point price).

I play this game over and over (though I admit, partly that's because I have a huge crush on Tex -- what can I say, I love tall gorgeous men with self-deprecating humor). I may have to buy it just to replace my worn-out CDs.

You must understand - I've played many adventure/mystery games over the years, but this game...

The main character is a pathetic offbeat PI. In spite of being down on his luck and sarcastically pitiful, he's actually a pretty decent gumshoe. He stumbles upon his first case in months and then you're off.

Although the basic framework is linear, taking place over 10 days, the gameplay within and between each is astonishingly non-linear. The puzzles aren't even of the annoying type seen in so many other adventure games.

With its unprecedented 6 CD's, this game has many twists and takes hours and hours of gameplay. The best part is that it has some of everything: he tries to get the girl, he saves the world, you laugh, you cringe, your heartbeat quickens, and you can't come away without loving the whole experience. NO ADVENTURE GAME, and that includes The_Longest_Journey, compares to the scope and ingenuity of this game.

The only problem is that it does not run on XP without VDMSound and a couple of other tweaks you can find on the web. It's worth the effort, though. It's even worth just buying an old Win98 PC for. I swear to you: as far as I know it's the most underrated game in gaming history.

These are great games. They can be made compatable by right clicking on the properties of the .exe file and choosing the platform. I run XP but choose the Windows 98/ME option and it installed just fine. Had to install one of their required files but it's all good! This is a well done game with a lot of fun scenery and characters. I remember starting out with Mean Streets back in the day. This was also created by a local software company but was bought out later. So I recognize some of the screen shots. =)

This the fourth installment of Tex Murphy, P.I. After seeing him in his real light in Under a Killing Moon, this time you will help him discover the top secrets of 20th century. With 3 different narrative paths, 7 different endings, better graphics and story, you'll encounter many puzzles and you'll see some better known actors such as Barry Corbin, Tanya Roberts, Kevin McCarthy and John Agar. You'll be able to choose whether you wish to sweep through the story, or to pick the more challenging path with more puzzles to solve, and points as a reward.

Using the addage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" the people behind the tex murphy interactive muder mystery strike again with this potent blend of classic detective story and government conspiricy..This is pretty much the same game format as the other 2 (killing moon, overseer), but i assure you, that is for the better, as the format they used is still amazing to this day..I keep hoping that some visionary studio will have the guts to ressurect this franchise and strive to emulate it's winning formula that was just leaps and bounds above the majority of games

Make no mistake, this is the best ever adventure game bar none. If you have to buy an old Windows 95 or 98 machine, do it. Tex is the best character ever invented, and the other players are terrific, I particularly like Rook, the old misanthropic coot in the pawn shop. My husband and I have played this game so many times, varying Tex's responses just for the laughs, I'm still not sure if we've exhausted all the options. You may think we have no life! But honestly, it's just that good.
The pity of it is, Access software was bought up by the Evil Empire - i.e. Microsoft, and they promptly ditched Tex. Unforgiveable in my opinion.

Hi I don't want to take money from Amazon but you can now buy All 5 Tex Murphy Games from [...]. It comes bundled with DOSbox so it will run on your current Windows operating system. I'm running "Under a Killing Moon" and "Pandora Directive" on my Windows 7 machine. So no more having to fuss with CDs. You can download and play the games now.

Oh and yes after all this time, Pandora is still the gold standard for adventure games. No one has ever been able to make a game more spectacular than this one.

I had fun years ago playing this game... with great ability to touch everything in the computer environment, the great acting & comedy especially from the main character Tex Murphy, PI who you are it was hysterical. You get to choose from 3-4 different things to say from nice to sarcastic, etc. There are also puzzles, some easy, moderate & hard. If you wanted to skip a puzzle, all you had to type was "I AM A CHEATER" how funny is that? You had full control of where to go, in what order & who to talk to & not talk to. It truely was like being IN A MOVIE & you being the main character. I still love the idea of full video actors on a computer background.

Was unable to get the program to run on Windows XP. Tried everything under DOS..