Agatha Christie Murder on the Orient Express

I have read most of Agatha Christie’s mysteries several times each, beginning when I was a teenager. My mother was a big fan, and so we owned most of her books. I always read my favorite books many times over, and Murder on the Orient Express was, and still is, on my top 10 list of all-time great reads. So, I looked forward to reviewing the Adventure Company’s version of Murder on the Orient Express for the computer. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed playing the game, but much of my enjoyment came from the fact that I love the story and the era. Players who are unfamiliar with the book may not receive quite as much pleasure, as the actual adventure itself isn’t anything above the ordinary.

As any fan of Agatha Christie knows, she practically invented the modern British mystery, which always takes place amongst the upper classes of British society. Many of her novels were written between the two world wars, before the days of excessive taxation. Her titled characters could live very comfortably off monies earned from land rents and interest from stocks, and therefore didn’t have regular jobs, which left them a lot of leisure time. As England was still enjoying a strong economy compared to the rest of the world, Britons could live and travel abroad very cheaply, as the pound’s conversion rate against other currencies was favorable. In 1933, the train called the Orient Express ran from Istanbul, Turkey to Calais, France, and many of the rich and famous traveled on it. The very name Orient Express exudes romance and privilege, which this game manages to emulate almost perfectly.

The story begins at the train station in Istanbul, where Mademoiselle Marceau, who works for the company that owns the Orient Express, is waiting to take charge of Monsieur Poirot, the famous Belgian detective. As directed by her supervisor, she is to see to it that his trip is a smooth one. She is a new character and replaces the former character of Monsieur Bouc from the novel, and serves the same purpose as the straight man to Poirot’s famous detecting prowess. Players will direct the actions of Mademoiselle Marceau, under the tutelage of Poirot.

Once the train is underway, Poirot and Marceau settle in for the evening in the Dining Car. While they relax, they amuse themselves by observing the fellow passengers and marking various facts and conjectures about them. Little do they suspect that soon they will be investigating them in earnest! The train is about to be stopped in its tracks by debris from an avalanche, and while it is stopped overnight, a passenger is killed in his berth. As it is unlikely that the culprit was somebody that boarded the train just for that purpose, and then left the same way, suspicion naturally falls on the other passengers. Poirot is inconveniently restricted in his movements, as he sprained his ankle when the train was stopped suddenly by the avalanche. But fortunately, Marceau is more than willing to be his eyes and ears. If only she can apply her little grey cells as efficiently as Poirot…..

This game is a traditional point-n-click adventure, and possesses all the typical features such as a large inventory, lots of dialogue and plenty of legwork. Marceau will spend most of her time in this game stealing, oops, I mean borrowing, items she finds lying around and trying to find ways to transform all these seemingly innocuous objects into useful items. She will also spend a lot of time talking to everyone. She even gets to listen at the doors! And, of course, Poirot is always there to offer his guidance and advice.

The interface is pretty simple and easy to understand. The cursor changes to indicate which actions are available. The inventory holds the items Marcel picks up, and the items can be combined in a separate inventory window. This is a little clumsy, as it requires moving back and forth between the two windows to move the items from inventory to the combining area. This could have easily been accomplished in the inventory area by dragging one item onto the other. Descriptions and other details about each item can be gleaned by choosing the item and then clicking it on the magnifying glass, but again, this is a trifle clumsy and would have been better handled by using the glass on the items.

At the beginning of the game, Marceau has to catch Poirot’s attention and introduce herself. For some reason, though, she is blocked several times by various people who stand in her way all around the marketplace and station. In order to get by them, she has to perform mundane tasks. The purpose of this is probably to introduce the player to the interface controls, but this type of gameplay feels forced and is somewhat out of place in the story. Thankfully, though, this is but a short part of the game. The rest of the adventure is solidly in line with the book.

The designers have done a tremendous job recreating the atmosphere of the original story. All the characters sound and look just as they should, from the Swedish nurse to the obligatory Colonel from India. The Eastern European Princess, the English governess, the loud American, they are all portrayed as one would picture them. The voice acting is spot on for the most part, and Poirot is actually voiced by the actor David Suchet, who portrays Poirot in a BBC series.

The backgrounds, characters and decorative items are very detailed and create a wonderful ambience of the era. The clothes are realistic, and the furnishings on the train are, as well. The train itself is drawn nicely, and players get a sense of really being on a train. I took my first ever train ride two years ago, and really appreciated how similar this imaginary train ride felt to my actual train ride.

As in any adventure game, the players will need to talk to everyone as often as possible, and pick up everything that isn’t nailed down. The puzzles are either inventory-based, or are discovered by conversation. Most of the puzzles aren’t very difficult, but are entertaining enough to solve. They are integrated fairly well into the story and most of them seem natural, but a few are silly, such as the ones that involve the train’s resident chef, who seems to constantly require care. The gameplay is linear and pretty confined to certain areas, and Marceau often has to cover the same ground again and again to figure out what items are missing, in order to advance. Periodically, Marceau will confer with Poirot, who will offer clues on the items that Marceau has found. There is even a subtle sense of humor, often found in the snide asides from the head attendant in the train.

The plot is exactly like the book, but with an added plot element that surfaces in the end. This leads to an alternate ending from the original story, and is offered by Poirot as a third possible solution, in addition to the two he offered in the book. This surprise ending wasn’t necessary, as players like me are playing for the familiarity of the story and don’t mind knowing the end, and others who haven’t read the book wouldn’t know the end, anyway. It would have been better left out entirely, as it feels tacked on.

As an adventure game, this game is entertaining enough, but isn’t above average in any significant way. The puzzles aren’t very challenging and most are conversation based, and there aren’t very many of them, either. The game world is small, and there isn’t much to do in the game besides talk to everyone and try strange combinations of inventory items. The game is short, so players don’t get much bang for their buck in terms of actual playing time.

However, as an interactive version of a much-loved novel, this game is tops! I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, except for those first few minutes in the beginning of the game and the added solution in the end. I truly felt as if I had been transported into the world of the Orient Express. I can honestly state that if I’m satisfied with a treatment of a favorite book, then that treatment as a whole must be pretty accurate. I can’t watch any of the Lord of the Rings movies, because of all the just plain wrongness (my new word of the day) they possess. There are a few changes and additions to the story in this game, but they are kept to a minimum. The result is very satisfying to any Christie fan.

So, this game is hard to rate. It really depends on the type of player as to whether they will enjoy this or not. Any Christie fan will, and many adventure players may because of the historical setting and atmosphere. Adventure gamers who enjoy a good challenge and lots of puzzles will probably be disappointed, though.

Gameplay: 7.0
Standard adventure treatment. The gameplay as a whole is adequately entertaining, but is short on length and short on challenge. However, as an interactive story it’s great! Fans of Agatha Christie will be pleased.

Graphics: 8.0
It all looks true to the time era, the 1930’s in Europe.

Sound: 6.0
Nothing special here.

Difficulty: Medium
There’s nothing very difficult, but a few of the puzzles aren’t obvious and will require some back-tracking.

Concept: 6.0 
Nothing new here, but it is presented well.

Overall: 7.0
Murder on the Orient Express is a great presentation of a classic book. As an adventure game, though, it is a little lacking. Whether players will enjoy it or not will depend largely on the type of player.