| 3 MAR 2004 at 3:00am |
| Deleted User | First and Only Real-Time Adventure
Have you ever played an adventure that takes place in real time ? An adventure, in which the characters and events don't wait for you to catch up with them ? Adventure, where time is money, and therefore vital ? Adventure, where life goes on by itself,
and is independent of you being there ? Well, if you haven't, what are you waiting for ? You don't even have to read the review. Get this game now ! A great adventure, an awesome discourse in history,a terrific journey on an oriental express awaits you. And it's definitely gonna be a ride to remember.
The Last Express is a truly unique game even for the supposedly 'seen-it-all' adventure genre. As mentioned above, the ingenious real-time engine is the main eye-catcher here, but the excellence extends far beyond that.
A marvelous story
The story itself would've guarantee The Last Express a place among classics. What is a definition of good storytelling ?
A clear, powerful main plotline with clever subplots. A story that has enough various events, unexpected turns and drama.
All these components are wonderfully presented in our journey, making it one of the templates and examples of
great storytelling.
Our game starts in Paris of 1914, with Tyler Whitney, an American, waiting for somebody outside train. Of course, that 'somebody'
is Robert Cath, late as always for the express. However, when he finally manages to catch up with the train (when it's already
moving though), and proceed to Whitney's compartment, a shocker occurs: Whitney is dead, and the killer is not to be found.
Cath takes in consideration that he looks a bit like Tyler and that the latter booked compartment only on one name. Thus,
he decides to pretend that he's Whitney and finish the business he was talking about in the letter. The only problem is, Cath
doesn't know a thing yet, so he must carefully gather information...
One can't describe the story much, and not spoil anything. Indeed, the growing conflict between Serbia and Austrian Empire,
all the delicate political interests of each country are blended with style in this masterpiece. Russian anarchists, Serbian nationalists, French police...it seems that the whole Europe is represented in this game. And various subplots are not to be missed either...
The story, as you might've figured earlier, gets an A++
The Graphics
Of course, as you might know, I am of opinion that graphics are not important in a game. Of course, if it's good, that's a nice bonus. If it ain't...big deal !
To be frank, graphics in Last Express is ugly to look at first. While the train is done pretty decent, the characters demonstrate a very poor diet of sprites. In fact, animation is done with fewest frames possible. No smooth transactions, that is. Characters moving and talking look like they've been ripped out of a book. But hey, that is not what we play for, right ? The game wasn't meant to be about graphics, nor it will be remembered for it. So I feel sorry for all people who play games for graphics.
They'll never be able to enjoy one of the best games in history. Bummer !
The graphics (with all my bias) get a B- (should've been a C+, but remember, that is 1997 we're talking about).
Puzzles
TLE doesn't feature many puzzles, because, not unlike a good movie, game's meat is in different scope. Actually, there aren't
any specific actions you can do, therefore the puzzles are not far from being as easy as in Syberia. But those puzzles that do exist, are always logical and perfectly suit a serious game such The Last Express. You'll be hiding from the police, disarming a bomb, sneaking to luggage compartments, and even fighting baddies. In other words, it won't be boring "find a key and insert it in a keyhole" type of mundane.
For those who gasped when I mentioned fighting, don't worry. These miniature action elements are even more simple than those of Full Throttle. In fact, they are much less frustrating (you know how many times it took me to nail that caverat ?). Of course, it's possible to die in the game, and that's where the clock system (see below) comes to rescue.
The puzzles get an A
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| 3 MAR 2004 at 3:02am |
| Deleted User | Sound/Music
Absolutely marvelous. The voiceovers are amazing, provided that people speak on many different languages. Actually, this is the only american game where Russian people talk like they're supposed to in real life, and not some gibberish. Same goes for German actors. Of course, I couldn't judge the quality of Serbian (hi to Xenon ) or French, but overall the sound is astonishingly good.
<-- a little discourse: I just can't take it when people put Russian things (anything) in the movie/game/whatever not spending
time researching. Reminds me how I laughed my a$$ out when watching Enemy At the Gate. An abandoned house with huge inscription
spelled out by hooligans- Kuchma is a B**** (translation from Russian). I agree, only the movie is about World War II, and Kuchma is
the current (!) president of Ukraine. That means they actually took the graffiti from today's Ukraine, not bothering to translate what it means. Pathetic !-->
But this is the first product that gets it as close as possible ever !
Music is also top-notch, and you basically don't notice it because it's so good ! Like in a great movie, one takes it for granted, but in fact the violin tunes are what a drama game needs.
Sound/Music get an A++ from me
Depth/Atmosphere
Amazing. Everything is well thought-out, and the mystery keeps you glued to the monitor screen. The developers did a fantastic job of researching. An old Russian fairy tale, about 10 actual columns that reflect the time of pre-war tension in newspapers...That skillfully sets another standard in adventures. No matter what, you'll be hard-pressed to find something that does not belong, or anything that's botched (well, that pool of blood qualifies, but that's about it). The dialogues are also wonderful, giving characters colorful personalities, and some humor (though not obvious for everybody) also is present.
Of course, it would be fantastic if we had some dialogue choices to make (because there isn't even a dialogue tree), but hey, let's don't get carried away
If grandma had balls, she'd be grandpa, the old proverb goes
Atmosphere/Depth gets an A++
Interface/Technical
The interface, while simple, may take some time to adjust to, and inventory is a bit oversimplified for my taste. Nevertheless, when you get used to the interface, there's a chance you'll forget it. Too busy enjoying the gameplay (and I'll never understand people who dissed or even didn't complete Grim Fandango just because of the interface. Jeez, get a life)
As mentioned above, the 'real-time' imitation works perfectly. If you pass a compartment and overhear a talk- you're lucky, because if you didn't pass the compartment in the first place you wouldn't hear the conversation for the entire journey. However, there's nothing vital to the progression of the game you can miss. Of course, that doesn't mean you won't mess up And if you do, there's the wonderful clock system, which is quite unlike anything I've seen up to date. Basically, you can rewind the clock back to any of the 7 checkpoint cities (with 1st being beginning, and last the ending, naturally). Aside from that,you can rewind the clock back some fixed amount of minutes in cases you died or did something wrong. Of course, this might sound weird and inflexible, but in reality it's much better. It works great, and keeping in mind
that TLE is a 'real-time' adventure, the regular saves would've been hard to make.
And especially for those who always pass the games with walkthrough close(I hope none of you guys do ), beware ! You'll get stuck if you try to follow the walkthrough, because it cannot account for random things you commited in the game. So the best thing would to try to pass it yourself, provided that the game is easy for most part.
The game has no bugs as far as I could tell,
The interface/technical part gets an A
Conclusion
Hey, you knew I would be praising the game. But play it yourself, and I'll gurantee that you'll feel the same way (of course, if you don't belong in those 2 categories described above). It might be a little confusing and slightly weird at first, when the question of 'what-to-do-next-should-I-wait-for-something-to-appear ?' questions pop up in your mind. But that feeling fades away pretty quickly. You have a masterpiece on your hard drive. Also, a video of making kindly provided on one of three Cd's is pretty cool, and I enjoyed watching it, even though I pretty much knew what the developers were going to say
And a final, sad note. Because the game didn't sell out as expected, the company who made it became a bankrupt
That's how we treat the makers one of the best games ever. Perfect ! Makes me sick...
VERDICT: 96% CLASSIC
PROS: Great story, amazing implementation of real-time, gripping and perfect atmosphere and depth of the game,voiceover and music are awesome
CONS: Little bit on the easy side, graphics is somewhat poor
it's hard to describe,though. You just have to play it.Period.
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| 3 MAR 2004 at 4:10pm |
| Deleted User | I agree its a great game... only problem was that it only needed the best hardware available at the time of its release and even there was damn slow.
And sometimes its annoyingly tricky to be at the right place at the right time.
Else nice review! Good work but try to find some bad stuff, too...
btw it is "the" Orient Express and not "an oriental Express" there is just one going from Paris to Istanbul.
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| 5 MAR 2004 at 2:45am |
| Deleted User | btw it is "the" Orient Express and not "an oriental Express" there is just one going from Paris to Istanbul.
my mistake
Good work but try to find some bad stuff, too...
you can find it under the "graphics" section. Else, it is a near flawless classic, and there's very little "bad stuff".
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| 5 MAR 2004 at 3:28am |
| Deleted User | Why are people still giving this admitted game pirate attention?
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| 6 MAR 2004 at 12:17am |
| Deleted User | hmmm... let's see, I can answer that.
It's called freedom of speech, son.
who cares that I write reviews, who cares that I put effort, the only thing you need to know is that I use pirated games ? how stubborn can you be ?
and then ppl say I am offensive. Can I say...provocative ?
as for you, Jim, I think you're obsessed with that pirate thing. If you want me in jail or something, come and meet me in Frisco in person, and we'll talk.
and now remember who started this mess.
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| 6 MAR 2004 at 1:59am |
ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | You know, it's sad. I really like your reviews so far and I can go along with almost anything you say in terms of content, but on the other side you have been a disrespectful person. It doesn't show in your reviews, but is clearly visible when people are criticising your review and that you are an alleged software pirate, which is their right to do. Cause it's illegal and this is a public forum.
Let's not discuss who did or didn't own a copy of something in his life.
It's the attitude that brought you in this "mess" as you call it.
No matter how bad a game is, if you don't want to spend money on it, you are not entitled to play it.
I've done it already, I won't deny. But games I remotely like, I own by myself. It's a grey line and I don't want to throw with morals.
Just think about your attitude. You won't avoid resistance that way.
Originally Posted By ddevil (3 MAR 2004 3:02am)
Sound/Music
And a final, sad note. Because the game didn't sell out as expected, the company who made it became a bankrupt
That's how we treat the makers one of the best games ever. Perfect ! Makes me sick...
I hope you bought this game. Would look really stupid if you didn't and say something like that.
Ok, for once and regarding your review I have to say that you made me reconsider if I should fire Last Express up once again. I bought it one or two years ago, played quite some time, but got stuck. There was something with bugs. I can't remember. I think I had some bugs (computer term this time), too. I think although it is a German copy the game is in English which would be the same you reviewed. No atmospheric loss whatsoever.
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
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| 6 MAR 2004 at 2:48am |
| Deleted User | Originally Posted By BacardiJim (5 MAR 2004 3:27am)
Why are people still giving this admitted game pirate attention?
Boredom? :
I agree wholeheartedly with Elfstone. It's amazing how people can display a constant bad attitude and then blame others for it.
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| 6 MAR 2004 at 9:04pm |
| Deleted User | excuse me ? bad attitude ? I buy pirated things and will continue to do so. Those games that I like I specifically go and buy. This includes TLJ, TLE, GF, Discworld noir and other classics.
have been a disrespectful person./
excuse me once again ? I was intellegently arguing until the liquor guy came in and was totally nuts, threatening me with FBI and all that. I still am completely respectful to all of you guys, besides the above mentioned pal.
It's the attitude that brought you in this "mess" as you call it.
pardon me, but if he ignored my review, I wouldn't have said sh*t. This guy means nothing to me. you can ignore my reviews, alright. I don't give a F. BUT to go here and ask other people why am I getting attention is completely provocative. I didn't provoke anyone. I said that I buy pirated software, so what ? It's my business, and I honestly don't care what anyone else thinks.
hope you bought this game. Would look really stupid if you didn't and say something like that.
Aye, I did.
morals.
well, this can go to ot really quick, but whatever.
tell you what, I don't really believe in morals nor do I have many. And I can live a good life with just my instincts, not suppresing them, and be in my Russian State of Mind. Screw the morals, they are the vice of today's world
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| 14 MAR 2004 at 12:19am |
ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Just finished it.
Great game! A really cool ending, too.
There are some flaws I'm gonna mention to complete the picture:
There should be an option to pass time if you choose to. It can get tedious to wait for something to happen and you can't do anything worthwhile in between. This happened to me only once, though. And this just because I hadn't taken the right turn in events.
Another annoying point is that you can't click on the clock when you rewind the clock. It happened to me that I did it right after I finished something in the past and I wanted to have a break right then. So I clicked the clock...damn...back to the start again!
It's only a minor thing, but it could get a pain after you finished a fight in rewind, click the clock...and do it all again! :-/
Otherwise, this game has no mentionable flaws and should receive an A- in my book.
I don't get how I could set this aside back then when I bought it. I can't imagine why I gave up on it so fast.
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
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| 16 MAY 2004 at 3:57pm |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | The game had 2 endings...
Oh, there is the trick to avoid the fight scenes for all those reflex avoiders...so the game is almost perfect.
And i LOVE the graphics. It supposed to be like a comic and did a great job so. Sure it didn't have alot of frames in the animation but alone the chars looking at you while passing you in the train was an awesome effect that gave it more life than most full animated games nowadays.
weeee, the lil fanboy in me has spoken [img]http://www.cheesebuerger.de/smilies/lustig/49.gif[/img]
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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| 16 MAY 2004 at 6:02pm |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | If I recall correctly, the graphics (at least the people) were actually real people that were filmed. They then traced/redrew every frame of the film to make it "cartoonish". This is one of the reasons it was so expensive to make and one of the reasons the animation was, at that time, VERY good.
Funny that the review ripped on the character animations. Those were the best part and the fact that the reviewer seems to call them bad sprites and few frames makes me think his system wasn't running the game the way it should have.
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| 16 MAY 2004 at 8:41pm |
ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Yes, the rotoscoping technique...unless I mix it up with a different game.
@KamisoriX
Another ending? I mean a real second ending?
PM me about that please!
And the part about avoiding the fights, too.
Can't think of a way to do this.
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
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| 17 MAY 2004 at 3:25am |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | I just installed the game and beated it. The graphics is still great(maybe because there is no other game like it).
The animation fits into the game, it's like going from box to box in a comic. Yes, they filmed real people and retrace them (Fire and Ice, great movie).
YOU GOT MAIL
Did you get my PM???
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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| 18 MAY 2004 at 9:05pm |
Jerome_LangeIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 8
Joined: 8 MAR 2004
Status : Online | It s been a while i ve been thinking about buying and playing this one but i was wondering if the game wasn't "boring" when you weren t at the right place at the right time to do or hear something ???
And what about the train in itself ? Is it a whole character ? Does he retain the original "orient express"'feel and personnality ?
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| 19 MAY 2004 at 5:26am |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | It's an exellent game. I remember when i saw the first pictures and thougt; what a crap...and then i went out and bought it out of protest. It turns out to be one of my all time favorits . The whole scenery is very well put together and never had boreing situation. alone to sit there and listen to all the other passengers was quiet fun. The train itself is rather small and compact, so you never really get lost and learn very quick which one is whos department. I can only recomand it to every adventure fan.
thankyou thank you, I'm here 7 days a week
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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| 20 MAY 2004 at 4:26am |
SusanGuild Master
Posts : 5485
Joined: 13 OCT 2002
Location: 0
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Jerome_Lange (18 MAY 2004 9:05pm)
And what about the train in itself ? Is it a whole character ? Does he retain the original "orient express"'feel and personnality ?
They used pics and a remaining train car so that it looks just like the real Orient Express.
Is that what you meant?
I miss my Bubba: 1986 - 2006.
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| 20 MAY 2004 at 8:36am |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/~tharpold/resources/last_express/making_of.html
the making of...it's a slow site but if you havn't seen the game yet just watch it
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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| 20 MAY 2004 at 8:47am |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | found something even better, the Demo:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,3986,00.asp
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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| 20 MAY 2004 at 8:58pm |
SusanGuild Master
Posts : 5485
Joined: 13 OCT 2002
Location: 0
Status : Offline | You can find both of those, along with the trailer at Just Adventure's own Virtual Encyclopedia.
http://www.justadventure.com/thejave/html/Games/GamesL/TLE/JAVE_TheLastExpress.shtml
I miss my Bubba: 1986 - 2006.
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| 20 MAY 2004 at 11:33pm |
KamisoriXSchattenjger
Posts : 1700
Joined: 15 MAY 2004
Status : Online | doh, why make it easy if you can do it the hard way
[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/971/kamisig94ct.gif[/IMG]&&&&If the Earth would be a Sphere, and not a Disc, I wouldn't be so afraid to fall of the Edge...
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