Hands-On Preview Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None Developer: AWE Games Productions Publisher: The Adventure Company Genre: Adventure Release Date: November 2005 Platform: Preview by Robert Washburne October 21, 2005

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The Unknown can be dangerous. But sometimes the Well Known can be even riskier.

In the world of computer games, it is one thing to do something new. Will people accept your new ideas? Will people like it? Will they find it fun? Will it be popular?

But what if you do something old? Something well known? Like the biggest selling mystery story of all time? Then the questions will be a bit different. Will people accept what you have done with their favorite story? And how can it be fun when everyone already knows the ending?

How, indeed.

This is exactly what AWE Games Productions has tackled head on. I was given the opportunity to preview their Beta Build 3.0 and, like the nemesis of their story, they just might get away with it. But first things first.

The original story by Agatha Christie was what was known as an “Impossible” mystery – a crime which was simply impossible to commit. Briefly, eight guests are invited to an island mansion. With the two servants, that makes a total of ten people. As soon as they are dropped off, a storm comes up and they are trapped. Once the storm lets up and the boat can again return several days later, all ten people are found in ten separate places, all obviously murdered. There was no one else on the island and no way for someone to escape.

Fortunately, Lady Christie had mercy on the readers and included an epilogue in which a bottle was found floating in the sea which contained the confession of the murderer and the details of how they did it. Very clever.

So the first question is, how well does the game capture the spirit and atmosphere of the book? From what I have seen, quite well. The graphics are wonderfully done. The style reflects that wonderful time when Art Deco was succumbing to the influences of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Age of Modernism. The island is dreary and rainy. And the sea swells were marvelous. I spend a couple of minutes just watching the water effects. They were that good.

The people fit in quit well. Speech is much more formal than it is nowadays. And people are expected to have decent manners. It is quite easy to believe that you are back when you are supposed to be.

The next question is, how can the game have any challenge when we already know the ending? This is where AWE took a little license and modified the story just slightly. You get to play the part of an unexpected ninth guest. The boat drops the eight off as expected, but then someone scuttles the craft, stranding the captain there as well. Now, instead of passively listening to the people talk among themselves as in the book, you get to talk and question them directly. AWE has also added subplots involving the Captain so we have our own little mysteries to solve in addition to surviving the main curse of the island. After all, if we are the only one left alive on an island with ten murdered people, we better have a darn good story for when the boat comes again.

I found that I had no problem with this “appendage” and was able to enjoy the original story right along with the new material.

And the final question, how well does it play? Frankly, that is the question for a full review. Let me just say the the game is done in 2½ D – that is, the background is still while the character can move around freely on the screen. Move too close to the edge and you go to the next screen. This is the same style as Hitchcock: The Final Cut and The Black Mirror.

There is also one other interesting variant to the game play. While you still have hot spots to show you when you can take an object for your inventory, there are no hot spots to show where something can be used. You must actually think about what might need to be done and what would you do it with. Almost as if you were a detective. Once I got used to the idea that I couldn't just randomly click through my inventory until something worked, I actually liked the idea.

All in all I have been very impressed with what I have seen so far. I have read a lot of Agatha Christie and believe that AWE has done an admirable job of moving her art to the gaming screen. I look forward to playing the finished product.

If you are not familiar with the works of Agatha Christie, I would suggest you look her up in your local library. You should also go on over to http://www.abebooks.com and get a copy of And Then There Were None. You will be in for a treat.

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