This post lists the Tex Murphy games in order of release, but also includes the recommended order to play them story-wise.
The revolutionary sci-fi noir detective adventure series featuring the eponymous character, Tex Murphy, a PI of the hard-boiled, Philip Marlowe variety. His observation skills, disarming nature and dry wit have made him an iconic character in the mystery adventure genre.
This adventure series is set in the near-future and mixes classic with futuristic elements (at least based on the time it was created). A truly legendary series overall, with innovative game mechanics and creative puzzles.
Each of the Tex Murphy games are available for PC and Mac, on various websites, including GoG and Steam and the official Big Finnish Games website.
Tex Murphy Games in Order
Genres: Adventure, Point-and-Click, Classic, Tech Noir, Detective, Cyberpunk, Mystery, FMV.
List: 1. Mean Streets | 2. Martian Memorandum | 3. Under a Killing Moon | 4. The Pandora Directive | 5. Overseer | 6. Tesla Effect | 7. The Poisoned Pawn
1. Tex Murphy: Mean Streets
Developer/Publisher: Access Software | Released: 1989.
Plot: Meet Tex Murphy, a P.I. working the mean streets of post-apocalyptic San Francisco.
When a beautiful woman enters Tex’s office and hires him to investigate her father’s apparent suicide. She sends Tex straight into the middle of a frightening mix of science, murder, and world domination…
Soon, Tex finds himself the newest addition to an ever-growing hit list of those who stand in the way of a plot nearly 50 years in the making.
He must think of a way to stop the powerful people behind it from carrying out their plans. Before he and the rest of the world is unable to think at all!
Gameplay and Features
Mean Streets is a groundbreaking title in many ways. Despite its floppy disk format, it was one of the very first games to feature digitized full-motion video sequences. It also utilized Access Software’s own “Real Sound” technology, which was able to manipulate the computer’s internal PC Speaker to play digitized audio, voices, and music. This had never been done before in PC gaming and revolutionized the industry.
2. Tex Murphy: Martian Memorandum
Developer/Publisher: Access Software | Released: 1991.
Plot: Marshall Alexander, famed industrialist and owner of the TerraForm Corporation, hires Tex to find his missing daughter, Alexis.
Tex’s search eventually leads him to Mars, where the TerraForm Corporation is executing a 50-year long project to make the Red Planet habitable.
During the case, Tex begins to learn about a mysterious, ancient Martian artifact called the Oracle Stone, and the gruesome fate of the colonists who discovered it.
Gameplay and Features
Martian Memorandum features further improved on the technology that surprised the PC gaming industry with Mean Streets. It moved toward a more point-and-click style navigation system (different from Means Streets’ more experimental layout) and added more Full Motion Video sequences.
It also took advantage of the digitized audio thanks to the previously developed Real Sound engine. It was the last title in the series before moving into real-time, fully explorable 3D environments.
3. Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon
Developer/Publisher: Access Software | Released: 1994.
Plot: A simple burglary at Rook’s Pawn Shop leads to something much, much bigger when the beautiful Countess Renier hires Tex to find a crystal dove statuette.
Which was stolen from her bungalow. But is this “Countess” all that she seems? The statuette was stolen, yes, but not for anything as small as profit or luxury. This crystal bird could spell the end of the world.
Gameplay and Features
Under a Killing Moon utilized the CD ROM format, delivering the game on four discs, making it one of the largest titles released at the time. It was also the first title in the Tex Murphy series to use fluid Full Motion Video.
In combination with fully explorable real-time 3D environments thanks to the new “Virtual World Engine,” this would enable the player to have full freedom of movement to investigate their surroundings. Something no other game was capable of at the time.
4. Tex Murphy: The Pandora Directive
Developer/Publisher: Access Software | Released: 1996.
Plot: Tex is hired by a man named Gordon Fitzpatrick to find a missing person, Dr. Thomas Malloy. The search quickly takes on a more serious tone when Tex discovers that Dr. Malloy was involved in the military’s dealings with a U.F.O. that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.
Gameplay and Features
The Pandora Directive the second CD Rom title, which once again smashed previous records, shipping on 6 CDs and boasted improved Full Motion Video quality, as well as a more detailed color palette in the Virtual World environments.
It has been hailed as arguably the best game in the Tex Murphy series and one of the greatest adventure games of all time. This is due to its rich story, excellent acting, and stunning presentation. It also contained 7 different endings and 3 completely unique narrative paths, making it one of the first titles where your choices throughout the game would drastically affect the outcome.
5. Tex Murphy: Overseer
Developer/Publisher: Access Software | Released: 1998.
Plot: Tex and Chelsee meet for a date to celebrate their one-year “friendship anniversary”. When Tex tries to put the moves on Chelsee, she stops him dead in his tracks, saying that they need to discuss his ex-wife, Sylvia and the fact that Tex still wears his wedding ring.
Tex reluctantly agrees to tell Chelsee the story of how he and Sylvia met. The story of his first big case…
6. Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure
Developer: Big Finish Games | Publisher: Atlus | Released: May 2014.
Plot: Tex Murphy wakes up – disoriented and head pounding – on the fire escape outside his office atop the Ritz Hotel. Another typical morning for the last of the old-school detectives. Except it isn’t.
What starts out as the worst hangover in history becomes a baffling nightmare: something – or someone – has erased Tex’s memory of the past seven years.
Motivated by lost love, revenge, and the world’s strongest coffee blend, Tex must retrace his own steps into a maze of unsolved murders, hidden agendas, and lost technologies of Nikola Tesla. Only by solving the mysteries of his past can Tex hope to regain his memory in time to restore what’s been lost and stop a terrifying future.
7. The Poisoned Pawn: A Tex Murphy Adventure
Developer: Chaotic Fusion & Big Finish Games | Cancelled Project.
Plot: In this cyberpunk, film noir, dystopian sci-fi adventure, you play as Tex Murphy, a typical 1940s gumshoe detective. Except, it’s the 2050’s.
A post apocalyptic world has risen from the ashes of World War III and stands divided. New San Francisco sits atop the rubble of the old city. It’s a city of glitz and glamour hiding a sinister undertone.
A population segregated between those immune to the nuclear fallout (Norms). And those less fortunate (Mutants). Just outside the new city lies Old San Francisco. A vastly ignored reminder of a dark past, and home to the mutant population, and Tex himself…
Unfortunately, this project has been canceled and chances of seeing it ever developed are slim at best. Too bad, because the plot sounded AMAZING.
How to play the Text Murphy games in story order? The best idea would be to play them chronologically, based on their release date. This way, you get to see the new mechanics in play, and also follow the full story.
More Top Mystery Adventure Games
For more mystery adventure games with unique game play like Tex Murphy, I recommend checking out:
- Thimbleweed Park Neo-Noir Mystery.
- Syberia Games for all platforms.
- Blackwell Adventure Series by Wadjet Eye.
- Aveyond Kingdom JRPG Series.
- Life is Strange Games Listed in Play and Release Order.
- Adera Adventure with Free Demo and Full Version Download.
- Also, must-try classic: Dune games in order (the first one is an adventure game like no other).
For more best-selling and popular game franchise lists, check out my Game Series Lists – A to Z Index.