Gamertell Review: Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders for Nintendo DS

Title: Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders
Price: $29.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: November 4, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Dreamcatcher Interactive (Black Lantern Studios)
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for mild Language and violent references.
Pros: Faithful to Agatha Christie’s characters, mostly decent puzzles and nice period graphics and sound.
Cons: Some puzzles are nothing more than math quizzes, not penalized for guessing incorrectly, your decisions have no bearing on the game and the story doesn’t flow well.
Overall Score: Two thumbs sideways; 73/100; C; ** out of five.

I’ve only read one book by Agatha Christie: Murder On the Orient Express. I enjoyed it enough to want to read more by her but, apparently, not enough to actually do so. This has nothing to do with her skills as a story teller, obviously, but solely with my indifference towards mysteries (when it comes to novels, anyway). I actually quite like them when they’re games.

The reason for this is obvious: I prefer to solve the case myself. Yes, I can make guesses when reading a book but, ultimately, I’m just along for the ride. With novels, I’m merely the guy standing behind Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes or Sparkle Hayter who gets to say, “Well, duh, I could’ve told you that fifteen pages ago.”

In video games, however, I get to investigate the crime scene myself. I can put together the evidence and reach my own conclusion (within a certain framework, of course). The crime is mine to solve, not just observe. Unfortunately, that’s not actually the case with Dreamcatcher Interactive’s Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders.

Rather, this game is mainly a collection of puzzles framed by the popular story by Agatha Christie. The characters are there and you do get to interact with them but on a limited basis that doesn’t really affect the flow of the game.

For instance, when talking with the suspects, you’re presented with a number of preset questions. You can ask the questions in any order you like and you don’t have to ask them all but your decisions don’t affect how the game plays out. The characters always respond the same way, even if you ask the same question multiple times. It’s all academic and, therefore, unnecessary other than to make you feel like you’re actively participating in the novel, if not guiding it.

This makes the puzzles themselves even more important. Some tie in directly with what’s going on in the game but the majority feel random, such as the numerous math story problems like you used to solve in junior high (if train A leaves the station at this time and goes this fast while train B leaves at…). They’re presented as if Poirot is just seeking advice on how to get somewhere faster, but we know what’s really going on, right? We’re hitting your puzzle count quota, no matter how repetitive we have to be to get there.

But maybe this wasn’t a bad decision. After all, if you’ve read The ABC Murders, you know the outcome, so what would be the point in putting together the evidence and solving the crime? Instead, the developers provide a collection of brain teasers within a fictional setting that should appeal to puzzle gamers. That’s fine, it’s just too bad the whole package feels somewhat disjointed.

The puzzles sit outside the story’s universe. They’re just too disconnected to make us feel like they’re something the characters actually have to solve. Who cares what train’s faster? Let’s just get to the crime scene, Poirot.

That’s one other complaint, actually. At times, it’s possible to get lost in the story. There were points where I thought I had exhausted all of my current options as far as locations to visit and people to visit, but the game wouldn’t let me progress. I’d end up solving the same puzzle and working through the same bits of dialogue multiple times before discovering what I had to do in order to move on. Frustrating.

And yet I kind of enjoyed Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders. I never raced home from work in a hurry to discover what would happen next, but for a week or so it replaced my evening reading as a good way to wind down the day. Hop into bed, solve a couple puzzles (or make my wife do it, since she has a sharper mind for that sort of thing), then go to sleep.

There are certainly puzzle games out there that are more rewarding, but this is a decent way to keep yourself busy between Professor Layton releases. The asking price of $29.99 is too high for what you get here, but if you can find it for $19.99, puzzle gamers will be satisfied.

Or, you could always save some money and just read an actual Agatha Christie book.

Site [Dreamcatcher Games]