Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express

When it comes to popular whodunnits, few are more well-known than Murder on the Orient Express. This Agatha Christie classic has been adapted to both film and television multiple times, with Hollywood delivering a star-studded rendition as recently as six years ago. Now comes the newest video game adaptation, a mostly faithful take on the material that puts you in the shoes of one of the greatest detectives of all time – Hercule Poirot. Interview suspects, gather clues and crack the case in a fleshed-out retelling that isn’t afraid to take a few liberties in modernizing the story. Join me as I hunt for clues in this review of Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express.

I’m going to go into this review assuming that you have neither read the book nor watched the movies, as the game works a lot better that way. For first-time passengers of the Orient Express, this is one of those classic Poirot mysteries where there’s a murder and the world’s greatest detective has to step up and crack the case. This time around the murder is set within the small, claustrophobic confines of a luxury train that is filled with a colorful cast of possible suspects. To make matters worse, the Orient Express has come to a screeching halt thanks to a snowdrift, leaving the passengers and crew stranded until conditions improve. With a deadline ticking down and a train full of suspects stuck in place, it’s time for Poirot to spring into action.

Like so many classic whodunnits, a lot of the fun of Murder on the Orient Express comes down to getting to know the different passengers. There’s a hot-headed former Army captain, an eccentric Russian princess, the constantly-sick countess, an over-the-top Italian spokesman for a car company, a hard-partying Japanese chef and the put-upon assistant who gets no respect. Each of these characters, along with the rest of the cast, have secrets to be uncovered that may or may reveal who the killer is.

If you can’t tell, I’m dancing around a lot of the finer details. If you’ve somehow never read the book or seen the movies, then it’s worth going in knowing as little as possible. For those of you who are familiar with the story, like me, then I’m here to report that this video game adaptation stays pretty close to the source material. It takes a few liberties here and there, but you should not expect a radically different story. The characters, connections and that incredible ending are all in place.

Even if you know this story inside and out, there’s no getting around that it’s a lot of fun to play the great Hercule Poirot. The game does a really good job of making you feel like you’re the one figuring out the clues bit by bit, so that when you do get to the big reveals, there’s a feeling that you were there every step of the way and can argue the case just as well as Poirot. I was impressed by how the game teaches you to be observant and always pay attention to the details, as they keep coming up in both big and small ways.

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This also gives the developers an opportunity to throw a lot of fun puzzles at Poirot. Need to talk to that obnoxious car company spokesman? You’re going to need to fix the orange juicer before he’ll talk. If you don’t want to starve, then you’re going to need to help the chefs organize their refrigerator. There’s a valet you need to interrogate, but first you’ll need to weigh bottles in order to find the right medicine to cure his toothache. A lot of these puzzles can be displayed on a single screen, though there are a few that will have you hunting around rooms and underground bunkers.

What I like is how the game will also take the puzzle solving into the investigation. A good example of this is when you have to piece together a timeline based on the sometimes conflicting stories we’re getting from the different passengers. Speaking of contradictions, you’ll often need to combine elements from the different interviews to reach a conclusion and suss out who is lying. The game actually has a gameplay mechanic where you confront the liar on their untruths, which ends up being surprisingly satisfying.

It's the strength of the puzzle solving that kept me invested in this game. Even as somebody that knew exactly how this story would end, I had a great time helping the cast with their problems and slowly piecing the investigation together. The developers have found the right balance of investigation and puzzle solving, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a whole line of Poiot games that use Murder on the Orient Express as their template.

Even though this is a story with all kinds of fun twists and turns, I went into this game wondering how they were going to turn what is essentially a one-location mystery into an adventure game that could last seven or eight hours. As it turns out, they were able to do this by adding a second playable character and fleshing out a rather important section of the story. Told through a series of flashbacks, we follow a police officer as she tracks down a kidnapped girl. Beyond taking us out of the train and giving us a bunch of new locations to investigate, this section eventually connects to the main story in a big way.

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It's worth mentioning that this is not the only time the developers have taken liberties with the original source material. Without spoiling too much, there’s a whole new mystery to solve after the events on the Orient Express wrap up. Once again, this takes you to a new location and gives you more puzzles, more conversations, more intrigue and even a little action. Sure, it feels like putting a hat on a hat, especially after experiencing one of the greatest killer reveals of all time, but it was unexpected and gave me something new. I was completely off script, I had no idea where the story would take me next, which was exciting after so many hours of knowing exactly where the puzzle pieces would land. Best of all, this extended ending lasts another two or three hours. It’s basically a third of the game.

While I appreciate the change of scenery, there’s just no getting around that the bulk of the game takes place in the narrow, confined space of a train. Even though the bar, lounge, dining area and passenger quarters are nice, it’s basically all you’re going to see for hours on end. That works fine for a two-hour movie, but it feels limiting in a much longer video game. If you’re not fully invested in the story and investigation, then you’re going to feel a bit stir crazy from being stuck on the train.

It's also not especially challenging. While I love the wide assortment of puzzles, most of them are fairly simple and can be completed in just a few minutes. There are no real brain-busters here. I also found that the game was incredibly forgiving when you got something wrong. The game wants you to pick the right answer, so when you go astray, it will let you know and have you pick again. There really aren’t any consequences for choosing the wrong option or screwing up the timeline. Poirot will usually just say “try again,” and you’ll have another shot at solving the puzzle. If you still can’t get it, there are tips that will all but spell out the right answer.

Visually, Murder on the Orient Express looks dated. The train itself is sharp and the slightly cartoony look is appropriate, but the character models look and move like they were plucked out of a PlayStation 2 game. The same is true of the voice acting, which is all over the place. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few standout performances here, but I found myself cringing with some of the line delivery. I will admit that I eventually got used to Poirot’s hammy overacting, something that is very much in the spirit of what we’ve seen from other actors. He’s a big character that likes to chew the scenery, and this game gives the actor a lot of opportunity to do just that. By the time he sits everybody down to solve the case, I was cheering him on, even with that outrageous accent.

Even though it’s a touch too long, I still had a great time with this adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. If you’re somebody who has never read the book or seen the movies, then this is a good way to experience one of the greatest whodunnits of all time. That said, people who already know who did it will not get as much out of this largely faithful retelling. The fleshed-out bits are cool and I liked the extra mystery at the end, but I would have preferred the developer adapt one of Agatha Christie’s lesser-known mysteries. Murder on the Orient Express is a fun whodunnit that anybody can get into.