3 hours into "Martian Memorandum" and I've hit a reload record...

I think she wants something from me, as well...

I'm 3 hours into Martian Memorandum and I lost count of how many times I had to reload. Not only is this a game where you can die, apparently there's also a dead-end if you don't give the correct replies during a dinner date. I really felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day trying over and over again to sweettalk Andy MacDowell. Either she fell asleep, or emptied her wine glass in my face, and then I had no means to continue that conversation. So countless reloads later, eventually I got her to answer my questions, and I was able to follow another lead.

FYI: this screen sidescrolls...

Only to get a bit stumped there as well, by either being mangled by a dog or poisoned, over and over again. It took me a long time to realize I could actually move further to the right, and the screen sidescrolled. To be honest, I had to look this up online, because even the HELP function mentioned objects I just couldn't find in the scene. And even then it was tricky, because each time I tried walking to the right, I'd either get too close to the dog, or too close to that pool of red ooze. Tex just wouldn't walk to the spots I clicked. So I decided to try something and yes: I could move him directly with the arrow keys as well, and I could finally maneuver between the two danger zones. I did find a glitch though: when I tried to shoot my way through the door and into the wagon, a ladder would magically appear against the side. So I could have cheated my way forward if I really wanted to, but I didn't.

And to think I used to love dogs...

So after lots of trial and error, I found my next lead and wound up in a jungle somewhere. After being flattened by a log, drowned in quicksand, and eaten by a snake, I discovered some final pieces of information and then it became obvious I had exhausted all my options on Earth. All my remaining leads are all located on Mars, so now I have to sneak on board a smuggler shuttle (because the regular one is four weeks out of commission, naturally...). But not before my frustration rose even higher because I had to backtrack over the quicksand pit again! I hadn't memorized which stones were safe and which would sink, so it was back to the save/reload trial and error technique to get across.

I hated this sequence...

I've finally reached the location of the shuttle, and I'm betting I'll probably die a dozen or so more times before I'll actually reach the red planet. Wish me luck!

You can find Martian Memorandum on Steam.