Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express PC Review

Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express is the newest release from Microids Studio Lyon, a French studio creating a game about a Belgian detective. Cédric Peyravernay is the lead character artist on Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express and has had many works featured in huge projects such as Diablo IV, Prey, and Netflix's Love, Death + Robots. Murder on the Orient Express follows after the success of Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The London Case, Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders, the sequel to Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases, Microids decided to bring out yet another murder mystery simulator based on Agatha Christie's well-known cases.

And the story Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express stays very true to the original novel by Agatha Christie. Poirot travels on the Orient Express, an impressive sleeper train, making its way through Europe, with England being its final destination. Like in Christie's' story, Poirot is travelling on the train to return to England to solve a case; however, a far more intriguing mystery meets him once he is on the train with the interesting cast of characters, turned suspect, surrounding him on his journey. With each character holding their own motives and secrets, the mystery that unfolds is one of great interest.

 

Like the original story from Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express is full of twists and turns throughout the entirety of the game. Red herrings and misinformation are prevalent from the very opening, even in the prologue. For this reason, this review will focus on the general overview of the story and the initial mystery in the prologue. This will allow most to go into the game spoiler-free. As you will see, this game is well worth playing (although it lacks a touch of polish), so going in not knowing what will happen, is the way to go into it.

Assisting Poirot in this case is a new addition, Joanna Locke, who is a playable character during certain parts of the game, including flashbacks that take place off the train. Joanna offers a new take on the story, and it is now more than just Poirot's point of view for the player to experience. Another way in which Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express creates a revamp of the story is through the setting. "But it is still on the train?" You cry, "How is that any different?" The difference comes from the era. Rather than being set in the 1930s, this game takes place in the modern world, being set in 2023.

This acts as both a blessing and a curse for Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express. While bringing the adventure into the modern era opens the tale to a whole new audience. The addition of smartphones and more up-to-date technology allows some gameplay elements to feel more dynamic in moments. However, there are certain situations where the additions of these modern elements just make sections of the story a little nonsensical. The presence of a mobile makes Poirot's fount of knowledge unnecessary, as any information can simply be googled by anyone on the train.

A key example of this is in the prologue. The first mystery the player is expected to solve is the case of a man's missing ticket. While in the world of 1935, this would have been a huge deal, with official identification meaning anyone could have got on the train using another person's ticket, it is less of an issue in the modern world. Most tickets, particularly those going from country to country, would require an ID in order for the person to travel. On top of this, most of us will relate to losing a ticket, but we will often not panic due to the email evidence that most would have as proof of purchase.

 

This may seem like a totally pedantic point to make, but having a mystery based around finding a physical ticket just moments after seeing Poirot check his smartphone. It may not be a big deal to some, but to others, it will be enough to take a player out of the moment. Another example of this is in the attitudes towards certain situations that are taking place. The opening mystery reveals that the victim had invited a woman to his room but hadn't mentioned it to protect her reputation.

While in the 30s, this would have been a completely reasonable action, the idea of a woman left unattended in a gentleman's room was a situation full of scandal. However, the modern world is a little less unforgiving of such acts so the situation would be very different. The situation in itself is not a bad thing, and it adds to the mystery of the game with people constantly lying; it just feels odd with the setting being mismatched within itself.

An element of Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express that was not brought to the modern world was the dialogue. Much of the dialogue still feels as though it is from the original time, with certain quotes being lifted directly from the novel, which is a lovely touch for those familiar with the original work. The dialogue being left in the original timing is an adjustment at first, but it actually adds a lot of charm to the game and adds to the characterisation of many of the NPCs that are met throughout the journey on the Orient Express.

It is far easier to find the posh snobs versus the cockney geezers when everyone talks with the old-fashioned charm of the 1930s. It also adds to the fun of Poirot's attitude when talking to those around him. When surrounded by the language of the 30s, with other characters being nothing but proper, Poirot's sassy attitude stands out and is a very entertaining element of the game in general. Again, those familiar with the source material or even the popular show will really enjoy this addition.

 

The Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express gameplay is introduced gradually throughout the prologue, which acts as the tutorial for the game. It starts very simply, with the player learning the very basics of the gameplay, walking around the environment, and interacting with the surroundings and other characters. It should be noted that there is no option to skip the dialogue in these sessions; the player is pulled into a cutscene every time they talk to another character.

While this isn't a game-breaking thing to happen, it is incredibly annoying to have to watch an entire cutscene again should you want to question a character, but you have not yet found every clue that acts as a trigger point to open the following line of questioning. Another example of this is when the player is dragged into unnecessary and long cutscenes after simply interacting with an object.

An example of this is when Poirot has to use an elevator to travel to a victim's room in order to look for his missing ticket with him. There is an interact button to enter the lift that is followed by a slow cutscene of him entering. Then there is another interact prompt to press the button that leads to a very long scene of the button being pressed, then another scene of the elevator ride. The whole scene could have been reduced to just the final scene after the initial button prompt.

This seems like a small moment to focus on as it is only a brief moment of the game. However, it is moments like this that can really interrupt the flow of Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express. It is important that this doesn't happen in a slower-paced game, as retaining the interest of the player is vital when the gameplay moments are fewer and further between than in other titles.

 

Other such moments when this happens are in the tiles that can be loaded at any one moment. In Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express, the amount of space that can be loaded appears to be very small. The whole of the hotel room in the first mystery of the game can not be loaded in one tile. The player can move around some of the suits, but the bathroom is behind a door that sometimes requires a very brief loading scene to access. This is, again, a moment that can break the flow of the game, leaving the player somewhat frustrated.

Yet another instance of this is found early in the game when searching a desk. The player will view the desk head, seeing all four draws, two on each side. Rather than zooming in on one side and opening both draws, the player must zoom in on the top left, open the draw, search it, back out to the draw, then zoom in on the bottom left and repeat. Again, this isn't game-breaking, more just a little annoying.

Beyond this mild annoyance, the gameplay is one of the highlights of Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express. Looking for clues is never boringly easy or frustratingly hard. It is very goldilocks, falling in the "just right" in between. The conclusions from each clue are also clear to the player to start with, but as you get into the swing of it, they become more complicated, testing the player's newly stretched sleuthing muscles.

This can be seen as early as the first chapter. An earring in a room suggests a woman was in there- well, of course. Yet later in the same case, the player is stringing together the maids' route through the hotel and how a thief could potentially escape from a fourth-story window undetected and unscathed, even questioning the victim himself as he spills a strange story about a secretary entering the room as he dictated a letter. All this is to say, the play will undoubtedly improve their skills when it comes to making limitless conclusions from limited evidence.

 

One of the main mechanics in Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express is when the player enters Poirot's mind. This section of the game includes creating timelines of events, picking which character is most likely to have done an action, and merging two clues together to draw conclusions from it. These aspects of the game are simple to complete and understand but are enough of a challenge to remain fun.

While elements of the gameplay can slow the pace of the game, and the sprint button might as well be non-existent due to how little it adds to the movement speed, the overall gameplay has a lot of quirks that fit really nicely into the rest of the game. Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express has a charming story and fun gameplay with interesting puzzles to match.

The graphics in Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express are serviceable for the game. While being nothing groundbreaking, the fun art style is a great addition. Some of the expressions could be a little clearer, particularly as it can tell the player if a character is being truthful, but in all, the style is so fun that minor discrepancies can be easily forgiven.

The sound design in Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express is also very good. A lot of the music is enjoyable and matches the feeling superbly. Some of the voice acting could be better, but Poirot's voice actor, in particular, is very amusing, being the right mixture of sarcastic and serious in every instance.

 

Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express has an excellent mystery to be solved. The story is quirky and fun, with many gameplay elements that support this. There are some bits that need a little polish and some moments that bring any momentum to a grinding halt. There is enough fun between these moments to justify playing the game in its full and collecting all the golden moustaches is definitely an added bonus to this charming little mystery thriller.
 

Mariella Deadman (@MariellaDead)
Editor, NoobFeed