As I’ve gotten older I’ve found that I’m getting worse at playing video games. Not all of them mind, the games I’m referring to are these high octane, action packed, explosive first person shooters. I just don’t have the patience for them. So in my greying days of 25 (seriously I’ve had grey hair since I turned 16), I’ve taken more joy in my favourite genres, the delightful RPG and the humble puzzler, and with them come titles that cause less stress and minimal game rage, which is wonderful for an aging chap with family on his mind. In the past I’ve stepped into the shoes of a renowned London professor, a British literary icon and more recently an android in search of answers, but today I’ve solved my first case in another pair of shoes, a Belgian pair to be exact.
Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders is the latest Hercule Poirot adventure to be released in video game format, on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Its premise is simple, it begins with the little detective receiving a letter from a serial killer informing him of a murder that’s just taken place and it’s up to Poirot and Scotland Yard to solve the case before it happens again. The only clue to the identity of the killer is a signature that has been purposely left behind, a copy of The ABC Handbook, or a Yellow Pages to you and me but that wouldn’t have sounded nearly as dastardly. Players will spend their time travelling around the country interrogating suspects, deciphering clues and solving puzzles in the same style as the man himself would have done. With the game only covering the one title crime, is it lengthy and challenging enough for the price you’ll pay for it? In short, non.
The biggest disappointment about this title is that you can’t help but feel you’re having your hand held all the way through. If I compare this to the latest Sherlock Holmes title ‘Crime & Punishment’, which is fantastic by the way, you really had to concentrate on your witnesses, your surroundings and really look closely at each clue you stumbled upon, however here the actually crime solving is anything but challenging. When studying a particular character or corpse, the camera will zoom in and blur when you’re close to something of worthy note to assist you in your investigation, which though the guidance is appreciated, it makes it far too easy to an extent where the game is desperate to solve it without you. The same applies when you’re coming up with solutions and reconstructions, you can almost hazard a wild guess and it be correct, and if it’s wrong just simply swap one out and replace it with another, there are no consequences for getting the investigation wrong. To perhaps counteract this, the game does feature challenging puzzles, however this time it’s on the complete opposite end of the scale as some of them had me at a complete loss. Often in the form of an item or piece of furniture, the puzzles ask you to study said item without any hint as to where you should start. Some of them are more obvious than others but if you’re ever stuck at what to do next it won’t be down to your lack of intelligence but because the game has poorly explained what you need to do. These rather ambiguous puzzles are the only challenging element to this otherwise boring and easy game, and even with saying they add next to nothing to your playing experience because they’re all pretty ridiculous.
Speaking of all things ridiculous, The ABC Murders features some of the worst voice acting I’ve ever heard, especially for a game which fetches £30. Each character’s voice sounds like it belongs to someone from the studio’s office, which if it was the case, they could have at least encouraged them to make an effort. Every character you interact with has been equipped with a voice that isn’t right for them because it hasn’t been performed to an acceptable standard. Inspector Japp just sounds like someone who was pulled off the street and even Poirot himself sounds terrible, you just don’t realise straight away because his accent masks how terrible he is. Visually the game looks pretty enough, the vibrant colours and comic book illustration is a great presentation idea that stands pretty well, however it’s a shame that the animation on each character is once again below par. You’ll spend the majority of your time chatting to suspects and colleagues and the fact that their mouths don’t move along with the dialogue even remotely is gravely disappointing, come on chaps it’s 2016! It’s these basic elements of creating a good game that have fallen on deaf ears it seems and if you’re expected to spend a great deal of money on it you presume it will at least look finished. I’m a firm believer of visuals being unimportant if a game has a thriving narrative and as it’s one of Poirots/Christie’s greatest hits then I expected it to, but sadly it feels a little strung out and boring which is saying something seeing each TV episode is almost 3 hours long.
Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders is a game that could have been so good but dramatically misses all the marks that would have made it so. It’s slow paced, boring and drawn out with uncharismatic characters and mundane puzzles that are either far too easy or needlessly difficult and ill explained. Whether you’re a Poirot fan or a just a puzzle fan, there are much better titles you could be playing that will no doubt be cheaper and contain more of what you expect from the genre. I’m by no means telling you to stay away from this game, I’m not an egotistical maniac, but don’t expect much more from this title other than it looks alright and it’s based on a very successful story. I’m sure it’s a wonderfully gritty tale of catching an intelligent, deranged and obsessive psychopath, but this adaptation just doesn’t do it any justice.
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