Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon (1994)
Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon is a 1994 point-and-click video game made by Access Software and Wordplay.
San Francisco, December 2042. Tex Murphy is broke, behind on rent, and nursing a hangover when a case lands in his lap that turns out to be anything but routine. A secretive cult, a missing artifact, and a conspiracy that could end human civilization draw this scruffy P.I. through a fully three-dimensional future city rendered in live-action FMV. Part noir comedy, part earnest thriller, it balances genuine laughs with a mystery that keeps tightening. The freedom to explore and poke around every corner is the point.
Quick answers
What is Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon about?
San Francisco, December 2042. Tex Murphy is broke, behind on rent, and nursing a hangover when a case lands in his lap that turns out to be anything but routine. A secretive cult, a missing artifact, and a conspiracy that could end human civilization draw this scruffy P.I. through a fully three-dimensional future city rendered in live-action FMV. Part noir comedy, part earnest thriller, it balances genuine laughs with a mystery that keeps tightening. The freedom to explore and poke around every corner is the point.
When was Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon released?
Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon was released on 15 October 1994.
Who made Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon?
Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon was made by Access Software and Wordplay.
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Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon in our writing
- Companion guide: Access Software: Tex Murphy and the FMV Detective
A few thoughts on Tex Murphy: Under a Killing Moon
If you enjoy crime stories where the detective is funnier than the criminals but the stakes are real, Grand Theft Hamlet shares that same quality of playing irreverent while the situation turns genuinely dark.
Hardboiled detectives who crack a case piece by piece
Tex Murphy works Under a Killing Moon's central case the old-fashioned way, walking every street in San Francisco and interviewing anyone who might know something. The Complete Sherlock Holmes built the template for that kind of patient deduction, Mr. Mercedes and The Mentalist both follow investigators who read people better than physical evidence, and Law & Order and NCIS turn the same grind into a weekly ritual.
Worlds where a hidden conspiracy is pulling the strings
Under a Killing Moon centers on a secretive cult and an artifact conspiracy that threatens all of civilization. Blade Runner's score set the tone for that same kind of buried secret, FROM traps a whole town inside a truth nobody will explain, The Boys hides its real conspiracy behind a friendly logo, and Attack on Titan and Death Note both build stories around one hidden truth.
Open worlds built for wandering off the main case
Under a Killing Moon rewards players who ignore the main lead and poke into every alley of its fully explorable city instead. Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 both build cities that reward that same wandering, The Witcher 3 and Skyrim hand you an entire continent to get lost in, and Half-Life 2 hides its story in the corners of a place you're free to explore.