Last fall's And Then There Were None, the first adventure game based on an Agatha Christie mystery, was a little rough around the edges but showed enough promise to suggest that the license was in good hands. That's why many gamers, myself included, were excited by the pre-E3 announcement that the same team has a second Agatha Christie game in the works. This time, development studio AWE Games, writer and designer Lee Sheldon, and publisher The Adventure Company are taking on another of the mystery queen's well-known novels, Murder on the Orient Express.

As the title suggests, Murder on the Orient Express takes place on a train going from Istanbul to Paris. Not long into the journey, an avalanche halts the train, and an American millionaire with a dubious past is found murdered behind the locked door of his sleeping compartment. In classic Christie style, every passenger is a suspect, and it's up to the player to unravel the mystery. Although the game is slated for release later this year, not much of it was shown at E3. The "demo" we saw was not of actual gameplay, but a tech demo that showed off only two characters (one very briefly) and a few of the game's environments. Still, we saw enough to know that the nuts and bolts of the new game will be similar to the first one. The basic interface hasn't changed, and the prerendered scenes are infused with the same 1930s charm. The rest of what we learned came from Mike Adams, the game's Producer.

As in ATTWN, some changes have been made to the story to make it more appropriate as a game. This time around, the player will take on the role of an Orient Express employee named Antoinette Marceau. She, instead of Christie's protagonist Hercule Poirot, will be the primary investigator. Why not let the player control Poirot himself? As Adams explained it, Poirot is supposed to be a brilliant detective, not a bumbling amateur. The developers feared that if he were scratching his head along with the player, this would be too much of a departure from his characterization in Christie's novels. For this reason, Poirot will be injured in the avalanche and remain bedridden for the rest of the game—incapacitated, but always available to hear about Antoinette's progress and make suggestions. In addition to maintaining Poirot's illustrious image, this will also allow him to provide constant direction, so players are never at a loss for what to try next and aren't subject to the aimless wandering that many experienced in ATTWN. In another change from the book, the ending has been altered to provide a surprise for players who are already familiar with the source material. In the novel, Poirot lays out a few possible murderers, with one scenario being true. In the game, Christie's original ending will be one of the alternate possibilities, and Antoinette will uncover a new "true" scenario.



One of And Then There Were None's strengths lay in the atmosphere of its stylized mansion and rainy island. Even in the brief demo we saw of the new game, it appears that the warm, wood-paneled train and the snowy landscape surrounding the tracks will have a similar effect. Although the majority of the game takes place on the train, game locations also include the station where the journey starts and some of the landscape outside the train once it's forced to stop. There will be plenty of locations on the train to explore, too, including the cargo area, dining cars, kitchen, and sleeping compartments. Although this functionality wasn't in the demo, we were told that while on the train Antoinette will have a method of zipping from place to place that should prevent some of the backtracking that plagued ATTWN.

According to Adams, the new game's non-playable characters will be more alive, carrying on their own activities as Antoinette conducts her investigation (in contrast to And Then There Were None's supporting cast, who often stood around doing nothing even after a murder had occurred right in front of them). For example, characters in the dining car will eat rather than sitting rigid, and there will be actual food on their plates this time! Characters will change clothes as days pass, and Antoinette will wear a coat when she goes outdoors. Adams also told us that this game will contain fewer optional puzzles and loose ends. In other words, if you take a fingerprint in Murder on the Orient Express, you'll use it.



As an added bonus for Christie buffs, The Adventure Company has been attempting to sign David Suchet, the renowned actor who has portrayed Poirot in a number of television productions, to provide his voice for the game. However, negotiations are still ongoing, so there is no definitive word on whether they'll be able to secure his services. Adventure Gamers will bring you more on this development and the rest of the game's production as new information becomes available.

Although we weren't able to see much of the game in action at this stage, the source material combined with the development team's desire to improve upon their first attempt make it a promising project. Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express is scheduled for release in November, 2006.