Do we remember Pandora? She had a seemingly unopenable box which she was warned about opening, but of course opened anyway. And out of this box poured all of life's previously contained pains, sufferings and evils. Hence were born migraines, cholera, arson, plague and Barney. Access Software Incorporated presents The Pandora Directive, its semi-sequel to Under a Killing Moon, and, in the blink of an eye, a metaphor is born.
Tex Murphy is back. Still living in post Apocalyptic San Francisco in the year 2043, Tex is faced, once again with the usual multitude of problems. Chris Jones reprises his Murphy role from Under a Killing Moon, and is joined by several Hollywood actors including Tanya Roberts, former Charlie's Angel. We have John Agar and Kevin McCarthy, veteran sci-fi staples and also Barry Corbin, the astronaut from the sorely missed Northern Exposure.
In addition to the "name brand stars," there are many additional characters with colorful attributes û Elijah Witt, for instance, who is the reclusive author of such books as "There Are Messages From Outer Space" (oooooooh). Worshipped by thousands and dismissed as a knucklehead by millions, Witt keeps himself occupied by hanging up on innocent callers and cashing royalty checks. All characters are played by professional actors and stunt people. I suppose it took about 20 takes with a stunt double to capture Elijah Witt's hanging up on innocent callers...DANGER, DANGER Will Robinson.
The game promises a fairly intricate plot: Tex becomes hired by eccentric and enigmatic Gordon Fitzpatrick. It seems that Fitzpatrick wants to track down an old friend named Thomas Mallow. During Tex's search, he encounters the Fuschia Flamingo, a tacky but sincere nightclub, where he meets a beautiful young lounge singer. She is being stalked...(no, not that), and Tex must gain her trust by locating and confronting the stalker. After confronting numerous people, figuring out several baffling clues, and committing the occasional felony, Tex meets up with Malloy.
The Pandora Device is the key to Malloy's interpretation of some alien technology that he had encountered when working at a military base in Roswell, New Mexico...just after a certain UFO crash at that site. Early in the game, the device consists of various disassembled computer components which, when assembled, produce a complete communications device. The device may then be activated to produce a message from Malloy about his discovery of this alien technology to those he felt should be informed.
He constructed a number of mysterious and seemingly unopenable boxes...(aha! the metaphor thickens), each containing a piece of the Pandora Device, and sent them each to a different destination. He decided at this point to reveal his knowledge about the alien symbols he had been studying (part of the UFO remains), even though the construction of the device would accomplish the same revelation. He is promptly shot by government agents. After all, why should the public have the right to know? We only pay their salaries. Don't get me started.
So, Tex has to track down all the boxes and figure out how to open them, visits many locations, and...well let's not give away the ending in this venue. And speaking of the ending, there are up to seven different endings to the plot depending upon the paths the player takes.
Replayability is usually a nice feature, assuming we liked it the first time. Seven endings will provide many possibilities. Access Software's Virtual World engine will provide a completely interactive 3-dimensional world and allow full freedom of movement. There will be two levels of play: Level 1 will have the complete on-line hint system to guide the user through puzzles and rough spots...but Level 2 will have no hints, and will contain extra puzzles and higher bonus points. Hooray again for multi-level solvers.
So Tex Murphy fans, wait no longer, The Pandora Directive...It's here.
