The Last Express

For a Myst fan, this game was tedious due to the need to always be in the right place at the right time. The effect is of feeling rushed. No chance to slowly explore the world--the train has a schedule, and if you don't do the right things at the right times, you end up dying and have to rewind and do entire sections of game over again until you get it right (a la Groundhog day). I didn't enjoyed the timed element, and would have rather solved the story elements at my own pace. The graphics are pretty, and the story interesting, but I ended up using walkthroughs because I was so frustrated with the timing element.

I love adventure games but can never finish one without hints. This review is for those that fall into that category. You likely won't be able to finish the game or fully understand what is going on. But the atmosphere and "look" of the game is so unique that you'll end up spending a lot of time playing without frustration. Some of the fun parts: Being able to search all the nooks and cranies. Eavesdropping on everyone's conversations. Trying to sneak into places you aren't supposed to be by outsmarting the conductor. Just feeling like you are really on this train. I've played this game for hours and I'm slowly progressing but even helps don't hint a lot because this games is not linear and a lot is happening at the same time on different parts of the train and you can't be in two places at once. The negatives: You have to go "travel back in time" and go to different places where you've been "in the past" in order to get the big picture. Having to fight with akward controls. Hint Book Crowd, buy the games. You may never finish it but you'll get a lot of enjoyable game play anyway.

Just completed it 2 hours ago. I bought this based on everyone's raving reviews but perhaps It was built up a bit too much for me. I sort of found this slow and boring - especially at the start - just walking up and down carriages. (I fell asleep after 1/2 hours playing and had to rewind quit a bit. The rewind concept was interesting but did not give the player much choice where you want to. I didn't like the lack of control I had as a player, basically you have to do the correct action at the correct time which was is annoying when you have no real idea what to do. Story-wise it's ok but not really gripping or original ( a murder on the orient express....the Poirot game of the same type was much more interactive). But it does make you want to finish it and find out what happened and the fact that there are many possible endings is interesting but to be honest I really couldn't be bothered finding out what they are.

What can I say about the magnificent and ingenious work by Jordan Mechner and his wonderful team, Smoking Car Productions, which has not already been said by the reviewers before me? Not much in reality, yet there is one element I wish to speak of, beside the usual suspects of beautiful rotoscoping and Art Nouveau, smart story and characters that appear as flesh and blood, not only because of the medium, but the actors and writing itself. The Orient Express is a small world in itself, a world which has long since passed and, like many games here on GOG, has become a part of nostalgia that some of us feel. The Last Express manages to encapsulate and transpose in full the fin de siècle feeling that accompanied Europeans at that point of historical development. Not only are the social class divisions clear, take for example the two conductors talking about war and socialism, yet the cultural ones as well, seeing how you can get killed (arrested) by disturbing the big Moroccan a couple of compartments away from yours. I was more than pleasantly surprised how well the mindsets of the different peoples and nations travelling on the train were captured and frankly, the discussions between the Serbian rebels and their actions are something I would completely expect from them, then and now. Kronos’ presence only adds to the mystique, because in my opinion he doesn’t really belong on the train or in the same company as the other characters, yet his power and knowledge are presented with such care and refinement, that he almost feels the most real of them all, especially in a murder mystery. I would gladly trade the Last Express for any rendition of Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. That fact that not only do you get to discover, though multiple plot threads, what is really going on, but to actively participate in it and that your actual position in the train determines what you know or do not know, is without a doubt one of the major innovations that this game brought into the adventure genre. Returning to the point of immersion and the nostalgic feeling that this game has, I must admit that I caught myself more times than I’d care to admit just walking down the corridors, knowing full well that the game is passing me by. Or just sitting down in the lounge (smoking car) and watching the countryside pass me by through the window, with people coming and going all around me. Franck’s Violin sonata only brought the feeling of early 20th Europe even closer and even though I was “forced” to listen to it several times due to mistakes I made, I enjoyed it every single time and was quite unhappy every time I had to leave the concert in order to finish the storyline. Perhaps this is the only real limitation or problem with the entire game. You have the time to get in your surroundings, but you better not take it, or you will be captured or worse, be unable to finish the game at the very end. Such limitations are understandable and even necessary if you wish to finish making a game that is reality an interactive story and the fact that you can have multiple saves or can go back in time makes this argument a moot one. In the end, The Last Express is a genre in itself and well deserves to be in the Hall of Honour of the videogame industry. Anyone who is still unconvinced that videogames can indeed be art, should play this one, as well as many other deserving such a title.

This is a game that borderlines art, movie and game spheres. An amazingly written storyline, highly detailed animations and scenery and engaging plot are just few out of the merits of this masterpiece. Adventure game veterans will jump right into this games. Beginners will find it very frustrating at start. The game is real-time and non-linear. It's a lot more forgiving than for example Darkseed or KGB, but it's still a challenge to complete it. The game takes place during rough times - days before WWI officially started. The atmosphere of those times can be felt during this ride on the last Orient Express. Some of the passengers and train crew are worried about what's happening, there's also few characters that wait for the upcoming war with open hands - as it will break down the foundations of the old world and they hope that the world built on ashes will be fairer for all. The plot starts with a murder mystery but soon elaborates into something bigger. But that's up for the player to discover. The game features multiple endings and is quite linear. A keen eye on details, eavesdropping on conversations and little detective work is needed to fully unfold what really happened and is happening on this train. It's not an adventure game. It's an experience - experience of the world that died with the first shots of WWI. Enchanting and thrilling. Well written with a great ending. A real forgotten jewel. Two thumbs up. Timeless classic