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.

More
Screenshots & Trailer