Developed by Artefacts Studio
Published by Microids
Released for Xbox One (2/23/2016)
Also on Android/iOS/Linux/Mac/PC/PS4
Agatha Christie was a prolific author who specialized in crime novels, writing over 60 different books that spanned from the 1920s all the way into the '70s. The ABC Murders was but one of many crime novels she wrote and was originally released way back in 1936. One of her more well-known works, the ABC Murders was adapted into several forms of media over the years, including several video games based on her works. Before an Agatha Christie title ever made it home consoles, there were quite a few adaptations of her works on the PC from DreamCatcher Interactive, so if you're interested in Christie you might want to look into those. The first Agatha Christie title to release on a system other than the PC was the 2009 release for the Nintendo DS that shares the same title as this version, but they are very different games. The DS game is presented more like a visual-novel while the Xbox One game takes the point & click adventure approach. So without further ado let's take a look at Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders for the Xbox One and see how it fares...
The story begins with our detective being informed of a murder in Andover, the beginning of the alphabet-themed kills: the victim's names and the location they are killed both correspond to the alphabet and the killer intends to go down all of the letters. While attempting to solve the mystery you'll investigate murder scenes, interrogate suspects and witnesses on the scene, solve puzzles and use deduction in order to find answers. You'll control the renowned detective Hercule Poirot, who will often be assisted by his helping hand, Captain Arthur Hastings. It may sound like the game checks all the boxes for a great detective adventure, but there issues with the gameplay that drag it down.
The puzzles are one of the better aspects of the game, with none of them being too difficult but still requiring thinking to solve. The interrogation aspect feels like a budget version of LA Noire, with the characters responding differently depending on how you speak to them, but the character animations lack emotion (more on this later) so the adjective that describes how they feel pops up behind them at key moments. It's a bit cheesy and these sequences would have really benefited from more realistic character models. There are some different responses at some points depending on what you say, so the developers did at least put some effort into this aspect of the game. Investigating the murder scenes just involves clicking on key areas around the area and it works well enough.
Once you've gathered up enough information and evidence, Poirot will need to form some deductions or "get my little grey cells to work" as he so loves to say every time you come to one of these segments. During these, you're tasked to answer the question at the top of the screen and you'll have several options to select from as the answer down below. Some questions have several answers while others have one. The problem is that it can be hard to tell exactly what the game wants, making this a portion where you may have to resort to a guide. These sections are easily the weak point of the game and at some points end up just feeling like a guessing game. While some of the gameplay segments are passable, as a whole it just doesn't come together to create an enjoyable experience. Exploring the crime scenes and solving the puzzles can be fun, but the rest of the game is so mediocre that it hardly makes up for it.
The backgrounds and environments look good, featuring a good amount of detail, but they lack animation and rarely feel alive. The characters all have this cartoon look about them and while they look okay in screen shots, in motion they look more like robots imitating people than actual human beings. The animation is, for lack of a better word, a bit janky with slow walking animations and laughable lip-sync efforts; the people just sort of move their mouths around with no real attempt to match it with the dialogue. The part that really stands out on the characters are the eyeballs, as everybody has these lifeless doll eyes that not only look like they're staring deep down into your soul, but also have a difficult time conveying emotion. The cartoon-looking characters not clash with the backgrounds, but also with serious tone that comes with a story about investigating murders and tracking a serial killer.
Developed by French-based Artefacts Studio and utilizing the Unity engine, the ABC Murders released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and home computers in February 2016. The port for mobile devices, both Android and iOS, was released in September of that same year. This surprised me a bit, as the basic visuals of the game led me to the assumption that this was a mobile game first which was later ported over to consoles. While I've already mentioned that the animation is a bit off, the overall framerate feels very inconsistent throughout the game, regularly dipping below the 30 FPS threshold. A game as simple looking as this should be able to maintain a smooth framerate on the Xbox One no problem, so obviously the title was not very well optimized. In another minor complaint, some of the dialogue can be skipped but a large chunk of it can't be, which just seems like an obvious oversight by the dev team.
The ABC Murders had some decent ideas, writing and voice acting, but the game falls short of being good due to several issues. The way the characters look and animate is just weird and downright disturbing at times. The idea of investing murders, interrogating suspects/witnesses and solving puzzles is a great concept for a game, but the ABC Murders lacks in a few areas when it comes to the execution.
If you're on the lookout for a good detective game, I'd recommend checking out LA Noire or Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter as they both offer a better experience than this game. The great Agatha Christie deserved better than this and with several better options for your sleuthing needs it's hard to recommend this one to anybody but the most die-hard Agatha Christie fans. If you're insistent upon trying the ABC Murders, I'd advise you to wait for a sale as the initial asking price of $19.99 is too high.
Final Verdict: Agatha Christie -The ABC Murders is a point & click crime mystery that attempts to adapt the classic novel into game form. While there are some decent aspects, it's hard to recommend this overall subpar effort when there are other detective games that do it so much better.
Related Reviews:
LA Noire (Xbox 360, 2011)
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter (Xbox One, 2016)
Related Links:
Buy The ABC Murders (Digital) - Microsoft Store
Search The ABC Murders (Disc) - eBay
Artefacts Studio - Official Site
Microids - Official Site
The ABC Murders - Wikipedia
The ABC Murders - Metacritic
The ABC Murders - GameFAQs
The ABC Murders - True Achievements
The ABC Murders Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
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