Groom your best mustache and solve an enigmatic murder mystery in Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express.
Earlier this year, a Hercule Poirot game called The London Case was released, and now we have another detective adventure from the brilliant characters created by Agatha Christie, published today. But make no mistake, Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express is no sequel to the previous game, as it has its own identity and plays quite differently. For instance, you now look from the third-person perspective, Hercule Poirot has a seasoned new image that exudes more experience, and the graphics are distinctly stunning.
Developed by Microids Studio Lyon and published by Microids, Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express once again puts you in the shoes of the once-named best detective in the world, Poirot. It is not uncommon to see video games based on classic literary icons, but what is, is how well this particular story translates into a video game format.
The book of Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express was originally published for the first time in 1933. This updated narrative sets the legendary character Hercule Poirot in the year 2023, giving a welcome twist to the original and well-known tale. To see the classic Poirot with a smartphone is one of those things that is difficult to get used to, yet a change that helps make it a more unique narrative.
Ensemble stories live and die by the strongest elements of their varied cast, and Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express does not disappoint. Designed by French artist Cédric Peyravernay, famous for his previous work in Diablo IV, Dishonored, and the Netflix series Love, Death + Robots, his expertise goes a long way. From the larger-than-life Russian princess to the eccentric American millionaire with a shady past, every character has their recognizable features and reasons to be aboard the iconic train.
The story begins with Poirot entering a fancy hotel in Istanbul after solving a minor stolen artifact case, and he is summoned back to England to continue his acclaimed work on another issue. As if by fate, he meets Bouc, an old friend who finds him a seat on the famed train Orient Express to travel back. Here is where Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express introduces you to its various game mechanics.
A man has lost his train ticket, and it is up to Poirot to find it. As any good detective worth his salt, you must exercise your intuition to trace the dots. A mechanic called character analysis quizzes you into looking at a person and discerning what their age, profession, and nationality are. While it is rather straightforward, all of the game’s queries have a helpful hint in the left corner of the menu to give you the answer should you find yourself coming up blank.
After solving the case of the missing ticket, you finally arrive at the train station. The eponymous Orient Express is beautifully rendered, and you can sense that every passenger about to board it has a story to tell. Sophisticated, jazzy sounds accompany the soundtrack on each wagon of the train, keeping it engaging. Although the prospect of walking in tight corridors for the playthrough is daunting, Hercule Poirot’s incisive remarks and theatrical attitude make things interesting.
The graphics are something of a standout for Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express. The reflections from the glossy wood walls, the distinctive furniture, and looking at the rocky Alps from the windows all look breathtaking, especially from a console such as the Nintendo Switch. The plot is naturally developed in confined spaces, but they are efficiently used to showcase a good-looking space.
Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express slowly gives you little hints of each character and as it inches closer to the climax, every little detail you see will come into play later on. As is expected, a murder goes underway, and Hercule Poirot must awaken those little grey cells once again and put everyone through the wringer.
There are times when the game truly makes you feel like a seasoned detective, making you think about motives for potential suspects, strict timelines of how actions came to be, and focusing on who could be the culprit and why they did it. Ingenious puzzles such as tying clues in an evidence board, observing every single detail in a crime scene, and deciphering codes for safes all add to the clever use of your imagination and creativity.
Going through the motions of tracking each suspect, making sure if they’re right or left-handed, if they smoke, and if their alibis check out, can somewhat seem like a tedious task but Poirot’s perspicacity is a surprise as every conversation is quite different from the last. Poirot catching each character lying and confronting them about it makes for a lighthearted and engaging conversation.
Confrontations are special moments that, as the name suggests, you have to catch your suspects as they’re lying. While there isn’t any punishment for fumbling the right answer and getting everything wrong before it, to be able to pay attention to every single detail of a conversation and catch the lie even before the game opens up the options for you to answer is always a rewarding experience.
A particularly hilarious scene occurs when Poirot is trying to unlock a briefcase, and complete silence is needed for him to listen to the right click of the numbers. This is when his good old friend Bouc comes into play and cannot seem to stop talking.
While this might seem like a way to make it more difficult for you to listen to the correct sound, this is when Poirot needs to get up and tell his friend that another murder will occur on the train if he doesn’t stop talking. These small moments of levity lend themselves to a quite enjoyable adventure in between the tedium of the investigation.
For fans of the classic book or now movie, there is a new twist that goes a long way into changing the story, along with the 2023 adaptation of the story. The introduction of a new character, Joanna Locke. A narrative introduced close to the story of Madeleine McCann injects a new type of eerie prescience into the somewhat familiar story with new elements that keep those who know the usual beats on edge as well.
Joanna Locke’s new plotline, without falling into spoiler territory, lifts the Hercule Poirot classic into new grounds and effectively makes for the new game’s narrative to stand on its own, with no need to compare with what came before it. While it adds to the overall playthrough, it also engages your mind with thoughtful queries that a police detective would have to face.
As is the case with any detective case, once you have all the pieces of the puzzle after painstakingly interrogating each passenger of the Orient Express and solving every little nuisance they had, the ending has to be a rewarding experience. And Murder on the Orient Express does not disappoint. Solving a crime is no easy feat, and Hercule Poirot once again proves that with just a keen eye for observation, the truth will come out.
At the end of the day, Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express shows one of the world’s greatest authors’ stories at the height of her powers. The carefully interwoven plot, the characters’ well-thought-out motives, and the renewed presentation of it all by the time you solve the case will undoubtedly delight any mystery-loving follower.
