Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express Review – Ticket Please!

Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express Review

Set in 2023, Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express, follows the famous detective Hercule Poirot. Play as Hercule in third person as you solve puzzles, and put the pieces together and solve mysteries. This adaptation of the novel stays faithful to the story with a fresh perspective and new elements. Along the way you also play as a new character named Joanna Locke. As detective Locke you follow a second investigation, off the train in playable flashbacks.

Keep your eyes peeled for information and suspicious characters as you wade through a sea of deception in this adaption. Murder on the Orient Express is a fun experience for lovers of puzzles and unraveling the hidden depths.

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open

Playing this adaption, armed with the knowledge I have of the movie, had me on the lookout for familiar bits and pieces. The adaptation has you solving puzzles aboard the train. From figuring out the ingredients in a delicious and complicated dessert to a murder with twist culprit. I found myself having to really pay attention to anything and everything. Small details could be the key to figuring out a puzzle or giving the right answer to a question. Something someone said could be the final piece to the mystery. There’s a lot to click on and explore. Doors to open, unsubtly placed evidence pieces to investigate. Followed along by Hercule Poirot patting his mountain sized ego on the back for your hard work.

Quiet! I Need To Go To My Mind Map

The game has a Mind Map mechanic. This is like the butterfly effect. Sort of. Most of the time nothing really changes when you’re presented with a polarizing decision. It feels like the game simply brushes over your mistake and nudges you in the right direction. I got scared of facing damning consequences when I picked the wrong answer. At the end of a case the game simply moved on to the ‘correct’ conclusion and Hercule Poirot had saved the day yet again.

The Mind Map needs you to pay attention to fellow passengers and people you might talk to. You’ll need to make a Character analysis, giving someone’s correct nationality, job and age. Not all the answers are given to you, some things are just common sense or a very good guess. Each section of the Mind Map has its own set of Mysteries that you’ll have to solve with a lot of detective work.

Another aspect of the gameplay has you creating a workable sequence of how things happen. Some of the mysteries are solved this way on a case. Don’t worry about not getting it right away, some of these puzzles come with a hints button, allowing you to claim hints if something is too difficult to solve.

Playing as Joanna gives a more hands on perspective. She uses a more espionage angle as well as photographic evidence and lock picking. There are several different puzzles to solve, and Murder on the Orient Express thrives here in its creativity.

This view, C’est Magnifique!

Murder on the Orient Express has beautiful visuals, especially the train. It’s no surprise it looks that good, it’s kind of the main environment of the game. The carts of the train are designed to display luxury and tasteful opulence. The environment, although mostly snow and train as you play as Poirot, are pretty to look at. All the visuals are lush and pleasing to the eye. Playing as Joanna gives you access to new environments, all beautifully crafted.

The characters have memorable modernized designs to suit the new 2023 setting. The ambiance is engrossing and really takes you into the mystery. The background music provides a great lull as you go about doing detective work.

The game however has minor occasions where there is a frame drop as you move between carts. These were rare occasions but noticeable. As you carry on conversations with characters there are awkward pauses as the game saves. It’s some awkward eye contact for those extra seconds as your character gestures at nothing while the game autosaves. There needs some creative camera angling to be able to reach interactive spots but nothing too jarring. Overall these occasions do not detract from the game’s overall experience.

Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express succeeds in providing a faithful adaptation. At the same time gives a fresh and satisfying face to an old classic with fun gameplay and quirky, loveable characters and creative puzzles. The atmosphere gives great immersion and really get you in detective mode.

***Nintendo Switch code provided by the publisher for review***