Not so much underrated as maligned.

I remember in late 90s there was a kind of preconception against 3D adventure games in general, the mustache puzzle just gave a legitimate reason to lash at GK3.

I bought GK3 as soon as it came out and enjoyed it almost all the way through. It was surprising to read all those negative opinions later.

What spoiled it a bit for me was not the infamous puzzle but the part near the end when we go to the underground temple and the action starts to resemble the ending of a certain Indiana Jones movie. Now that was anticlimactic.

I liked it   I liked it then and have nothing but fond memories. Even the stupid cat hair mustache. It was good for a laugh, or maybe a wince, but it was memorable. I had no idea there was such virulent sentiment against it.

I think all GK games had final part which was different than rest of the game. And in all cases I didnt liked it so much and always thought it can be done in better way.

I quite enjoy the entire GK trilogy, and when I first played GK3, I was completely blown away by the story, far more than its two predecessors. Only during a second playthrough did I realize what I all missed the first time around: all those conversations you can eavesdrop on, every character is doing SOMETHING at every time of day. You can progress the story without discovering everything, which was also the case with "The Colonel's Bequest". So being very careful to avoid the triggers, I went around keeping tabs on everyone and find out all their little secrets. You don't have to answer any questions about it all as you have to do as Laura Bow, but it's still fun to snoop around.

I just wish it was easier to run on newer systems. I can get it to start up al right, switch up some settings to get rid of the flickering black squares, but then it still crashes as soon as I get down in the hotel lobby...

Not gonna lie: I kind of love GK3. Still replay it every other year or so.

Even though I realise that both GK1 and GK2 are objectively better and more well-rounded games, I do feel like GK3 gets a lot more hate than it deserves. I mean, yes the cat moustache was stupid, but was it worse than the awful cuckoo clock/door knock puzzle in GK 2? (At least the cat moustache was silly enough as to be funny in a very adventure gamey way...)

I also think that what GK3 really excelled in was its sense of exploration and detective work. Sneaking around the rooms, collecting finger prints, tailing the suspects around the valley - it all added to a real sense of immersion in the world in a way that I honestly haven't seen in a lot of other similar games. And of course, Jensens writing is top notch, Robert Holmes music is superb and the voice acting entertaining.

The 3D graphics are admittedly not great, but I think I disliked them more when the game first came out... Nowadays I find them charmingly clunky more than anything. If there are ever talks of a remaster/remake one day, polishing the graphics and making the cat moustache puzzle optional would probably be the only things I'd suggest changing...

If only that was the worst cat/animal puzzle in the genre.

Once taped a phone to the back of a cat in Secret Files Tunguska
Used a Rat as a bomb in Nibiru

I quite enjoy the entire GK trilogy, and when I first played GK3, I was completely blown away by the story, far more than its two predecessors. Only during a second playthrough did I realize what I all missed the first time around: all those conversations you can eavesdrop on, every character is doing SOMETHING at every time of day. 

This. Just this. Never agreed more. First playthrough just blows you away on the story. Subsequent playthroughs lets you pick up bits and pieces you have missed. This is not unique for adventure games, but never at the scale shown in GK3. You can play this thing 10 times and still pick up weird tidbits and new cutscenes.

I just wish it was easier to run on newer systems. I can get it to start up al right, switch up some settings to get rid of the flickering black squares, but then it still crashes as soon as I get down in the hotel lobby...

Please run it through dgvoodoo2 to get proper 3D, then use "-width X -height Y" parameters to get widescreen in your desired resolution. I've been on linux for a few of years now, but this used to work well for windows 10.

I mostly agree with the consensus of everyone around here: graphics are terrible, exploration is great, and the puzzles are better than people remember. But one thing I rarely see talked about is the acting. The main cast is good, but I just felt like the supporting cast was going through the motions. I found John de Lancie to be surprisingly plain as the villain. Some of the dialogue is weak, which sure didn't help.

I remember loving the game when I first played it and it was actually the first GK game I played. The graphics are indeed not good, the interface is very awkward to get the hang of and the cat puzzle makes no sense. But for me it has the best story in any GK game and it's my favourite setting of the series. I absolutely loved exploring the museum in particular so if you can get it to work I would recommend people to check it out even if you need to use a walkthrough.