Some people embrace the campy, corny, often times poorly executed horror that was the FMV period of gaming. Other gamers don't get it. To be sure, there is plenty about that era that is hard to overlook. However, wading through the slush pile does offer a fair share of gems. Martian Memorandum has bad acting, terrible makeup execution, tedious pixel hunting and a thin premise and it is a great game. If you play this game and don't laugh out loud at least one time, you're dead inside. Save yourself the headache and get a decent walkthrough, that way the pixel hunt portions are less frustrating. You'll also need the code to escape the air vent maze. Trying to find the way out without the code is a complete nightmare and not worth the aggravation. What you're left with is a science fiction, hard-boiled mystery, with a protagonist as dopey as Bruce Campbell in his heyday, conducting an investigation in a universe torn from Total Recall. You've got to have a prerequisite for point-and-click FMV adventure games for sure, and if you do, Martian Memorandum is well worth the trip through a period of gaming which is long gone.
