Mean Streets

Mean Streets plays its part in pointing the way forward for computer games of the future. It is not perfect, it is rather slow and parts of the game are a little repetitive. However, software houses are having to come to terms with the phenomenon of 'Interactive Movies'. It is quite a jump from the standard fare, so it is understandable that Access, like the rest, are finding their feet by trying new techniques, introducing the human element and preparing for the coming of CDTV. As such, Mean Streets is an enjoyable game which, unlike other games that relay solely on presentation, offers extended gameplay.

All in all, it’s a good, engrossing game. You really get into Tex’s shoes and experience the world around him. Not to say that it doesn’t have its problems, most notably the action sequences and the mediocre graphics, but if you really like adventure and/or detective games, you can easily over-look those few niggles. I give it a 4, which on my scale pretty much means a good game.

The premise behind Mean Streets is simple. What can be better than a modern sci-fi story like Blade Runner or an old-fashioned Agatha Christy murder mystery? The answer is obvious—the two combined! Take a post nuclear war Earth, a classic detective noir, a mysterious foe, a femme fatale, and an evil plot to destroy mankind; mix the ingredients, stir, and voila, you have a fantastic adventure game called Mean Streets!

If you're interested in the idea of casual future private investigating, Mean Streets is worth a play. Bring your notepad. If you're just not so sure, or want more of the Tex you've already come to love, Overseer revisits this story with greater skill and technology.

It takes a while to acclimate to the older control style (who knew not being able to use a mouse could be so disorienting?) and you'll sometimes have to hit buttons a few extra times to get them to register. You'll probably get a chuckle out of what used to pass for advanced graphics, too. There's no question that Mean Streets shows its age in any number of ways, but it's still a smart, well-crafted mystery that should please just about any armchair detective.

What really matters is the contents, though. Skip the flying, sit through the fights and what you get is a mystery Adventure with a nicely developing storyline. It's long enough to keep you occupied for a while, but that's really because of its length. The difficulty is quite low, you just always need to go to every place you're told about and ask the right questions there.

Man nehme einen eiskalt servierten Krimi im Stile Raymond Chandlers, packe futuristischen Schnick-Schnack dazu, addiere eine Prise Tastaturverwirrspiel - und schon hat man "Mean Streets". Im Gegensatz zur MS-DOS-Version wurden die Atari ST- und Amiga-Versionen grafisch aufgebessert. Am Spiel selbst wurde erfreulicherweise kaum etwas verändert.

Man nehme einen eiskalt servierten Krimi im Stile Raymond Chandlers, packe futuristischen Schnick-Schnack dazu, addiere eine Prise Tastaturverwirrspiel - und schon hat man "Mean Streets". Im Gegensatz zur MS-DOS-Version wurden die Atari ST- und Amiga-Versionen grafisch aufgebessert. Am Spiel selbst wurde erfreulicherweise kaum etwas verändert.

Ein Lob den Grafikern, die einen guten Digitizer hatten, Lob dem "Real Sound"-Feature, das den PC-Piepser vergessen lässt; Schimpf und Schande über die Spieldesigner, die fest geschlafen haben. Nur für Krimifans.

All respectable adventure gamers are familiar, at least in passing, with Tex Murphy's FMV adventures: Under a Killing Moon, the Pandora Directive, and Overseer. But before the days of CD-ROM, Tex Murphy was born into a world of grainy, poorly digitized VGA graphics and a new "RealSound" technique intended to revolutionize the industry. Here we take a look back at Mean Streets, the very first Tex Murphy game.