🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sat, 18 Oct 2014 18:04:38 -0500, "Mary" <notvalid@notin.com> wrote:
>>I'm playing Tesla but only when my daughter is here.  Very clunky 
>>interface!  
>"Clunky" is a good word for the interface. It took me a while to get used to 
>but I still have to stop and think what place I should click on. 

I am a huge fan, and long-time veteran, of Tex Murphy franchise. I got
UAKM when it first got out, played and replayed it again to find out
all conversation paths etc. Then re-got it from GOG about 2 years back
out of sheer nostalgia.

Now, Tesla Effect raised mixed feelings in me. It is as it consists of
two absolutely unrelated games, of which first half is true Tex legacy
by having to walk up and down the Home Street, going from store to
store guessing which of the characters might have a new topic to ask;
and then zooming off to new location only to return to Chandler Avenue
a few hours later to do it all over again... Don't get me wrong,
that's what I wanted and  that's the Tex game I payed for.. but that's
how gameplay works in the first half of the game.

Then when you enter the research facility, it is really whole another 
game, really 1st person sneaker/pixel hunting/trap avoiding adventure.
While textures are very handsome, you could say impressive, I still
got the impression that they basically reused the programming from
Pandora Directive's Alcatraz section, only revamped to a degree
and nothing really new. 

SPOILER ALERT: Next two chapters reveals plot elements so skip 
ahead if you don't want to be spoiled.

Now, that being said, I go deeper into the game. First half of the 
game you are supposed to find out what happened to you and
Chelsea, and even figuring out you have amnesia and have
lost 7 years, what happened during those years, even try
to free yourself from a murder charge. Quite a bunch I'd say.

However the whole setup is really zoomed thru by just saying that Tex 
was  "not himself" and suffered from -whatever, retrograde amnesia
or whatnot - basically, an excuse for not coming up with anything
more creative. I am talking about an excuse at intelligence level
of Bobby Ewing of Dallas TV-show standing in shower cheerfully
saying "Good Morning Dear ! Had a good night's sleep ?" :/

Now at present time, Tex's priorities are to find out what happened
to him, to Chelsea and try to free himself from murder charge.
He tries to accomplish this by going up and down the Avenue
talking to old and new residents (and collecting comic books?) uh...
This is the setup and objective for the first part of the game, and
it really is FMV interviews and discussions in the perfect Tex Murphy
fashion. So far so good.

This rather straightforward story is however mysteriously changed
to, pardon me, ridiculously absurd setup of soul/time-travel, 
lost love, electrical UFO-style  mumbojumbo (hence game's title,
reference to scientist Nikola Tesla), occult mummy priests and, well
honestly I lost interest somewhere there and just wanted to play
the game to the end. 
I paid full price of 20 bucks for the game for sheer support of Chris
Jones and Tex franchise, but really the story twist  was so absurd
that I do feel that the game was not worth the money. I am 
afraid either that a) they ran out of money half-way thru the game
development or b) they had the first part figured out already during
Microsoft years, but without clear vision where to proceed after the
basic setup was resolved - once the opportunity araised and they were
able to purchase Tex rights back, they were forced to go forward
with whatever they could in that available timeframe.


SPOILER 2: Hint on gameplay.

As a rule of thumb, in conversations the best choice is generally
speaking always the first one. Second one is generally always the
neutral option, and third one generally "the evil Tex response".
Despite logically they don't always  seem to be that way, but in fact
they follow this logic tediously.

And most single important discussion happens early in the game,
the first time you visit the police station. If you manage to get
on good terms with detective handling your case, you are in good
position to get a "good ending" in the final scene (although the
"worst" ending is really most fun, and ending up with the best-looking
girl of the bunch is there in the middle) :) All endings can be 
watched  on Youtube if you so wish.

SPOLERS END !!


>I finally solved the puzzle I was stuck on. It took a lot of patience and 
>repetition. If it takes me a long time to solve a puzzle or I find it too 
>difficult I don't always have patience even with a walkthrough. I used to 
>have a lot more patience when
>first played adventure games in 1990. Computer games were new to me then and 
>I was younger :)..

Some of the puzzles in TE were rather forcibly just thrown in. In
general, I hate puzzles in which chance and random clicking/guesswork
is the main driving force, instead of logical thinking. I TE there
were surprisingly many puzzles that either were of the "light correct
lights in order with random sequence of buttons" or "match wheel rings
by varying rotation speed and direction" types. If possible, I would
either skip or otherwise dodge these types of puzzles entirely.


Cheers,
Rudi.