The Pandora Directive
Description official descriptions
Welcome to San Francisco of the future - a strange megalopolis with a post-apocalyptic feel, where ordinary humans co-exist with mutants - the result of radioactivity. In this city is also the office of Tex Murphy, a lonely private investigator, kind-hearted, yet bitterly ironic. He is hired to investigate the disappearance of a scientist named Thomas Malloy. A series of murders occurs at that time, and before long Tex finds himself involved in a complex conspiracy of political intrigues and shocking scientific discoveries.
The Pandora Directive is a sequel to Under A Killing Moon, utilizing the same 3D engine, real actors, and gameplay system. The player can physically explore the game world, looking at objects from different angles, zooming in, etc. It is necessary to talk to many people about various topics, and also solve some complex puzzles. The game provides a built-in hint system for the puzzles, but the player does not get any points for solving them if he opts to use it.
The game introduces a new gameplay element: Tex has three kinds of answers at his disposal during some important dialogues. Depending on what kind of approach the player chooses for Tex (especially in conversations with his sweetheart Chelsee), subsequent plot events will be influenced, eventually leading to one of the six different endings.
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Credits (DOS version)
76 People (72 developers, 4 thanks) · View all
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 85% (based on 19 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.3 out of 5 (based on 64 ratings with 6 reviews)
The Good
This is where the team actually hit their pace with the story, cinematography, and gameplay. A huge leap over the campiness that was Under a Killing Moon, this game fully imbues the streets of San Francisco with that oldtime P.I. feel. The music and lighting only drive the nail home.
The acting was also much better this time around, thanks to the presence of more Hollywood actors. Each major character brings their role to life with a power not often found in a game. Barry Corbin especially is frightening as the psychotic head of the NSA. Still, there are a few subpar performances on the sidelines.
And for another note, THANK YOU OH THANK YOU GOD FOR NOT USING THAT CHEAP TRICK FROM THE LAST GAME! One thing that drove me up the wall from UAK was the method of saving disk space by only having one actor move at a time while the other was a frozen sprite hanging in C-Space. Not only did it look terrible, it was also obvious that the other actor was talking to thin air.
Gameplay-wise, the puzzles were fun and fit in perfectly with the story. Almost everything that had to be done felt right, from searching through an alleyway full of garbage cans for the right newspaper to piecing together a torn death threat.
The Bad
The Windows version was only a half-transport, and suffered heavily from bugs. I finally had to ignore half the warnings it blared at me every time I booted it up and soon discovered that it worked better with all those threatening utilities still running. Still, there were occasional lockups.
The Bottom Line
Definitely for anybody seeking a good adventure game with a damn good detective yarn thrown in.
DOS · by Vance (94) · 2000
One of the strongest story lines ever featured in an adventure game!
The Good
Pandora Directive (PD) picks up where Under a Killing Moon left off, and then adds to it with spades. It's bigger, the plot is even more tangled and intriguing, and the standard of acting has gone up a notch. You take on the role of Tex Murphy, a hard-boiled P.I. of the Raymond Chandler school, sort of film noir, but ported into the next century where it's always nighttime in a bleak, post-apocalyptic San Franscisco.
Depending on how you handle your conversations with the many characters you encounter, and also how you manage your romantic interests, the game branches off onto 3 separate paths with a total of 8 different endings (don't believe everything you read on the box, which alluded to 7 endings. And only 6 of the 8 possible endings are unique). PD has a great 3D exploration interface that not many people realise can be run full-screen! You can look in drawers, underneath beds, even stand on tip-toe to look on top of things. This game has often been tagged with the derogatory misnomer 'interactive movie', but rest assured it's a solid detective-style adventure game though FMV is used during interrogation, and of course, to advance the story.
PD also features 2 levels/modes of difficulty: Entertainment and Gamer. In Entertainment mode (1500 points max.), you don't lose points for not completing the timed puzzles within the time limit, and hints are available. In Gamer mode (4000 points max.), you lose points for not completing a puzzle quickly enough, and you can't get hints. But hey, what else are save and restore for?
With deadpan P.I. humour, tricky interrogations, clever puzzles, and a deeply engrossing story line, PD has so much going for it that it's a shame to pass up.
The Bad
There's very little I didn't like. Probably the only thing is that there's an abrupt transition between the exploratory and examine modes (when you want to look at/take something, you have to exit full-screen into a windowed command interface). Some people will inevitably not like the timed puzzles, and there are also a few puzzles masquerading as arcade sequences. These were not too difficult once you figured out the trick to solving them.
The Bottom Line
What starts out as a seemingly innocent missing persons case turns into a sprawling, mind-blowing adventure involving conspiracy theories, government cover-ups, and well... just about everything you can think of that makes up a great detective yarn. Once you've played Pandora Directive, guaranteed it will be high on your all-time favourites list!
DOS · by TheMetz (2) · 2003
No matter how bad things are, things can always get worse.
The Good
ONE FITTIN' PACKAGE
**The Bad**
RUNNING WITH THE TIME
**The Bottom Line**
It's a Tex Murphy game, it has Chris Jones in it, it should be a reason enough to get it. It has a few drawbacks to compare it with Under a Killing Moon and Overseer, but it's filled with great art, superb dramatic scenes, Tex's charm, and a PI rules. Having Tex Murphy games in your collection is a trademark of quality, an underrated top quality.
DOS · by MAT (240968) · 2012
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Entertainment or game players mode? | Zovni (10504) | Feb 26, 2011 |
Trivia
Novel
A novelization of the game (as with a later adaptation of the earlier game Under A Killing Moon) was published through the Proteus imprint of Prima Publishing. They were written by Aaron Conners; the TPD novel was first published in August of 1995.
Awards
- Computer Gaming World
- May 1997 (Issue #154) – Adventure Game of the Year
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Related Sites +
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Pandora Directive Hints
Great question and answer type hints to help you solve the game at your own pace. -
Unofficial Tex Murphy Site
Unofficial Tex Murphy: A newly refurbished Tex Site with a message board, a news section, help on all the games, a Fan Fiction/Art section and many more feature.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by MAT.
Windows added by Picard. Macintosh, Linux added by Sciere.
Additional contributors: William Shawn McDonie, Robin Lionheart, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Pseudo_Intellectual, Patrick Bregger.
Game added May 22, 2000. Last modified April 22, 2024.