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Reply With QuoteIt`s abandonware, but Bloodnet might fit the bill.
You might like the Broken Sword and/or Gabriel Knight games.
Okay, I've got a bad relationship here... I love games that employ the detective strategies/techniques but realise that those are very difficult to integrate into the game world due to the "uncovering" element that can really only be achieved through point-and-click environments.
The only three games I've ever played that approach this level of detective tomfoolery are:
Dreamweb
Beneath a Steel Sky
Blade Runner
And unfortunately, since I came to them all far too late and don't have a legacy PC, I'm in no position to play them comfortably plus I feel that a large part of me finds it hard to go way back to the old scabby graphic systems and I do hate this about myself at times. I can find an old game really immersive but every so often an old tech glitch will pull me out ten times more than in a modern game.
I've been hoping and praying for some time now that someone can take the technology of realistic game environments, sophisticated AI and really give us a fucking challenge of a story or game mode to test it with - I'm saying here that I don't want a FPS or a Strategy game, I want a DETECTIVE STORY.
Imagine a game where you have the noirish grime (minus perhaps the tongue in cheekery) of Max Payne combined with the living breathing realistic world feel that GTA/Mafia tried to capture with the indepth story-telling and complex layers like Deus Ex, if you give it a story that's similar to any of those three games I mentioned above then I think it'd be a solid gold dynamite game. Of course, I could be completely alone in desiring this so it might never happen...
So, I'm just looking to console myself here, are there any detective style games out there that you can recommend where I might not get bogged down in the technical issues of abandonware etc?
Still, mention the old games in case I ever get enough free time to get around to building an old pc.
It`s abandonware, but Bloodnet might fit the bill.
You might like the Broken Sword and/or Gabriel Knight games.
I'm actually hoping the pc emulators might help on that score, given that my own legacy pc keeled over a while ago.
I don't know about Broken Sword - it's got too much of the Trying To Figure Out How To Use Miscellaneous Objects In a Ludicrous Way.
What I think Scots is getting at is something a bit more information-driven rather than puzzle-driven?
Last edited by scumble; 6th Apr 2005 at 15:56.
Heart of China and especially Rise of the Dragon might fit the bill, but they're oldies too.
I seem to remember getting them to run great with VDMSound, but I've got a mind like a sieve.
I played Broken Sword games, got frustrated by their randomness and it's not what I'm meaning here.
I've tried to play Dreamweb through DOSbox but it put 1/3 of the inventory page offscreen and rendered it unplayable. I played Blade Runner on my Win98 box before it died a death - I still have the cds. Beneath a Steel Sky I got stuck very early on and didn't give in to a walkthrough, I still have the CD and I never get around to trying DOSbox.
I will when I have the time and inclination... just looking for other suggestions.
Ig, I'll check those out.
There are no new ones I'm aware of
B.A.T 1&2, Cruise for a Corpse and KGB are other oldies. Discworld Noir is a great game aswell, but very buggy and hard to get to run on more modern computers.
Fahrenheit, which is soon to be released, looks interesting though.
Although it's an RPG, Anachronox is essentially a detective story with all the elements you'd expect from a film noir. And it's got some of the best plot twists I've ever experienced in a game.
You don't need a legacy PC to play Blade Runner. It works on XP IIRC.
Play it. If you are a fan of the film you will <3
BaSS runs flawlessly on ScummVM.Originally Posted by Scots_Taffer
MARRY ME
Tex Murphey Anyone?
They're probably hard to find, and I'm not sure how well they work without a legacy system (I can try Under a Killing Moon in XP sometime if you want), but they are excellant adventure/detective games with fun puzzles and lots of humour.
I'll link to the MobyGames pages:
Under a Killing Moon
The Pandora Directive
Tex Murphey: Overseer
Overseer is the only one that's actually Windows-native, but I'll get back to you on how reliable UAKM is under dah 'ol Windows box.
Omg that Rise of the dragon game, i used to play it when i was a kid on my old mac, LOVE THAT GAME!! Thanks for reminding me of it ill have to get it again somehow =P
Okay, so I will definitely take SE's and N'Al's advice above. Ta much.
Outie, I'm afraid I'm already spoken for but hugs and kisses across the INTERNET.
I played Deadline and Witness recently. Really good. No problems with crappy old graphics there. But then... they are text adventures.
well... if you don't mind a bit of goofiness:
Diskworld Noir
is great detective fun, adventure-game style.
and I liked, but had a few frustrations with difficult puzzles on
Post Mortem.
both are high-graphic adventures of the point and click, puzzle-solving variety.
But you can be killed in PM and it has several possible endings.
That annoying woman
If you wanted someone complacent, you should have hit them harder in the first place.
Blatant self-promotion
Deja Vu 1&2, you can download the Windows rerelease of the first at the bottom. I can second the site that the game runs under Win2k just fine.
*searches for the sequel's download*
Puh, can't find it. Give P2P a whirl, or I might dig it up from an old CD if you really get into the first game. Curse you, net.
Last edited by Uncia; 8th Apr 2005 at 01:23.
I'll second KGB (aka Conspiracy) - lots of fun - plenty of cold war humour and ugly characters.
sam & max!
...they're detectives...
I remember there was one for the NES (and SNES?), in which you were this superhero/detective in an orange overcoat trying to solve the murder of the city's main superhero. Don't remember the title, though.
3 seconds later on Google...
Ah, here it is: Nightshade! http://www.classicgaming.com/reviews/nes/nightsh.htm
Got it running in hq3x on my desktop right now. Neat!
Last edited by doctorfrog; 8th Apr 2005 at 09:32.
Is anyone else bemused that both "Ultra" and "Ultimate" produced games entitled "Nightshade"?
Admittedly not a brilliant game but:
http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=2644
and following a similiar thread (same publisher):
http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=2930
Not sure how detectivey it is but it has the other elements you mentioned. On a totally side note, their new Splinter Cell review is very Thief oriented.
The tex murphy games are playable on winxp, but in the pandora directive the in game timer runs faster than it should, and so the 'it' in area 51 kills you very fast. (Even if you know the solution to the problem, there is just no way to do it fast enough, Tex Murphy with the shovel in the corridor - dead)
