Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders

A little bit easy for anyone experienced with adventure game logic, but still somewhat fun, despite sometimes amusingly poor voice acting (Japp is especially wooden in delivery sometimes), and not running 100% stabely on my Mac

A really interesting story that is accessible to everyone. It's a bit too short/easy and animation are a little cheap. But it's still a good adventure game! Adventure player should give it a try!

This game is certainly a treat for the little gray cells, as Poirot himself would put it. It guides you through the initial gameplay using a great unfolding tutorial. The fun trophies and ego point concept (which feels like a special treat just for being a Poirot fan) are entertaining and speak to the creative approach taken in designing the game. Automatic game saves allow the user to focus on the progression of the game without distraction or worry, and the progress percentage is useful for those unfamiliar with the novel on which it is based. The puzzles require thinking yet are not discouragingly complex.

It is hard to get a game like this right. The ABC Murders is one of Agatha Christie's most famous Poirot stories and a game cannot deviate very far from the source material if it doesn't want to become another story altogether. This means the developers had a very limited scope to work in. Unfortunately, it has resulted in a game with a plot that is incredibly linear to the point where every action is basically outlined in your list of objectives. The deductions that you have to make, while a novel idea, can amount to little more than trial and error. I think it would be nicer to have the game present you with the clues and allowing you to pick the conclusion you attach to them and to actually make mistakes in doing so. You can also not make any real mistakes in your investigations as the game simply will not advance until you've found all possible clues. The developers tried to add interest in two ways. First: by having the ego points, which could be a fun mechanic but it is currently overused as it serves both as a score counter as well as an indicator of how Poirot-like you are behaving (checking your moustache in every mirror, for instance). Second: by adding puzzle object mini-games that, when solved, allow you to find the next clues. Many will dislike these mini-games as distracting from the main storyline, but I felt they were enjoyable enough. All that being said, the story itself is famous for good reason and this game does not detract from that. The graphics, while cartoonish, are also vivid and atmospheric. The voice acting isn't bad, though Poirot's Belgian-French accent is not particularly believable, especially when you're a fan of David Suchet's portrayal of the famous fictional detective. The music is fitting and I smiled when I heard the music box play a version of the Poirot TV series theme. All in all, it's not a great game, but worth a play for Poirot fans who would like to make their way through the story in a more interactive way.

I was already prepared for this game being more of an interactive story than a real adventure. It is true, there is a tremendous amount of hand-holding in this game, every task is listed, the riddles are not very difficult (and often of the mechanical kind, which I personally don't like). Still, as I was prepared for that, it is no big problem for me - I take the game as a relaxing interactive story. Unfortunately, it is not a very user-friendly game and so I don't enjoy playing it much. First, the good things - the voice acting is enjoyable, the graphics are out of date but still nice to look at. There is a feature of Poirot being able to draw conclusions from looking at people or places. A very nice idea, but here the bad execution starts. Basically one moves the mouse until the cursor changes from a white circle to a smaller green circle, which shows that one of the relevant objections was just made. A bit too easy. When talking to someone, words next to the person show that person's mood - it would have been nice if there were some clues to the mood that one could find oneself. So these two features don't add much to the game. They could have been much better executed to result in a real addition to gameplay. However, my main issue with this game is the tedious controls. I also have the added problem that my mouse lags when playing (I don't have this with any other game), so every action involving the mouse is slow and so fun. Add to this the unpleasant controls and mechanisms. For example, in order to compare two letters, one has to click onto one letter, point out something, click out, click onto the other letter, point the same thing out, click out and so on. Why not put both letters next to each other and just click similarities? Why are the letters not in the inventory but require tedious walking to the desk with many clicks? Everything takes longer than needed and it's not enjoyable. Pity, it could have been a good game.