The Last Express

The plot is pretty good (albeit rather confused) and quite exciting, and the voice acting commendable, however the game is flawed by the real-time concept, and the fact that the hero keeps getting killed unless exactly the correct things are done at the correct time. You can rewind but sometimes you need to go a long way back on the journey to try again. So I could only complete this sensibly by following a walk-through almost line by line.

I played this game total at least 7 times through... there is just so much going on in the plot and between the characters that you cannot possibly absorb it all in one play. I love how the game runs like a movie where you can go anywhere you want and do almost whatever you want (and reap the consequences of them). Highly recommended!

What a cracking (if at times really tricky) game. An interesting story, intriguing characters, lovely music and just so draws you in and really feels like 1914. The graphics are old school (but we woudn't be on GOG if we were after shiny new would we) but do not detract from this at all. Think of it as Cluedo meets The 39 Steps. I really wish that they'd made a sequel (which they were clearly hinting at the end), and I hope that the movie (if they every get around to making it) is of the same quality.

‘The Last Express’, from famed game designer Jordan Mechner, is a little known masterpiece. Just the graphics -- a mix of standard animation, rotoscoped animation of real-life actors, computer generated 3D graphics -- as well as occasional use of portrait aspect ratio to accentuate the tightness of space on the Orient Express, differentiate it from its contemporaries and many other games since. Underneath its unique aesthetics is an engaging mystery game. Events happen in real time, and characters have their own schedules and routines. That makes ‘The Last Express’ interesting because events will continue to unfold as you busy yourself with other tasks. Since you can’t be in two places at the same time, there is a good chance that you will miss out on some interesting events or conversations during your first playthrough. Thankfully, the game does feature a time rewind mechanic that is like a checkpoint system. You can rewind time any time to a previous key event and try different actions. Depending on the decisions you make, you can get one of several outcomes. Because the story is set in just a few cars of the Orient Express, you can easily and quickly make your way to other locations, and see if there are other conversations you can eavesdrop on. While it is a mystery, there is actually very little detecting that you’ll need to do. However, you’ll need to accomplish some key tasks to move the story along, and you can sneak into places where you shouldn’t be to reveal background stories to fill in narrative. There are a few action sequences, but nothing too difficult or overly distracting. ‘The Last Express’ is a must-play for any fans of mystery games and stories, especially Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. It’s a highly entertaining, engrossing game that will fascinate you, and make you wish for a sequel that we unfortunately know will never come.

I've been playing computer games for most of my life, starting with Defender and KQ1 on 5.25" floppies and moving right up through today's hottest titles, but I have yet to be moved in the way I have been by The Last Express, still listed (alongside games like Fallout 1 and Morrowind) as my favorite. The beauty of this game is stunning. Cell shading and stop-motion features for all characters in this game give you the feeling of being in a work of art while in conversation, but these are mixed in with full-motion live capture characters walking through hallways or stabbing enemies with knives. Neither extreme feels out of place! The scenery of the train is gorgous - and the use of landscape and vertically-cropped pictures gives you a true sense of space as you move through the train. In spite of the setting being a maximum of 5-6 full-length cars, you will be SHOCKED to realize how much detail can be included, and how entertained you will be through the length of the story. The story is told on the Orient Express over the course of 3 days, and the story is told in NEAR real time. Yes, that means roughly 3 solid days of content to live in, watch, and affect. Characters will act out their script whether you are there to watch or not, but staring at a wall for 3 days can get quite boring, giving you the incentive to be a true part of the story, influencing politics, and watching how this will play out. Voice acting is intense - with no disingenuous moments to be found. You are somewhat of a linguisst as a character (German, Basic Russian, English, French), but for languages truly "foreign" to you (i.e., Serbian), you will find subtitles conspicuously absent. There is very little by way of music, short of the brief dramatic sequences. However, Frank's violin sonata, a concert you can choose to attend, is the real deal, with all 4 movements included in a magnificent work of art. There is no doubt about it - by the end of this journey you will have bonded with characters, made affiliations, watched Europe unravel itself, and nearly shed tears, all without leaving the Orient Express.