Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders Review

Most puzzle games make us feel like total detectives: witty and hardboiled investigators seeking the truth. Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders actually puts us in the shoes of one to solve the title cases.

This game is a remarkably faithful adaptation of Christie's eponymous novel, making it a must-play for bookworms, mystery novel enthusiasts, and Christie's fans alike. Thanks to its satisfying puzzle system, the game appeals to casual, intermediate, and advanced players; these last ones will face a challenge that's neither insulting to their intelligence nor unnecessarily difficult just for the sake of being hard.

The game follows, almost in its entirety, the plot of Agatha Christie's novel; this puts them in control of suave detective Hercule Poirot in his attempt to solve the crimes committed by the mysterious and daring The ABC Murders.

Both the novel and the game take place in 1920s England, and the developing team has really put an effort into creating a credible atmosphere and surrounding ambiance that enriches both the plot and gameplay. The character design, music, and voice acting are remarkable, and really forge an interesting product overall.

The designers chose a cell-shaded animation style, à la Telltale Games, an immediate landmark for narrative-driven point-and-clickers, but which, as one would expect, is not as well-crafted.

On the one hand, Telltale Games' cell-shading actually makes the players feel as if a comic book were coming alive in front of them; in the case of Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders, cell-shading feels somewhat underdeveloped, mainly due to its sloppy use of shadows and sharp edges.

At times, what should feel like a graphic novel feels more like something a bit awkward and primitive. Still, the character design stands out, mainly because it really captures the essence of other Agatha Christie adaptations as well as the time period in which the game is set.

Speaking of animation details, perhaps the most noticeable flaw is the evident lack of lip sync. While the voice acting is, to say the least, amazing, the lip-syncing defeats the purpose of having talking characters, and in a game where characters are speaking to each other 90% of the time, it is especially noticeable and incredibly annoying.

Still, if you get past that detail, both the narrative and the voice acting actually feel like they contribute to each other's development. Just try to avoid looking directly at the characters' mouths, which proves to be almost impossible, because you have to be looking for clues in the whole screen.

Now that we mention clues, another unfortunate element present in the game is the feature that allows the character to easily spot clues in a room. With a special blurry vision surrounding the clue area, only by pointing in that direction, players are guided directly to the clue.

This feels as if the game was in some sort of cruise control, which makes it tempting to just move the pointer around the room until you get the blurry vision effect. Perhaps this was designed to prevent players from getting stuck in certain areas or to help newcomers to the genre, but advanced players may feel a bit patronized by this particular feature.

There is, however, a silver lining to all of this. The puzzles in the game are a really enjoyable experience. The craftsmanship and expertise behind them are evident, as they don't feel obnoxious and require a great deal of intuition and learning from past mistakes. The learning curve is far from being steep.

Most puzzles have not only mechanical features based on the artefact's construction, but also a more cerebral component, which actually makes the player feel as if he were using cunning and investigative skills to solve an actual mystery.

As mentioned above, puzzles are not hard only for difficulty’s sake, but rather because they require you to actually think and use the evidence and clues gathered along the way. This creates a paradox, as gathering clues is unnecessarily easy, but solving actual puzzles proves to be a bit challenging.

However, another problem arises. Even though the actual narrative in the game is superb, as it closely follows the plot of the novel, this can detract from the gameplay at times. We all know that moot decision-making is frustrating and disappointing in any game, and this is no exception.

Because the game needs to follow the same story as the novel, your decisions will have no real effect on the outcome of the story. Moreover, the game takes control and resolves the issue on its own to maintain narrative coherence. This is ultimately a poor decision from the development team, but it is understandable and inevitable.

When you are adapting a well-known work, you need to sacrifice some gameplay elements to keep the original story. Nevertheless, the voice acting, narrative, music, and puzzle solving are enough to make Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders an enjoyable experience and a decent addition to your point-and-click collection.

Perhaps some other titles do better what Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders does best, like Sherlock Holmes, Crime & Punishment, or even L.A. Noire, but the game is ultimately more about the experience of playing through the pages of the renamed author's story.

Perhaps the game might feel as undeveloped at times, but once you find the right pace and, furthermore, once you get immersed in the story, you will understand why Agatha Christie is considered to be one of the masters of the mystery and detective genre.

If you want a narrative-driven experience, and you have already devoured the Telltale Games catalogue, you should try Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders as a new alternative. Once you get past its obvious and annoying design flaws, you'll find yourself facing a diamond in the rough, something truly entertaining.

The game needs that extra push to become truly memorable. If that never happens, it doesn't matter; Agatha Christie's incredible character construction and immersive plot will blur the details that deserve to be noticed. If you're looking for a challenging brainteaser, then this is the game for you. It is available on PS4, as well as Xbox One and PC.