Keith Stuart: The seminal point-and-click adventure game was updated for iOS this week. We speak to the title's legendary designer Jordan.
By DrizztA Journey back intimeWhile I have not read Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, I docertainly recognize an “inspired” work when I see one. Perhaps not aspainfully obviously clear as in “Chaser” and “Red Faction” (both whichwere direct rip-offs of the good old Arnold movie “Total Recall” from the80’s).
But I know enough of the setting and atmosphere to speculate thatthis game recalls the classic beloved novel, reworked to the computer,90’s style. The Last Express, involving Jordan Mechner of thePrince of Persia games, is a journey back in time to pre-war Europe, withthe tensions, conflicts and peculiarities of the time, all taking placeaboard the fabled Orient Express.Yes, the Orient Express - home to a multitude of tales, upon which onlythe richest of the rich could travel. Starting at Paris and with the finaldestination of Constantinople (quite the long journey), there is plenty ofroom and time for intrigues and thrilling adventures. As the games’advertisement states: “It leaves Paris with passengersit reachesConstantinople with survivors” – this will be no holiday journey.
Withconspiracies and murders around each turn and every other passenger astranger, a young man named Robert Cath (played by you) is unknowinglythrust into the fray. He sets about unraveling the mysteries of this LastExpress in a world on the brink of destruction.Adventure with pressureThe Last Express is an adventure game, but not quite an adventuregame like all others. First, the entire game is played in real-time.
Ibelieve that one can (although I never tried it myself) spend the entiregame sitting in one’s cabin without any knowledge of the events unfolding.Since that would make a poor game, however, I would not recommend it toanyone except those with too much time on their hands.The Last Express is also probably the most “free” adventure game Ihave experienced. You can go anywhere you want, whenever you feel like it,as long as the conditions are the right ones. For example, barging intopeople’s private cabins through the outer window of the train is not themost appreciated gesture. While this makes for a more “realistic” feelingand a freer way of solving the mysteries, it is a double-edged sword thatcan be very frustrating.
As mentioned earlier, you may go anywhereyou want as long as the conditions are the right ones. This means that ifyou miss an opportunity to do something crucial in the main storyline, youare stuck with the result. And to those who are unaware of what they’vemissed, it can be frustrating, to say the least.But if you overslept in your cabin,with Vienna flashing past outside the window, and you still haven’t evengreeted your fellow passengers- do not despair.
The entire gameis played in real-time, yes, with a minefield of ways in which you can gowrong. This is where the developers (in a stroke of genius) implemented a“clock” feature. When you start playing the game for the first time, thisclock starts ticking (it is accessed via the main menu, and it can berewound from there), giving you another shot at solving things. To notleave you totally in the dark as to when a key event is happening, thereis also a very stressful “tick-tock” sound that starts when anythingimportant is about to occur.
(Quite the kick in the rear if you’re in thecabin of a certain Austrian lady snooping through her belongings).The game is played in a simple point-and-click mode. No quizzical keycombinations here. There is an arrow for navigation through the train(beautifully rendered screens, but no 3D) and a hand for manipulatingobjects.Story and environmentA friend, Michael Whitney, has invited Robert Cath - the main character -along for a ride on the Orient Express. Not being able to arrive in timefor the departure, however, we can see Mr. Cath making a dramatic lateentrance in the game introduction. As a stranger on the train, without aticket or a proper reason for embarking, he has no clue at first as to whyhe is there. This is where you step in.The Last Express is full of atmosphere, and while the beautiful(for its time) graphics and music are a major component of its success,where the developers really surpassed themselves is in the personagallery.
Without revealing too much, I can safely say that this includesthe typical (corpulent) German industrialist businessman, a Russianrevolutionary, a happy Englishman, a beautiful musician, an aristocrat andhis granddaughter, a group of outsiders who keep to themselves and amystical African man. All with hidden motives and different goals, withyou in the middle of it.Almost all of the characters on thetrain have some part to play, and even with those who don’t are stillinteresting to listen to. I heard it said that every time one plays TheLast Express, it is a different experience, and I believe it. As timepasses, the characters go on about their business: eating, talking andarguing. Since you can never be in two places at the same time, and thesethings happen simultaneously, you can never experience it all in one go.(A motivation to play the game again, if ever there was one.) You can sitin the restaurant car and listen to the conversation of those around you,relax in the smoking car, or listen to private conversations throughdoors.One of the characteristic features of these conversations is how Russianswill speak Russian, Germans will speak German and the French will speakFrench.
I may not be a linguist, but it is a refreshing thing not to haveto deal with Germans who zpeak like zis even wif otter Germans. Luckily,since our Mr. Cath is a learned person, he can understand them and hekindly provides us with subtitles. I wouldn’t have minded subtitles withthe English conversations as well, but you can’t have everything, can you?That all the voice acting isnear-to-perfect does not make it worse, either.The atmosphereThere are cutscenes from time to time to propel the story forward and alsothe occasional fight (these can be tricky the first time, but you will gethang of them quickly). The major problem with the cutscenes – and somethings in the game itself – is how everything “stutters.” The animationshere do not flow, but are merely one picture after another.
There must besome technical explanation for this, but I cannot grasp what it could be,as the animations (made by motion-capture) of people moving around in thegame itself are smooth and very well done (most of the time). Other thanthat, the graphics for a game released in 1997 are as expected; crisp,clear quality and beautifully rendered. The painstaking process ofrecreating the train is evident in the amount of detail offered. From theelegant private cabins to the claustrophobic baggage car, everything isjust as one would think it had been.And through all of this, we have Elia Cmiral’s retro/orchestral soundtrackplaying. Violins mixed with heavy percussion and string instruments,setting the mood.
Very well composed, with a fitting song for eachsituation, this masterpiece adds a lot to the atmosphere. (The soundtrackis also available on Amazon.)Finally, before concluding this review, I must admit that the first time Iplayed the game, I had a walkthrough printed out next to me. The LastExpress is hard. And it can be frustrating too, mostlybecause you have no idea of what to do next.
There are practically nopointers and there are a few very illogical solutions to problems (the“Golden Whistle” most prominently). If you are an inexperienced adventuregamer, my suggestion is to first play the game with a walkthrough andwatch the bittersweet story unfolding. Then make a second attempt, thistime entering the world of The Last Express as Robert Cath; alonewithout any idea as to what is going on.A genuine classic, much overlooked.design copyright ©2006.