Tex Murphy Is Finally Coming Back

“Tex Murphy. That’s a name that used to mean something.”

Ahhh, a classic opening line from a classic game. For fans of adventure games in the genre’s Golden Era, Tex Murphy truly was a name that meant something.

The down-on-his-luck private investigator first appeared on the streets – the Mean Streets – in the late 1980s, but it was the FMV adventures of the 1990s that turned Tex into a cult legend. The trio of Under a Killing Moon, The Pandora Directive, and Overseer combined a special blend of detective storytelling, science fiction, and full-motion video in a way that has still never been matched. 

Ever since then, Tex has largely faded from the spotlight, and other than a brief revival in 2014 with Tesla Effect, we’ve not really seen him properly recover his former glory. The life of a gumshoe detective, right? But after spending time with an early alpha build of the upcoming remake of Under a Killing Moon, rebranded as Killing Moon Rising, one thing has become immediately clear: Tex Murphy is ready to make a comeback. And according to the team behind the project, the Tex revival won’t stop there.

Adventure Game Hotspot can exclusively reveal that additional Tex Murphy remakes and remasters are already being discussed by project lead Yuval Dorfman and the  Big Finish Games team. Not just completing the currently halted update of The Pandora Directive, once spearheaded by current project collaborator Mat Van Rhoon, but creating vastly updated versions of Tex’s first two games as well. 

The remake of Under a Killing Moon and its already wildly successful Kickstarter campaign marks the biggest hope the series has seen in many years.

For fans of classic adventure games, this is huge news.

A Series That Was Ahead of Its Time

When Under a Killing Moon originally launched in 1994, it felt unlike almost anything else on the market (including its own predecessors).

Part detective noir, part sci-fi comedy, part interactive movie, the game blended full-motion video performances with first-person 3D exploration in a way that was both futuristic and classic. While many FMV games of the era…well, sucked, Tex Murphy was a triumph. Tex himself endured in our hearts because there was always something strangely sincere and relatable about him. Tex never felt like a generic protagonist. Series creator Chris Jones’ performance gave the character an identity that was impossible to separate from the experience.

That identity appears to be intact in the remake.

Playing the Alpha

Even in its current early state, Killing Moon Rising immediately captures the feeling that made the original memorable. This isn’t a remake that seems interested in sanding away the series’ personality in pursuit of blockbuster polish. Instead, the project feels focused on preserving the strange DNA that made Tex Murphy stand out in the first place.

While I’m digging in trash cans and flirting it up (poorly), I still feel like I’m doing so in that purposely dirty world. There’s still an unmistakable sense of gritty noir atmosphere layered beneath the sci-fi setting. It feels true to form. It feels authentic, and that authenticity isn’t an accident.

One of the biggest concerns surrounding any remake of a beloved adventure game is whether modernization will come at the expense of personality. According to Yuval Dorfman, the man taking the lead in all this mutated madness, preserving the original experience has been the guiding philosophy from day one.

“I’ve modeled the new environments painstakingly to be exactly like the ones in the original, down to wall posters and books. I only add things if they’re located in areas that weren’t seen in the original because of the hardware limitations in 1994. It’s the same game—just graphically 2026.”

I can attest to this. In fact, I purposely went looking for the bait and switch. I searched for places where Yuval could have easily phoned it in. But even in an early build, the intricate attention to all assets in all scenes is obvious: items on store shelves are no longer wallpaper. There are contours and dimensional distinctions to everything, and the lighting is much improved. In the past you would walk into the Brew and Stew and the lighting would always seem to be directly over everything. Now the proper shadow appears to the left of the napkin holders because the light is on the right. 

Aspect ratio improvements allow for more realistic scene perspectives as well. Wider views allow for more details. With more details comes a world that feels more alive. A scene’s windows properly present the goings-on of the environment on the other side. Changes in lightning outside affect the feel inside. Movement behind you creates more investment in the scene. It can’t really be overstated how dramatically these enhancements affect the mood of an often moody game. 

This is Tex Murphy like we’ve never seen it before, and New San Francisco has never looked so beautifully rundown.

Getting a Better Handle on Things

Under a Killing Moon was perhaps so far ahead of its time that its interface could be a little clunky. Yuval says that he's "played the original hundreds of times now just to get a sense of it." But with modern technology comes new opportunities that simply weren't available thirty years ago, so rather than simply recreating the same interface as the previous game, he's tried to "replicate that gameplay feeling” instead. 

I’ve played Under a Killing Moon enough to immediately notice the UI difference. In the original version the interface was always visible and occupied roughly a quarter of the screen. All the adventure gamey stuff lived in there: inventory management, verb selection, and dialogue. That’s all either gone or minimized. That big old bulky black panel won’t be breaking up the gameplay experience anymore. If any diehard says they will miss that, I will immediately call their bluff. 

The remake is something closer to a modern first-person 3D adventure game. Exploring is cleaner as you freely look around with the mouse, movement feels natural, and interacting with objects feels more investigatory as you can examine all angles of items in your inventory. Oh, and you only open that inventory when you want to. 

As good as UAKM was in its day, I found my in-game exploration of Killing Moon Rising a breath of fresh air. I hate to be cliche and say it has improvements that I didn’t know I needed but now can’t live without, but it applies here. 

With these enhancements, the remake doesn’t feel like straight reproduction or a radical reinterpretation of Under a Killing Moon, it feels like the game we remember playing as seen through nostalgia-colored glasses.

Importantly, the game still feels weird. That may sound like a strange compliment, but it’s arguably the most important thing Yuval could have got right.

Tex Murphy was never supposed to feel sterile or overly polished. The series thrived because it embraced awkwardness and quirkiness at a time when the industry was still figuring out what cinematic storytelling in games could even look like.

The remake appears to understand that.

More Than a Single Remake

The Kickstarter campaign for Killing Moon Rising was so popular, it reached its base funding goal in remarkably short order, surprising even the people behind it.

“I was shocked,” Yuval told me. “We pressed launch, I turned my head for three seconds, and it was already at around $3,000. The amount of love, support, and the average pledge amount absolutely floored us.”

The overwhelming campaign response appears to have reinforced the team’s confidence that there is still a passionate audience waiting for Tex Murphy’s return.

“I think it’s safe to say the Kickstarter succeeded, so the future looks bright for more Tex,” Yuval predicts.

As to what that future might hold, the biggest surprise may be what comes next.

During conversations with Yuval surrounding the project, I learned that Killing Moon Rising is intended to be only the beginning of a much larger Tex Murphy revival.

In fact, before the Kickstarter had even launched, discussions were already underway with Chris Jones, writer/designer Aaron Conners, and artist Doug Vandegrift about finally completing what Big Finish Games previously started with their remaster of The Pandora Directive. Beyond that, there have even been talks about rebuilding the earliest Tex Murphy adventures, Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, in the same fully realized 3D style as Killing Moon Rising.

If all goes according to plan, then, the current project isn’t simply a remake, it's the beginning of a long-term effort to preserve and modernize the entire franchise.

Tex Murphy’s Revival History Has Been Complicated

As encouraging as this new revival effort appears, however, I’ve been excited for a Tex Murphy comeback before. And I’ve been heartbroken before.

The series has experienced multiple attempted reboots over the years, only to have dissolved or stalled. There’s Big Finish’s own 25th anniversary remaster of The Pandora Directive, of course, which generated significant enthusiasm among fans before ultimately being put on hold.

Similarly, The Poisoned Pawn began as a fan-driven restoration effort of Overseer before Big Finish Games became involved. For a time, it looked as though the project might become another important step toward preserving the Tex Murphy legacy. Eventually, however, Big Finish stepped away, leaving the future of that effort in doubt. 

So: announcement, excitement, silence, uncertainty. I still get people asking me what’s going on with those projects. Some have even gotten upset at me for being used as a pawn – a poison pawn even – for spreading false hope. That history of dashed hopes naturally raises concerns about whether the current revival could face similar challenges.

And honestly, it’s a fair question.

Tex Murphy is not an easy franchise to resurrect. These games exist in an unusual intersection between FMV filmmaking and classic adventure game design. Preserving what makes them special while also modernizing them for today's audiences requires an unusually careful balancing act…and time. Lots of time for a small team.

But the biggest difference this time is that the project isn’t merely an announcement. The first act is already playable and after spending a ton of time with the alpha build, I can confirm that the Killing Moon Rising project is substantially further along than I imagined. There is a clear vision and implementation of that vision.

The Future Isn’t Written

Even more encouraging is just how far this vision might extend. When asked whether the partnership with Big Finish Games could eventually evolve into something even bigger, Yuval’s answer was hopeful.

“I intend to do much, much more for this franchise,” Yuval explained. “From the remake of Pandora Directive to remaking the older 2D games in the same 3D style as the newer ones, to even making new games in the franchise with Aaron’s writing. You never know. For now, I am working with BFG, but the future is not written.”

In many ways, that feels like the perfect description of where Tex Murphy stands today.

For years, the future wasn’t written because there didn’t seem to be one. The series existed largely through the dedication of its fans, preserved by old CDs, digital rereleases, and memories of a detective who never quite fit in anywhere.

Now, after a hands-on look at the Under a Killing Moon remake, a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, and what appear to be genuine plans to restore more of the franchise, I can confidently say that the future suddenly looks a lot brighter.