By Dale Farris, Reviews Coordinator
Golden Triangle PC Club
May 2006

Game Overview

Agatha Christie’s world-famous novel, And Then There Were None, is brought to the PC with all
of its original baffling suspense! 10 people, strangers to each other, are invited to a lavish estate on an island. Through a recording, their mysterious host accuses each of his guests of murder and proceeds to exact justice. The tension mounts as, one-by-one, the number of people are reduced through the ingenious plotting of the unseen killer. Prepare to play the game based on the best selling murder mystery of all time!

In this marvelous murder mystery adventure game, you play as Patrick Narracott, a character added to the game to spice things up even more, as he interacts with the other doomed characters and investigates the mystery. Playing this game is a delightful experience in solving the classic Agatha Christie murder mystery, probably the most famous of all murder mysteries, including even Christie's own many best-selling mysteries.

The game pretty much follows the classic story as it was originally published. However, the game does slightly veer from the story, mainly by adding the extra, playable character Narracott, and by adding a clever twist to the ending that all gamers will thoroughly enjoy.

The setting and the mood of the game have been well designed, and as the murders add up the tension builds, resulting in an exciting game play experience that will stimulate your interest in getting to the end to find out what was going on and the identity of the enigmatic character U. N. Owen (Mr. Unknown), who supposedly is responsible for the murders.. However, as murder mystery fans know, things are never what they seem and identities never turn out how you suspect.

This first Agatha Christie murder mystery to be turned into an adventure game starts off great, and I suspect many players will likely find themselves wanting to play through more of Christie mysteries. Luckily for gamers, the Adventure Company has announced plans to continue this mystery adventure game genre with another Agatha Christie game soon to be released.

Summary of Features

The first video game ever created based on the writings of the world’s best-known mystery author, Agatha Christie

BONUS - Free copy of Agatha Christie's novel included with the game

Faithfully re-creates the best selling murder mystery of all time – And Then There Were None

New twists and turns to the original story, plus a brand new character has been added – YOU

Breathtaking third-person graphics that truly immerse the player into this thrilling mystery

A challenging murder mystery that will stretch the furthest limits of your imagination

Involving storyline where suspense and mystery await at every turn

20+ hours of engrossing gameplay that will keep you on the edge of your seat

Will you be the one who survives the longest? Only time will tell

Addition of the player's character adds the detective role to the story

Explore interesting environments designed in intricate detail using dynamic lighting and shadows

Encounter and interact with many NPCs who will help you solve the mystery (as long as they are alive)

Easy to use interface

3rd person gameplay

Moody, engrossing sound effects keep you entranced in the story

Investigative this famous murder mystery in an adventure game that sets the stage for this newly evolving "mystery adventure" genre of computer games

Agatha Christie's unique, highly immersive story comes to life as you play through the mystery

Pre-rendered backgrounds with spectacular scenery

Complex, richly detailed storyline, and fully immersive plot and gameplay

Save Game

In And Then There Were None, you can save the game at any time.

Game Play

This game plays like most all adventure games and presents the classic adventure game features, such as pointing and clicking to move a character, invisible walls, pre-rendered backgrounds and layouts, pre-coded dialog options, and numerous non-playable characters. The game does not however provide full 360 degree panning, which is a shame as many times you will find yourself wanting to look up, down, and all around the background scenes.

You have to find many objects to click on to look at, describe, and of course pick up. All objects will be necessary for certain later locations, and there are no "red herring" objects, so you must look everywhere you see the interaction icon. Also, in this adventure game you will do a lot of breaking apart and combining of objects in order to progress the game. The game's inventory scheme provides the separate area where you place various objects to combine using the gear wheel activate icon.

The game is always pre-rendered, and you can only move in the direction the game allows. This also involves moving around and about many rooms of the mysterious mansion, especially the bedrooms where the many characters are staying.

Puzzles

In this game, the emphasis is less on solving puzzles and more on solving the mystery. The strategy in this approach focuses less on intricate puzzles while you move about the mansion and its sprawling grounds to interact with all the many characters in the game and wander all over the environment. You must explore everywhere, and you will find yourself going back many times to earlier locations, because over time the game provides later objects or additional dialog that were not open earlier in the game. This results in a less linear game experience, and it may help if gamers sketch out a map of the game as they play through the many rooms, closets, and locations found in the game.

There is also a challenging point in the game when your key character is poisoned and you must search throughout the mansion and the grounds to find the antidote that is laying on the ground. When you eventually find it you may also wonder why earlier in the game when you first passed through this exact same location this item was not available to pick up. This exemplifies the strategy applied in this game of making available to players certain objects that will only show up at pre-designated points in time as you play through the game. The game may also be a bit more easy to work through if you get a copy of the game's walkthrough strategy guide that will greatly help you know where to go and when to go the required locations.

Because there are very few puzzles in the game, players may find it strange that the game is being marketed as an adventure game. However, I think this results in the creation of a new genre of adventure games, a "Mystery Adventure," that provides more fun in finding out what is going on, rather than solving intricately designed, devious puzzles. Since the game is built on the murder mystery written by Agatha Christie, I think the game naturally fits the story which of course does not involve solving numerous devious puzzles. So, in this game, the experience is mostly finding and interacting with all the required characters, and finding and clicking on all the many objects you have to eventually use. In doing so, you will literally play through this fascinating murder mystery. Thus, the game achieves a very difficult challenge, namely providing for players a very interesting, exciting interactive approach to this murder mystery.

The game's storyline is rich, complex, and closely follows the intricate plot of the classic murder mystery. What's more, the game lets players actually play through this mystery, and provides a more personal approach to the mystery than even watching a filmed version of the mystery. The story slowly evolves as you continue to gather more and more information from the characters, and the game quickly begins to intrigue players and creates an interest in finding out how the mystery ends. You might find yourself hard put to set aside playing the game to do other things, as you become enmeshed in the mysterious intricacies of the story.

The game's backgrounds and layouts are also very well done, and the character design is also impressive. The motion of the playable characters is lifelike, and the detail to these characters helps establish a relationship as you play. The storyline is richly detailed, and like today's major films, filled with surprises. The NPCs add further to the detailed storyline that is very engrossing and exciting to play through.

Targeted Customers

This adventure game is certainly a must for adventure game fans, and with the approach toward solving the mystery, rather than deducing devious puzzles, even novice gamers can get through this game. All adventure game fans will most certainly enjoy playing And Then There Were None, and the attention to detail in the game's intricate mystery is very impressive. I think Dame Agatha Christie would be very proud to see how her mystery has been ported to this marvelous, delightful mystery adventure game.

System Requirements

1GHz Intel Pentium 3 processor, or AMD Athlon processor
Windows ME, 2000, XP
1.5GB free hard disk space
256MB RAM
512MB RAM on Windows XP
32MB 3D accelerated video card (NVIDIA GeForce or ATI)
4x CD ROM drive, or PC DVD-ROM drive
100% DirectX compliant sound card (EAX Recommended)
DirectX 9
Mouse
Keyboard
Speakers

Price

$29.99 (Bargain)
$ 9.99 the official strategy & solutions guide (a great bargain also)

This is a super price for this wondrous game, and you just cannot find equal value in so many of the other PC games that now flood the market.

About the Adventure Company

The Adventure Company, a division of DreamCatcher, is a leading publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment devoted exclusively to releasing titles geared towards adventure gamers. The Adventure Company is committed to publishing games that deliver maximum value on multiple platforms including, PC, Playstation 2 computer entertainment system, GameCube, and Xbox.

About DreamCatcher

DreamCatcher launched its first title in 1996, with a small band of people who believed in providing customers with quality entertainment software at affordable prices. Since that time, DreamCatcher has become one of the most successful small-sized publisher in the entertainment software industry, and was the fastest growing publisher in 2000, growing over 800% according to PC Data. DreamCatcher Interactive was listed in Profitguide.com's article: Canada's Fastest Growing Companies 2002, and ranked #5.

In 1996, DreamCatcher Interactive launched their first title and since then, they have become a very successful publisher in the computer game entertainment software industry. In my opinion, one of this company's strongest assets is their dedication to provide customers with high quality entertainment software at very affordable prices. Some of the best interactive computer games now on the market come from DreamCatcher.

Bringing to market titles that are affordable, without jeopardizing content quality, is another significant factor that helps distinguish this company from the many that flood the market with countless game titles. DreamCatcher thrives on innovative marketing strategies, solid retail and developer partnerships, and on providing excellent customer support that is well above industry standards.

A new partnership with Her Interactive has enabled DreamCatcher to now sell the super games in the Nancy Drew series, including Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill, Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger, and Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion. Check this link to read a review of these Nancy Drew Interactive Mystery Adventure Games.

Dracula: The Resurrection and In Cold Blood are two current games for the PC that will soon be released for the Playstation, and DreamCatcher also plans to release more games in the future for the Playstation 2 and the GameBoy Color platforms.

Necronomicon ($19.99) and The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin ($19.99) are two of DreamCatcher's newer games that should also prove to be successful titles in their long list of super adventure games.

Other super games from DreamCatcher Interactive include Traitor's Gate, The Messenger, Riddle of the Sphinx, Jewels of the Oracle, Jewels II, Egypt 1156 B.C., Odyssey, TimeScape, Ancient Conquest, Beyond Time, Beyond Atlantis, Lightbringer, Legend of Lotus Spring, Nightlong, Seven Games of the Soul (also sold in Europe as Faust), SafeCracker, The Forgotten, The Sacred Amulet, and Time Machine.

All these are similarly designed adventure games, and all are priced very reasonably, the most expensive being $29.99 (In Cold Blood), with most around $14.99, and many even priced at $9.99, which I think are super prices for these super games. At the time of this writing, I have purchased and played nearly all these games, and these reasonable price points have always gotten my attention.

I think these affordable price points represent a very important strategy of DreamCatcher that has helped them achieve their success. When you consider the very expensive proposition to invest in the coding and other very expensive costs to develop and produce a computer game today, I think it is quite remarkable that this company markets their products at such a reasonable price.

I also think it is important to remember that DreamCatcher is still very much in the business of producing quality computer games, something many other companies can no longer attest to since they have gone out of business. What is even more remarkable, in my opinion, is that at the time of this writing, DreamCatcher Interactive remains wholly owned and self-sufficient, and has not yet been absorbed by a larger company.

So, with the easy on the pocket-book price of the game, and the also minimal price of the solution guides, you have the makings of a winner in the hotly contested battle for our limited disposable income and free time to invest in playing computer games. DreamCatcher Interactive is certainly a company worth watching and supporting.

Contact Information

The Adventure Company
DreamCatcher
5000 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T5
info@adventurecompanygames.com
www.adventurecompanygames.com

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.