Fans of old-school adventure games are a cultish sort. The slightest mention of King’s Quest or Monkey Island will always result in a lengthy diatribe about how the genre has died off since the golden age of point-and-click.

Just a few minutes with recently released sci-fi noir game Gemini Rue should illustrate that the classic formula of collecting inventory items and solving esoteric puzzles still works.

You start the game as Azriel Odin, an assassin-turned-cop on a mission to save his brother from forces unseen. He’s got a gun, a cellphone and an inventory full of threats. Using them all, as ...