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Hopkins FBI is a true British game. Highly recommended
to adventure players who feel like something a bit different.
You play Hopkins, modern day hero and full time righter-of
wrongs, in an adventure that will take you to the four corners of the world.
A rich and varied universe awaits you, as you come face to face with over
50 characters, many dangerous, all one-of-a-kind. Try to keep cool as you
strive to unlock challenge after challenge in face of evermounting suspense
and action.
In the mood for a blood-soaked comic book adventure? Hopkins
FBI could be just your cup of tea!
HOPKINS FBI - Bernie Berckson is leading a new criminal
organisation. As Special Agent HOPKINS you are in charge to find and arrest
him as anyone belonging to its gang. You'll be helped in your mission by
Samantha Collins, who is both your girlfriend and another great agent of
FBI.
Special Agent Hopkins has just been put on the biggest
case of his life: find and kill Bernie Berkson, the most vicious and dangerous
criminal in years.
Hostage showdowns, murders terrorist acts: Special Agent
Hopkins has to get around a nightmare of traps and twisted surprises in the
course of his investigations if he wants to find Berkson and save the planet
from certain doomsday.
You play Hopkins, modern day hero and full time righter-of
wrongs, in an adventure that will take you to the four corners of the world.
A rich and varied universe awaits you, as you come face to face with over
50 characters, many dangerous, all one-of-a-kind. Try to keep cool as you
strive to unlock challenge after challenge in face of evermounting suspense
and action.
Overall look of the game:
Hand drawn Animation
Drawn by cartoon specialists according to the rule book
they were scanned and meticulously retouched frame by frame to produce
high-quality scenes.
3D Scenes
Highly detailed, with very studied camera movements, extremely
realistic 3D scenes leading the player by the airs as under the seas give
him incomparable sensations.
Extremely varied places
First hand drawn by a famous strip cartoonist, Thierry
Ségur, they were scanned then retouched and coloured on computer by
an international graphist team. They give to the player an uninterrupted
pleasure of discovery...
Hopkins is a third-person point and click adventure. In
form, content and visual style it is very much an adventure game version
of a comic book. How much this idea appeals to you will very much affect
how you react to the game.
The opening movie takes place at the electrocution of
a notorious criminal. Amazingly, he seems to escape the execution unscathed!
He escapes and disappears. The game begins with you, FBI Agent Hopkins, in
his apartment.
The greatest thing about this game is its total dedication
to its comic book roots. Each scene looks like a gorgeous, air-brushed comic
page. I began this game after playing the original System Shock, and after
spending weeks sneaking around in a cold black space station, the vibrancy
of the colors in Hopkins nearly seared my corneas. This is not a
complaint.
The cutscenes in the game are also very comic-book in
style, and it should be said that they are chock-full of very gratuitous
violence. This didn't bother me (but then I clearly need counseling) but
I know it's a concern for some players. For example, the first crime Hopkins
has to solve is a holdup at a bank. In the cutscene there is a very graphic
close-up of a teller getting his head shot off at point-blank range.
The interface of Hopkins is elegant and effective. It
also hides offscreen until you need it, a feature I really appreciate. Why?
Because it leaves the entire screen available for the gorgeous cartoon graphics.
A simple right-click brings up the inventory screen whenever you want it.
I wish more games worked this way!
To say the story of Hopkins is convoluted, creepy and
outrageous would be an understatement. Just like the graphics, the story
is comic-book pulp. It's dark, melodramatic and sensationalist. Again, from
my point of view, these are NOT complaints! Even for a dark comic book, however,
there are plot points in Hopkins that seriously push the envelope.
The puzzles in the game are pretty much of the inventory-fest
variety. They are pretty logical for the most part, but there are a few
head-scratchers as well, and many of them are VERY morbid.
It's so off-the-wall - We don't want to spoil it for you,
but let's just say the plot of Hopkins FBI definitely wins the "Ark of Time
Deranged Plot Seal of Approval."
This game is full of fun locations - the various urban
locations early in the game, including a bank, a museum, an indoor swimming
pool, and a movie theater; you also get to sneak around in the woods, a tropical
island, and a Big Fat Secret Underwater Fortress. Whenever the game felt
a little too strange or preposterous, the gorgeous graphics, with their
high-gloss patina and vibrant palette (with a particularly pleasing emphasis
on greens) would win me over again.
The game has an entertaining wall-to-wall rock soundtrack
that's very appealing. Luckily, there are options that allow you to adjust
the volume levels between speech and music. It's also got an entertaining
map feature that allows you to watch Hopkins scoot around the city in his
little red car.
Hopkins FBI is a true British game. Highly recommended
to adventure players who feel like something a bit different.
Minimum hardware requirements:
Pentium™ 133, 16 MB Ram,
Windows™ 95/98/ME/XP or superior
version.
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