Hopkins FBI

Outdated mechanics, frustrating gameplay, clumsy interface, unintuitive controls... How it's easy to criticize a 25 year-old game :).

Question that may be often asked when such title is being reviewed is: "How well did it preserve?".

In "Hopkins FBI" we play as the Federal Bureau agent who tracks an escaped felon terrorist. There are some moral choices awaiting and some arcade mini-games to be completed - which is quite unique for an extremely popular for that time point-and-click genre. The game also tried to outstand with an unexpected X rating vivid content. Today it may not be as shocking as in 1998 but still can cause a couple of faster heartbeats.

Back in my days I remember this game to be legendary. An instant cult-classic, even at the beginning of the 21st century. "Hopkins" gave me a lot of joy when I've played it as a child. Things that I was amazed with were: massive (as I've wrongly perceived it) open world, remarkable soundtrack, intelligently funny conversations and beautifully drawn comic book art style.

With a strong feeling of nostalgia, I've came back to my third favorite FBI agent (Cooper, Mulder..) on warm Saturday afternoon on May '22. First troubles occurred at the stage of launching the game. Luckily I wasn't the only one with a 202x software who wants to play it. Some googling, trial and error methods, and... I've easily managed to hear familiar menu theme. First second impression was highly promising. But soon I found out, why exactly did the ancient Greeks found nostalgia to be dangerous and deceptive.

Pretty much most of things started to get more and more irritating. Things that I, as a young non-gamer person, did not even notice to be somehow badly delivered. Now the gameplay became boring. Memorable soundtrack turned out to be weirdly looped. Characters, even though still sometimes funny, now acted unreasonable. Story being totally not exciting... Not to mention the strange afterlife level which I didn't even conquer as a child - as the game was difficult as hell. Bored to death, with a little help of online guides (as some levels are ridiculously tough!) I've finally got to an end. After a few hours and few almost give-ups.

Have you ever played as Hopkins in the past, please consider not to ruin your nostalgic memories. If you don't know where Samantha's gone and would like to try it in 2024 without an earlier touch - you'll simply got lost in the city of outdated, painful mechanics. Either way, unfortunate to say, it doesn't worth a(nother) try.

OK, I must admit it - graphically, the game aged well. Characters and some places still look very fine even today, as they're nicely drawn by a team of talented cartoonists including French artist Thierry Ségur. I really did love this game. But... it's 2024. If we were sometime in 2002 - this review might look completely different. Still, fun memories will stay forever. And won't be destroyed even by a disappointed re-play.

"Hopkins FBI" a forgotten point-and-click adventure game - is probably as dead as its genre is. It did not preserve well. Even though it still may be fun at times, overall I certainly cannot recommend.