On Sat, 29 Apr 2023 10:03:56 -0400, Mike S. <
Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:
On Fri, 28 Apr 2023 09:47:19 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson ><spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
* Under the Moon
https://www.gog.com/en/game/under_the_moon
An odd combination of side-scrolling and puzzle solving, mixed with >>Indie-style visuals. It features very relaxed gameplay; it's not quite
a "walking sim" since there is some actual challenge to the puzzles,
but it's all fairly low pressure. The focus is largely on the puzzles, >>although there is a narrative too. Is it good? Ehn. But it's different >>enough that I want to at least give it a look.
But decide for yourself; it's free for the next three days on GOG.
Your post confused the hell out of me. I was sure this was a Tex
Murphy adventure mystery game. Took me a while to figure out the game
I was thinking of is called Under A Killing Moon.
I had a similar momentary confusion. Especially since GOG was
insisting I /didn't/ own "Under a Killing Moon", when I knew it was in
my library.
Then I looked a bit closer and saw the difference and everything fell
into place.
"Under a Killing Moon" was such a tremendously anticipated game back
in 1994. I think there was as much hype and excitement about it as
there was for "Wing Commander III", which is pretty impressive
considering that UAKM is a point-n-click adventure game with an
odd-mix of film noir and science-fiction, while "Wing Commander III"
was a much more accessible action/sim game with recognizable tropes
taken straight from Star Wars (including sharing one of the same
actors).
But it's tech was incredibly impressive, allowing first-person
movement through an incredibly detailed (for its time) 3D world. Two
years later id would release "Quake" and its maps - while far more
expansive - weren't half as detailed and realistic as Tex Murphy's
office. It really pointed to what the future of games might be;
hyper-realistic worlds that you can traverse in any direction,
exploring every nook and cranny. Playing "Under a Killing Moon" in
1994, you couldn't help imagine that by 2023 games would be as
realistic as anything found on the Star Trek holodeck.
The game itself, though, was... average. It had a a fun mix of
tongue-in-cheek humor and deadpan seriousness, but beyond that it was
a fairly straightforward adventure game with a bit too much reliance
on "live action video". As enjoyable as Tex Murphy's adventures were,
the gameplay played second fiddle to the tech... and in the 90s, with technology advancing as quickly as it was, what was mind-blowing in
1994 quickly became old hat just a few years later. Thus, other less-technology-endowed games of that era - X-Com, Civilization, Myst
- are better remembered simply because their gameplay was more
memorable.
Which is a shame, because while "Under a Killing Moon" wasn't a GREAT
game, it was a good game, and one of those titles any fan of the
adventure genre should experience. It deserves better than to be a
footnote.
As for "Under The Moon"? Well, it's free, and it doesn't look awful.
Maybe that's not incentive enough to play it, but it's a good enough
reason to click "add to library". ;-)
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