The pandora Directive
ItÆs 2043, but not much seems to have changed in the world of the private investigator since Sam Spade was around. Tex Murphy is on the case of a missing man that quickly blossoms into a complex conspiracy involving the NSA and the infamous Roswell incident 100 years before. ItÆd be easy to think that this combination of a softened Blade Runner world and an X-Files conspiracy was a rip off - but it is done with superb style. Generally with a title like this, I play for an hour or two when it first arrives, then come back to it a little later. I loaded up the Pandora Directive at 9am and was still playing the damned thing at midnight. This is the nearest IÆve come to in software to a page turner, a book you just canÆt put down.
The Pandora Directive, from the people who made Under a Killing Moon, combines good video - not Wing Commander IV standard, but still good - with plenty of opportunity to choose the direction of conversations and enough puzzles to keep most happy. In between video sequences you can explore the world with full 3D motion, picking up objects and clues. To keep the backdrops consistent, all the video is blue screened onto the graphics, but itÆs not too painful. You can play in two modes, one with hints available (at a price), the other without, making it feasible to enjoy an interactive movie that keeps up a pace, or to do it your way. All this is provided by six (count æem) CD-ROMs, which makes for a touch of swapping, but itÆs not too painful. This is a DOS game, but thereÆs a Windows 95 loader that will keep things working on a high end machine. I saw it in the æsneak previewÆ version with the odd bug, but hopefully these will be gone by the time it hits the streets. This one sets the standard - itÆs superb.
Overall - Good video and acting, plenty of plot twists and a clever 3D engine make this a top rated interactive movie. I couldnÆt put the mouse down.
Priced around ú49.99 in the UK.
Produced by Access Software
Distributed by Virgin Interactive Entertainment