Under a Killing Moon

The Good
Story: You are Tex Murphy, the star of Access's previous games, Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum. You are down on your luck, living in what is called "Old San Fransico" among mutants and by chance asked by the antiques dealer to find a missing jade crystal. This then leads to other parts with the main plot leading up to a plan to kill off the world and make the better people of the world in a space station a-la the James Bond movie: Moonraker.

Menu: Neat orginised tabs at the bottom of the screen is your menu.

Graphics: At that time I had never seen anything like it, it was like Myst, but you could walk around in Myst style graphics. So real, so fluid. The characters were done good as well, shot against a pre-rendered 3D graphic backgrounds. They reacted with what you said in well thought out conversations that are full of humor. locations range from the streets of San Fransico to the halls of a space station. Crisp and clear, the graphics will hold for a long time.

Sound: Brillant, the music was good as well, the sound from footsteps to the glub of Pug, the mutant's head in the water cooler.

Gameplay: The game stretches for about 7 days (Game time) and each day brings new clues, new mail and new people. The puzzles are well thought out but are a bit too easy in some cases. You can look in any direction and even move up and down, opening and closing stuff is done by a simple click and is accommpanied by an well drawn animation. You can also inspect stuff in your inventory, accommpanied by a crass comment. You collect a lot of stuff over the course of the game, inculding a "Giger Pet" a mini green raptor. The gameplay is interesting as well, in one part you have to doge a security system while collecting vital information. Characters are well developed too, some of the acting is a little weak in the knees.

The Bad
Some of the FMVs had been shot seperately so one person would freeze while another still remained moving. A few of the sounds were a little bit off colour in terms of the volume being a bit too low and it was too easy.

The Bottom Line
Very good, very fun, buy it.