A brilliant adventure game, though incredibly brutal at times.
First off, it's a pretty simple point-n-click adventure game. The puzzles are fairly easy, though you'll probably get stuck a couple times throughout. Thankfully the game is pretty forgiving so going back to pick up items you may have missed is usually a quick task. You have to search pretty much everything though and sometimes it takes quite a bit of time.
But it's worth it. The art in this game is superb, from the characters to the cutscenes. Which are brutal. The first 3-4 cutscenes or so (in the un-censored version) are not for the faint of heart. Even I got shocked the first time I saw them, and I've pretty much seen it all. But it fits in well with the game, because the story is laid out that way. You track a serial killer who managed to escape from the electric chair, just as he was about to get fried. The story is actually pretty damn good, but the second half of the game is.. Well, like they say on the official site; "imagine if Quentin Tarantino made a game - this would be it".
The music is fantastic, lots of classic 60's songs, and even if you've never heard them before (the chances are high), you will likely grow to love them as I have. Easily one of the best things about the game.
There is also quite a bit of nudity in the game - again, it fits the setting but not everyone. I found it refreshing, it's a rare sight and it's always interesting when developers have the balls to actually try something risque and fresh. The voice acting is mediocre, but not bad enough to retract from the gameplay.
Overall I think this is a gem of an adventure that shouldn't be missed. It is definitely a story you will remember, whether you want to or not. But like stated earlier, you are tracking a serial killer, following a trail of dead bodies - so consider this when you think about picking up the game. This is one of those classic PC games where you can really tell that the devs made this because they wanted to, and because they have la passion for making games. Not purely for milking customers.
INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR VISTA / 7:
First off, visit http://www.hopkinsfbi.com/patches_win.htm and download the XP patch. You have to run the setup from there. What I did was copy the entire CD to a folder in the primary hard drive, placed the XP setup.exe there and installed it from the HDD. To be safe, it might be wise to install the game in the default directory. If you do this right, the game will actually think that the CD is in the hard drive, so no need to have it in the drive when you play.
Secondly, run the game in Windows XP SP III comp. mode. No extra options needed.
And lastly - you will most likely experience color problems when you try to run the game. The fix is very simple: CTRL + ALT + DEL (task manager) and manually kill "explorer.exe", then just use the run command and open up the game. Additionally you can start the game then ALT + TAB and kill explorer that way. I experience crashes from time to time, but save often and it won't be a huge problem. In my opinion, it's worth it.
Feel free to msg me if you have any problems installing / playing it.
Quick rating breakdown:
Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 7
Music: 10