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Another good one

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 45
Date: November 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Good. Better than the first one 'And then there are none' . David Suchet narrates text for Poirot. Recommended for both Adventure gamers and Agatha Christie fans.

The riddles are generally more logic (ATTWN had some flows in game plot as well as very short acts). Well , hmpf, there is an annoying thing as I 've found: You are supposed to eavesdrop conversations with a glass , but u do that while the conductor is watching you :)

The game offers an alternative solution so players that have read the book don't expect the famous poirot solution exposed in the book to come in.

Minor flaws: The game wants the CD even after the full installation. And I don't like the way that the inventory allows you to combine items: Most games will simply permit you to grab something and to put it on something else, allowing you to combine it. In MOTOE, you need to place all items to be combined on a specific slot (which is in a different screen than the inventory) and press the 'combine' button. And, if someone needs something and you already have it in your inventory, he will get it automatically. Yes, it saves you time, but it is a bit far of reality. Also, you have to search all the shoes in order to find out a footprint match, in order to complete the "poirot advice" . Even If you find the footprint match at once, you still have to search all other shoes only to get a comment like 'this shoe is much too small for that footprint' . Oh, and I don't like the fact that many shoes are indentical ;)

And something weird: You can search other's luggage even if they are in the same room. Weird eh?

The sound? Good. Better than in ATTWN. What I don't like in the sound is that it is much in the background and doesn't scare you to make you get off your chair. Note: That doesn't mean that the sound is bad; It is just my personal opinion.

Other good things: Saves include a snapshot, game installs completely, you can configure screen effects, subtitles included. TAC keeps the good work up.

Oh and also: Remember you are not playing as Poirot. Tricky? Even off-line, David Suchet narration rocks.

Thumbs down: A bit short. I finished it within 2 days. Yeah, perhaps I 've been playing too long ;)

Thumbs up: Book is included.
Thumbs up: You can configure screen effects, VERY useful for low cpus.
Thumbs up: 3rd finale. Exciting.

For these, I give a 5/5.

caveat emptor

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: December 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game held my interest all through, however, be warned, it is conversation-heavy. There are few puzzles, all of which are reasonably easy and integrated within the play. You play as a lady helper of Poirot who is confined to his compartment. His voice "advises" you throughout the game. Once the inconsistency of this is passed over, then the game works well. Overall the game lasted approximately 15 hours. This was without any help either from within (Poirot) or outside (walkthrough), so it is short but not ridiculously so. There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing which is helped by a short cut system built-in to the game. Eventually Poirot gives the denouement with you providing the evidence (you need a good memory and to pay attention to conversations throughout the game). There is no way of recording conversations within the game. Check also your documents - there are fingerprint and passport listings (I only discovered this later in the game, after it was too late to be of use!). Poirot presents all 3 solutions and the choice is made automatically.

Plus points:
Sound (David Suchet's voice makes the game), graphics (natural effects are available but can be removed for lower specification computers), storey line (I guessed solutions 1 & 2 about halfway through, but solution 3 was novel), bonus book included.

Minus points:
clumsy inventory item combination, opening the safe is tricky (even when knowing the combination), you have to check all remaining shoes even after you find a match to the footprint.

Overall:
Worth playing but nothing ground-breaking.

many problems

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: December 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Well, I was a huge fan of "and then there were none", but there were a lot of problems with this game. I was totally and completely confused throughout the middle and end of the game, because characters were talking to me about items that I hadn't even found yet. I was wondering, "am i missing something? I have no idea what these people are talking about!" and then I would search a room and find the item a little later. It is very difficult to figure out how to move forward in this game. I was stuck for a week at one point just figuring out what to do next. It doesn't lead you through the game very well as it did in the first Agatha Christie game.

It was also very hard to keep track of the character's names at first. There are about 15 characters, and when they were talking about eachother, I didn't know who they were talking about because I couldn't keep the names straight. For instance, if I was searching Col. Arbuthnot's room, I didn't even know which man he was to go back and talk to him!

Finally I found the end very confusing. There are a lot of things that the game still didn't explain. Overall, I was very disappointed with this game, and I hope if they make another one, it is a lot better.

Not worth $30

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: December 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

As a fan of mystery games I was looking forward to this game. However I was very disapointed. Aside from the awesome graphics and cool narration, it was boring. It is full of mundane tasks (go get the parasol, collect all the passports, they need napkins to wipe their fingers before they let you print them). Also like someone mentioned, the sequence in which you would get items, clues, etc. was way off. The ending is the best part. It took me about a week to beat. It's just not worth $30 bucks. $20 would even be pushing it.

Strange Mouthings!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I couldn't wait to start this game: the box is beautiful and I had a vision of beautiful graphics and beautiful people renditions! The romantic Orient Express- a perfect getaway! The scenes of the train itself are wonderfully done and you really feel you're in first class on the famous luxury express. But-here's the problem. The characters, with the exception of M. Poirot, look like they were created by amateurs. (The voices are perfect-after all you have the definitive Hercule, David Suchet, as the voice of the detective). However, Antoinette Marceau, who is sleuthing under the direction of Poirot, looks like she's made of silly putty. She is long and tubular in shape with long heavy arms and awkward gestures. The closeups of her face while she's talking are really hideous. Her lips look like they're writhing rather than forming words and there is no synchrony at all between what she says and what her mouth is doing. The lack of effective "talking" is apparent in all the many characters, although as I said, Poirot is better than the others. And was it really necessary for Antoinette to climb into bed fully clothed in the blue suit she wears apparently night and day? After all Poirot appears in pajamas after he sprains his ankle. Game creators should realize that people notice things like that.

As a comparison, I am simultaneously playing "Nancy Drew- The Final Act." The two games are both from The Adventure Company. In the Nancy Drew piece the characters are nevertheless very well coordinated, and very natural looking and talking.

Although the searching for items in "Murder on the Orient Express" gets to be a bit annoying, as other reviewers have pointed out, I don't mind the contrived ending or the introduction of Antoinette as the active sleuth hound. The game is worth playing as a presentation of a world that has disappeared forever.Incredibly, there are going to be gamers of the younger generations who have never been on a train! However, the people figures in my estimation, are so bad that I could only give this presentation three stars.

DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having already played the earlier attempt to put an Agatha Christie on a video game format, I was somewhat hesitant to buy "Murder on the Orient Express". I was so glad that I decided to order it anyway. HURRAY!

No, there are some things about the game that aren't perfect, but on the whole I found them so trivial as almost to be beneath complaining about.

No, the graphics aren't of the best - and I'm a graphics freak. It's very hard to match voices with the graphic rendition, and with "Murder" they weren't of the best, but they WERE tolerable, GIVEN ESPECIALLY that the voice acting was so good. Who could complain about the "Hercule Poiroit" - David Suchet - as THE voice of HP? I'm not about to do so.

The device of using the plucky Antoinette as his "legs" was utterly delightlful, and gave the video game all the more validity in it's own right. I should also say that I had no complaints about the other characters either. They weren't perfect, but they worked!

Other minor complaints I might express are just that. Too minor to mention.

I have only given 4 stars because I am SUPER, SUPER PICKY! If there were a 4 1/2 star rating, that is what I'd be giving it. I found playing "Murder on the Orient Express" an utter DELIGHT, and I highly recommend it. (Besides, I'd already "read the book".) It is TRULY worth it!

I LOVE DELIGHTFUL SURPRISES - and this was one of them.

B. Taylor

A Mixture of Game & "Movie"

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In "Murder on the Orient Express", you play Antoinette - an office employee of the train company - who, when asked to ensure Mr. Poirot(the famous detective) receives extra-special treatment aboard the train, finds herself in the position of detective herself.

After an avalanche forces their train to stop, it's discovered that one of the passengers has been killed. Although the name given on his paperwork is Ratchett, it becomes clear that this is not his real name. Who is this murdered man & who would want to see him dead? This is what you'll have to figure out, now that Poirot's sprained ankle has stopped him from venturing out of his cabin.

Once you realize who the victim is, it's now time to find & piece the clues together that will enable you to determine who did it & why. The answer may just surprise you...

Overall, I really liked this game! However, there are a few shortcomings - which is why I gave it 4 stars. These shortcomings include: the beginning is slow, every time you move onto another scene you must wait while the picture loads, and at times there is more "movie" than game playing. Yet, even with these downfalls, I would still highly recommend "Murder on the Orient Express" for those who enjoy mystery-type games.

A major disappointment...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to like this game; after all, I enjoyed "And Then There Were None" despite some flaws. But this game was simply bad from the get-go.
For one thing, there are very few puzzles; most of them are ridiculously easy, although one radio puzzle forced me to try random combinations until I finally worked it out. Either way, I didn't get a feeling of satisfaction from solving them. It also made for a very short game (less than 10 hours for me).
Secondly, this "game" is really more of an animated movie than a game. You spend most of your time tracking down your suspects and then patiently working your way through the dialogue tree until you've exhausted their information. It's incredibly tedious, especially because most of the dialogue is word-for-word from the novel. I appreciate the respect they showed the book, but seriously, if the game isn't any different from the book then there's no point in playing.
Which brings me to my biggest complaint with the game: the "original" ending. "And Then There Were None" had a genuinely different ending which made sense, and which you could figure out through the clues. I don't want to give away the ending to "Murder on the Orient Express," but I will say that adding a single twist to the ending is an infuriatingly cheap way of creating a "new" ending. And if that weren't irritating enough, you really don't get to do anything for the last half hour of the game, as Poirot sums up the case and occasionally tosses you a multiple-choice question just to make sure that you're still awake.
High points: David Suchet as Poirot; most of the other voice-acting was good, and the backgrounds were lovely
Low points: Poor gameplay, too short and easy, ending likely to disappoint fans of the novel

Talk, talk, talk

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game has beautiful music and pretty good animation. However, it is a game based on way too much talking and not enough action and puzzle solving. Took too long to load between sections and the puzzles were either super easy or completely out of left field. Had potential, but due to the lack of gameplay, I was pretty disappointed.

I The Detective

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game is fun, but not the easiest or most straight-forward I've played. Things need to be done pretty much in the correct order to finish the game. The graphics are good, but not great. It sticks pretty close to the book so that is great. I would recommend the game. It is fun and absorbing.

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