Tex Murphy Tex Murphy: Tesla Effect

[Boleskine]

Zero Punctuation review of Tesla Effect

 

[Darth Roxor]

Zero Punctuation review of Tesla Effect

Jesus Christ

 

[Angthoron]

Yeah, the game should really follow the modern adventure game progress trends like

uhh

um.

 

[tuluse]

Yeah, the game should really follow the modern adventure game progress trends like

uhh

um.

Removing those archaic puzzles. I want to play my adventure game not solve puzzles, duh.

 

[Angthoron]

Yeah, the game should really follow the modern adventure game progress trends like

uhh

um.

Removing those archaic puzzles. I want to play my adventure game not solve puzzles, duh.

I really wonder what happened to the whole genre diversity thing.

 

[tuluse]

Watched the video. He doesn't seem to complain about puzzles (other than sliding puzzles which seems fair). More about a confusing plot and death coming to easily. He says right from the beginning that he prefers LucasArts style so not appreciating a good death makes sense.

 

[Darth Roxor]

(other than sliding puzzles which seems fair)

There's only one such puzzle in the whole game.

Yet he makes it sound like you stumble upon one every 5 minutes.

 

[tuluse]

There's only one such puzzle in the whole game.

Yet he makes it sound like you stumble upon one every 5 minutes.

Mea culpa. I haven't played it, but other people were complaining about it.

 

[Sceptic]

Benjamin Croshaw is a moron, more news at 11.

 

[DalekFlay]

There's only one such puzzle in the whole game.

Yet he makes it sound like you stumble upon one every 5 minutes.

Mea culpa. I haven't played it, but other people were complaining about it.

I would guess he is lumping several puzzles into the "sliding puzzle" category, even if they aren't really sliding puzzles. There are a lot of "hey here's a puzzle straight outta 7th Guest!" moments which, as a fan of Under a Killing Moon more than the others, did make me eye-roll a bit.

 

[TheGreatOne]

Benjamin Croshaw is a moron, more news at 11.

I learned everything I need to know about Islam on 9/11 and everything I need to know about Zero Punctuation on his Might &Magic X review. The big problem with him is that when he "comically exaggerates everything for humorous effect", Escapist drones (aka Kotaku authors) take his word as gospel. Meaning that those old PC games that he played back in the 90s are now outdated and unplayable because he'll keep on talking and making constant jokes about some minor interface/gameplay issue for 3 minutes. So his hipster subordinates who've never played classic PC games will have their preconceived notions reinforced: those old PC games were good for the time but couldn't compete in today's market (though you can try Thi4f or Bioshock Infinite if you want to know what Thief/System Shock are like, they're spiritual successors but don't have any of the gameplay issues those old games have). Fortunately he doesn't forget to send them the memo how Tim Schaefer is God and garbage like Bastion and Papers Please are the greatest games of the modern era.

 

[mindx2]

Anyone know how well this sold? Hoping it did enough to keep them going and making more but all those so-call "game journos" seemed to crap all over it.

 

[Jaesun]

I'm hoping it did well too, because I don't want this to be the last Tex Murphy game ;_;

 

[TheGreatOne]

It didn't have the heart, integrity and genuine human passion of a game that got cut in half and had worse looking characters in 2014 than games released in the early 90s did because it had it's budget octupled. The biggest problem with Tex Murphy is that it's not a game for those who are tired of video games and who appreciate art in video games. And it definitely does not make gaming journalists want to eat ice cream on a bed while discussing the game with their platonic girlfriends. It's more of the same old trite stuff we saw in the 90s, rather than the next logical step in evolution from Grim Fandango (TM).

 

[Tramboi]

I'm not (too) worried about the next Tex.
I think most kickstarters would pay gladly after this, knowing that BFG can deliver , and can do even better with a bigger budget.
Shitty reviewers is a big problem though to secure a budget with a publisher.

 

[Sceptic]

It didn't have the heart, integrity and genuine human passion of a game that got cut in half and had worse looking characters in 2014 than games released in the early 90s did because it had it's budget octupled. The biggest problem with Tex Murphy is that it's not a game for those who are tired of video games and who appreciate art in video games. And it definitely does not make gaming journalists want to eat ice cream on a bed while discussing the game with their platonic girlfriends. It's more of the same old trite stuff we saw in the 90s, rather than the next logical step in evolution from Grim Fandango (TM).

8/10, almost raged before getting to the icecream bit.

I'm hoping it did well too, because I don't want this to be the last Tex Murphy game ;_;

I'm fine with that.

I mean, I'll be elated if they make a #7, but as things stand I can live with this being the last. Overseer ended on a massive cliffhanger, and it was "only" a remake of MS anyway, pretty obviously just something they quickly put together to drum up interest for the next real game. Then they go bought out and we spent the next 15 years going through all the stages of hope, denial, anger, and eventually acceptance that the cliffhanger would never be resolved, that there would never be a Tex Murphy #6, that Project Fedora would never be more than a codename for a dream.

And now we're sitting here having played Tesla Effect. And enjoyed it.

Adventure games as we know and love them are dead. Broken Age proved it, but so did the response that TE has received. I mean, if even someone who got started in the business by making adventure games in the first place has to bitch about it then you know there's no hope. Yet TE also proved many other things: that Kickstarter can work, that KS projects can deliver on their promises, that it really doesn't take that a humongous budget and $100M to make a game with very high production values, and that Chris and friends didn't lose their touch. And if the series does end now, it ends on a high note, with no major dangling plots unresolved, and we will fondly remember the series and ALL the games in it, and we will hold Access in high regards because the last Tex game they delivered was good.

A small part of me still hopes they'll make a #7, and that it'll be even better than TE, but.... if not... well, a toast to Tex and its creators.

 

[Tramboi]

I agree as a consumer, but I think about the dev team too.
They really deserve making a new one, it is obvious that Tesla Effect was an act of love and passion, and they've been waiting for such a long time, piling hidden objects games, writing audio plays, novels, and probably dozens of potential Tex stories on napkins.

 

[TheGreatOne]

What's the story behind Atlus publishing this? I mean it's great that the most jrpg developer&publisher decides to even more, but it seems kinda odd that they're suddenly publishing a PC adventure game, not that I'm complaining. I hope they start publishing/funding/helping good CRPGs too

 

[JudasIscariot]

What's the story behind Atlus publishing this? I mean it's great that the most jrpg developer&publisher decides to even more, but it seems kinda odd that they're suddenly publishing a PC adventure game, not that I'm complaining. I hope they start publishing/funding/helping good CRPGs too

I was pleasantly surprised myself when I saw that Atlus was going to be publishing Tesla Effect. I also hope this will mean they'll publish more games for the PC

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Tramboi]

As a player, I'd say I don't care.
But they are right to jump in the bandwagon, they cannot lose fans over this, only gain exposure.

 

[Dexter]

As a player, I'd say I don't care.
But they are right to jump in the bandwagon, they cannot lose fans over this, only gain exposure.

I can guarantee you'll care once you actually experience it, dunno how they want to implement it in this game well with the lots of FMV though. Will prolly get the game finally when it goes on Sale though.



Can't wait for my DK2... should arrive sometime mid next month.

 

[Tramboi]

I'm pretty sure I won't. First I'm not a big fan of the Oculus in general (we have one at work).
Then it won't work well with Tesla Effect.
The world is not detailed enough, everything will be large textured planes, so it won't be that immersive.
And switching from/to FMV wll probably be weird.

But I admit DK2 will probably be much better if movement tracking works properly.

 

[taxalot]

Hmm.

I had backed the game, as a huge Tex Murphy fan but only got around to installing it yesterday.
So far I love it, because it's absolutely great to have these characters, universe and gameplay back.

However, I'm wondering if the game isn't incredibly easy and/or short. I am already at Day 3 after 2 hours of playing and have encountered zero difficulty so far. I've replayed Pandora Directive last year, and there seems to be quite a gap between the two games. Some disappointing moments include finding the passcode to doors hidden in almost plain sight right next to said doors, a simon game masquerading as a puzzle, and the sentry bot in front of that detective office. I remember thinking "Finally, an interesting puzzle." before finding out 2 seconds later how to solve it.

Still, having a super fun time.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Hmm.

I had backed the game, as a huge Tex Murphy fan but only got around to installing it yesterday.
So far I love it, because it's absolutely great to have these characters, universe and gameplay back.

However, I'm wondering if the game isn't incredibly easy and/or short. I am already at Day 3 after 2 hours of playing and have encountered zero difficulty so far. I've replayed Pandora Directive last year, and there seems to be quite a gap between the two games. Some disappointing moments include finding the passcode to doors hidden in almost plain sight right next to said doors, a simon game masquerading as a puzzle, and the sentry bot in front of that detective office. I remember thinking "Finally, an interesting puzzle." before finding out 2 seconds later how to solve it.

Still, having a super fun time.

It's actually quite an impressive length for a kickstarter game - it's much shorter than Pandora Directive and Overlord, but it's long enough to feel like a proper adventure game.

And when you factor in the game's truly impressive branching, that gap in length becomes a lot smaller. Without spoiling much, there's 5 possible game 'tracks'. Not just 5 endings, 5 game paths. You can see on the ingame menu screen which path you're currently following. Quite a few of the paths have at least 1 exclusive area, but perhaps more importantly, they change Tex's emphasis and interests when carrying out the investigation (e.g. what are you in this for, most of all - to find your missing ex? To get your memories back? To solve the Tesla mystery?). Some of these paths are truly hard to find, and some are easy to find but also easy to block off once you've deviated from them (though never in silly/gamey ways from my playthrough).

Again, don't want to spoil anything, but here's a general non-spoiler head's up, that will help you get the most milleage out of the game's pathing system: it isn't just the dialogue choices that affect what path you're on. The game's pathing borrows elements from the better Japanese multi-ending games, in that (for some paths) the game tracks how you play. If you think that a particular goal/s should be Tex's number one priority, then act like it. If you think that something shouldn't matter so much to Tex anymore, then don't make it the first thing you keep asking everyone about.

There's also one really shitty stealth section, that comes hard on the heels of the game's worst puzzle sequences (not complaining about the difficulty of the puzzles, but that in that particular level they become exceedingly reliant on 'adventure game logic', which jars with the rest of the game). Yes, fucking awful forced stealth sections were in the old Tex Murphy games as well - they didn't work then, and they don't work now.

If anyone finds a mod that lets you cheat/eliminate the stealth section, please post it - the game is designed to be replayed, but repeating that stealth section becomes a big disincentive.