"Aged" Title Is a Mind-Bending Ride, Well Worth Visiting or Revisiting
Unfortunately, I won't be able to give a full review without revealing a massive list of spoilers that will, I fear, at least somewhat ruin the experience for those intrigued enough to try this game out.
Take my word for it, or don't. This game is well worth whatever time and money you are willing to invest in it. It's a classic from 1995, and a point-and-click adventure game. So if you're looking for super, drool-inducing graphics and killer 1337 gameplay mechanics, such as noscope headshotz and uber realistic 'splosion sequences, stop reading and click something else.
If you enjoy a well-developed and delivered storyline, along with mind-bending plot-development and old-time science fiction-style backdrop, this is the game for you. If you just enjoy story, or any one of the above things I've mentioned, this is the game for you. It's based off of a short story, written in 1966 by Harlan Ellison, and was later (1995) made into the computer game, with a lot of contribution coming from Ellison himself (including the voice of the antagonist, the supercomputer, AM), who supposedly at the time was not a fan of computer games and did not own a personal computer.
The short story, according to wikipedia, is much more in-depth and gruesome, as well as adult-oriented. This game is very adult oriented for its time, and more or less even for now. While there are some sexual themes and suggestions, the torture scenes, while not entirely graphic in a literal and alternate definition sense, aren't for the faint of heart.
While trying not to give away too many spoilers, the game centers around the last five living people on Earth, and their conflict with AM, the supercomputer that has wiped out the rest of human life on Earth. The characters are very three-dimensional, and have a lot of faults and setbacks to their personalities. Unfortunately, I have to leave most of the description to the storyline at that. I can't say a whole lot more without giving spoilers out.
My experience with this game left me a bit awe-struck. The concept behind the story in itself is amazing, but the way the gameplay melded together between the 5 storylines was astounding. THE FOLLOWING IS A BIT OF A SPOILER. GET TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT. Towards the end in particular, the characters would give subtle comments to what was occurring in the other storylines. The character Benny gets into the virtual network, finds his wife and gives her flowers, then dies. Later the character Ted goes by the place where Benny spoke to his wife and says "I smell a hint of roses..." I'm not entirely sure why, but a lot of the things that the characters develop on their own amazed me.
END SPOILER. All in all, this game get a top-notch rating from me, and is well recommended for those looking for adventure and storyline. While I myself have gotten more and more into the point-and-click genre, up until recently I would not give most of them the time of day. That being said, I can see a lot of people who love story yet do not necessarily dig the whole point-and-click games really enjoying this one.