And Then There Were None Review

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Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

Review by Old RoosterOctober 2005

“Ten Little Sailor Boys Went Out to Dine …”

“One choked his little self, and then there were nine.”  Most of us have read or are familiar with the great Agatha Christie novel, Ten Little Indians, a.k.a. And Then There Were None. Ten individuals are invited to a weekend “party.”  This event is held in a large mansion on a deserted island, with a storm raging, a scuttled boat, and no communication with the outside world. Further, the host only appears by way of a most unpleasant and accusatory gramophone recording. He is appropriately named U.N.  Owen.

“Nine little sailor boys stayed up very late. One overslept himself and then there were eight.” As this gruesome “nursery” rhyme, posted over the fireplace mantle, suggests, our guests begin to die, one by one, presumably at the hand of their host, for crimes real or imagined. Since Mr. Owen cannot be located in the house or on the island, suspicion falls on the guests themselves. And then, as Holmes would say, “The game is afoot.” (Or, as Gil Grisom would say, when discovering a dismembered corpse in the first CSI—”The game is a foot. Sorry, I just had to slip that in.)

ATTWN, the game, not only builds beautifully upon the Christie premise, but also takes some twists and turns of its own, including presenting a different killer than did the book. Using famed writer and game creator Lee Sheldon, the development team went to considerable trouble to both honor Christie’s work and make an interactive game that would bring a fresh approach to this delightful murder mystery.  Generally, they have succeeded quite nicely.

“I’m Very Much Hoping You Can Join a Little Weekend House Party” —U.N. Owen

In this third-person, point-and-click adventure, you play as Patrick Narracott, the boatman who ferries the guests to Shipwreck Island.  But even you are not necessarily who you appear to be. Even you have depths and hidden motives. Of course, you couldn’t be the killer, could you? And, of course, you’ll be sure to survive at the end, won’t you? Perhaps, and perhaps not. Nothing is guaranteed at this Shipwreck Island party!

Let’s discuss some of the technical features of ATTWN. Installation is smooth and fast, using two CDs and taking about 1.5 MB of hard drive space. Interestingly, especially for an Adventure Company product, there is not only no indication of the onerous StarForce CD protection program, but the game will even run without a CD in the drive! A single resolution is selected, I believe 1024×768, with shadow effects, anti-aliasing and other graphic options available.  My very moderate system, with a 64 MB nVidia card, ran the game smoothly with all options turned on.

Adventure game players will feel very comfortable with the “live” cursor. The large arrow not only shows footstep directions Patrick can use, but also clearly depicts a whole range of interactive options—taking an object, speaking to a character, opening a door, and even the unusual peeking through a keyhole and eavesdropping on conversations!

“I Copied the Contents into My Notebook” —Patrick

Our Patrick must have some kind of huge and invisible backpack!  You are able to accumulate an amazing number of objects in your inventory, accessible with a right mouse click or a tab at the top left corner of the screen. These range from jars, pliers and pouches to the incredible sheets, tripod and boat oars! The inventory allows for detailed examination as well as combination of objects to create a desired outcome—batteries into a flashlight, for example.  This act can get a little picky if you’re not careful with location of materials in the inventory.

“I don’t need it; I’m no packrat,” exclaims Patrick if you come across an item that looks interesting but isn’t really needed in the game. Further, Patrick will sometimes comment that “There’s something here I need,” and “I’ll need to come back to that later.” This all helps your already huge inventory not become an irrelevant garbage bin. Mr. Sheldon, our writer, often injects a bit of humorous relief into an otherwise grim tale. For example, when I tried to have Patrick pick up a whiskey glass from the bar, he comments: “I shouldn’t do that, I need to have my wits about me.” Indeed. Interestingly, he later needs to come back to that bar and glass.

When Patrick comes across an object in writing (letters, books, etc.), he can place and examine it in his journal, accessible by a tab on the upper right corner of the screen. This also allows for general information about the island and guests to be conveniently stored. Interestingly, I wondered about what a guest is supposed to think if an important letter is found missing from the top of his/her dresser due to Patrick’s compulsive snooping about. The guy picks up most everything he lays his eyes on! Apparently, the developers show the object as gone for our benefit—we know we picked that one up—but the guests do not realize anything is missing since Patrick instantaneously is able to “copy” the information into his journal and replace the object. A neat gimmick.

Finally, in terms of technical features, you are able to save anywhere in the game, and there are an unlimited number of save slots. A save depicts your exit scene and time. This is a great feature for experimenting a bit with different responses and approaches.

“Please, This Is a Time for Concentration, Not Conversation” —Hargrave

The opening cinematic, using the graphic engine, demonstrates the kind of visual richness you’ll see throughout the game. Indeed, like any great story, the first fifteen minutes will draw you in.  Together with a haunting piano theme, the introductory experience is very compelling.

However, one of the annoyances rears its head early on. Whenever Patrick has to maneuver in the dark, without his flashlight available for use, he and critical objects are almost impossible to discern, even with the brightness setting turned full up. I had to adjust my monitor to have any chance at all during these “blackouts.”  This could be a patch issue, or it could be my system; I’m not sure.

Other than those times, the presented scenes are richly detailed, carefully tailored to the 1930s setting. Character depictions and animations are varied and appropriate, although sometimes a bit wooden. This is particularly true of Patrick, as he walks like a tin soldier from spot to spot. And he can’t go anywhere in a room, only to specific and defined “footstep” locations. Sometimes, as well, the pathfinding is awkward. Perhaps, though, the largest disappointment with the game engine is the inability to rotate perspective around the static scenes presented. Every three to five scenes, there is a three-second black screen delay while the engine shifts to another set of fixed scenes. They’re lovely, to be sure, and this is a “character-centered” kind of game, but it would be nice to have more mobility of view and movement.

As Hargrave implies, there is a lot of conversation in ATTWN.  From early on, it’s clear there are layers upon layers with each of the guests, and even yourself! The script is tight and involving, with superb voice acting. You’ll learn a lot about each guest, and you will need to make notes even beyond your journal entries. Conversational trees offer choices, often ranging from a kindly to not so kindly question or response on your part, presumably something that might affect how the party you’re questioning may feel about you afterwards.  It’s been implied in some prerelease previews that how you’re received by the guests (friendly versus a pain) might affect game direction and outcomes. I couldn’t pick that up, even with experimenting.  Generally, you move along from ten to nine to eight to seven “little sailor boys” with critical item accumulation, conversational discoveries and related activities being the only obvious triggers for the next chapter.

There are, however, as advertised, four possible endings! These are fun, and they occur at “Chapter Nine—And Then There Was One.” Be sure to save at that point so you can work with each outcome.

“Any Good House Party Should Include Party Games!”  —U.N. Owen

And any good adventure game needs to include puzzles! Thankfully, the puzzles in ATTWN are as good as any I’ve experienced in adventure titles. They’re in context, make sense and aren’t the kind of bizarre sorts of mathematical or musical conundrums found in some titles, which should more appropriately be termed “puzzle,” not “adventure,” games, in my opinion. Having said that, ATTWN is hard, sometimes very hard. Thankfully, clues are presented. But still, the occasional need to combine several items in your inventory can be elusive, as can be hidden door handles and how to access rooms without clear entrances. Yet the puzzles are ultimately fair, and you feel satisfied when the resolution dawns on your tired brain.

“Any Truth to the Accusation Against You?” —Patrick

The script and character development are so well-done that I can see why the Christie estate gave its approval to ATTWN: The Game. A good part of your deductive experience is spent interviewing, thinking, sorting though hints and nuances of responses, which may or may not be fully truthful. Each of the ten has a different background and story. Each of the ten has something about which they’re guilty or ashamed, or at least ought to be! We have a physician, a retired general, a judge, a grim spinster, a private detective, and others.  They’re all well-acted and nicely fleshed out, and you can see why someone might have something against every one of them. Plus, to top it all off, the mansion and island have their own mysteries.

Except for the initial piano theme, the rest of the background music is forgettable, particularly since it seems to repeat ad infinitum.  The theme is fitting, it’s just that hearing it loop over and over again can become tiresome. You can turn it down or off.

Ambient noises are another matter altogether, and most welcome.  The cold rain coupled with lapping of the waves on the dock makes you want to run for cover. Thunder and lightening often enliven the windows of the otherwise static room scenes. Footstep sounds vary from the ground to a metal catwalk to the wooden hallway floor.  A range of other touches make this factor one of the highlights of the game.

Thankfully, two maps are included in the nicely done manual. These are of the upstairs and downstairs of the mansion, and they become invaluable tools in your initial explorations. You’ll spend the first third to half of the game exclusively on these floors. There are other locational hints (a potted plant) to give you clues, but these maps really help.

“Your Whole Story Sounds Like a Detective Novel” —Blore

And Then There Were None is, as the developers hoped, a “loving tribute” to the classic Agatha Christie novel on which it is based. With a sterling script, fascinating characters, superb voice acting, beautifully detailed graphics, and sensibly practical puzzles, it ranks among the best adventure games of the last couple of years.

What leads ATTWN to fall just short of our coveted Gold Star rating relates to the game engine. It’s dated and not up to the level of modern 3D and full-movement titles. We’ve seen this static scene, restricted point-and-click ambulation approach many times before. Some may feel comfortable with this style, but we can do better with today’s technology. Further, there seemed to be some glitches related to item location and brightness.

Still, this is a fine game and highly recommended. With an outstanding combination of intriguing story and ingenious puzzles, And Then There Were None is sure to delight Christie fans and adventure game players.

What’s Especially Good About ATTWN

  • Beautifully written story and script;
  • Fascinating characters;
  • Superb voice acting;
  • Creative, practical, if often hard puzzles;
  • Lovely, detailed graphical scenes;
  • Manual very helpful, with maps;
  • Original Christie novel included with the game.

What Troubled Me About the Game

  • The game engine is dated and limited;
  • Brightness, or lack thereof, sometimes a concern;
  • Musical themes become redundant. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Awe Games Publisher: The Adventure Company Release Date: October 30, 2005

Available for: Windows

Four Fat Chicks Links

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

Win 98/ME/2000/XP (XP recommended) P3 850 (P4 1.8 recommended) 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended) 32 MB video card (64 MB recommended) 1.5 GB free hard drive space

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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13 Responses to Porn is Awesome, Games Not So Much

  • Meho

    Ahahaha, funny quote there.

    Also, daymn, that’s RJ right there and I really can not feel any kind of negativity for the man. I mean he taught me so much about life that I’d be a bigot to pretend I’m above him in any way, you know.

    But of course, he’s using a completely flawed argument in his editorial. Porn does not equal sex. Porn is about spectacle (of sex or… other things), not about sex. Much of the porn I watch doesn’t really involve sex, it’s about spectacle and power and roles in the human society, but mostly about spectacle. Baudrillard once defined porn as a media where you see genitals bigger than you would ever see them in real life. Because porn is about augmenation and hyperbole.

    So are games. Neither are natural. Neither want to show us normal people doing normal things. We wouldn’t want them any other way.

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Exactly! And we wouldn’t want to watch normal people doing normal things!

    That’s WHY we play games… to be extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. Violence is inconsequential.

  • Meho

    Or at least not not natural. Super Mario Bros. has it stylised down to cutesy jumps on your enemies’ heads. Shadow of the Colossus has it turned into a pornographic spectacle of giant killing. GTA turns it into a videogame aping life aping videogame.

    Violence is deeply connected to games (of any kind) for reasons I think obvious, but NATURALISTIC violence is absent from videogames most of the time. Games that make it look naturalistic, like Manhunt are games that shock us. Games that make it easy and quick, like Call of Duty do not shock us. Therefore, Vivid is Call of Duty of porn while Devicebondage or Public Disgrace is Manhunt and GTA of porn. It’s really all about being staged, unnatural, overexposed and heavily stylised in either of these cases.

  • Lewis B

    Perhaps the answer lye’s in combining the two.  Mario Porn anyone? (oh thats probably already been done 🙁 )

    Oh boy what a surreal article to read at 7:38 am 🙂

  • Lewis B

    Ahahaha no but I have now! Cover your eyes children, cover your eyes!!

  • ajax19

    “Jeremy said sex is natural and beautiful.”

    While that can be true.  I have seen enough porn in my day to know that a LOT of the sex in that, uh, genre is neither “natural” nor “beautiful”.  It’s often just incredibly degrading.

    While I agree with the simpler premise that, particularly in the US, the disparity between how much violence is deemed acceptable compared to how much nudity is deemed acceptable is incredibly out of whack and patently ridiculous, I don’t think trying to elevate porn over video games is the best way to go about expressing it.

  • Gregg B

    Erm, I think a very important distinction should be made here: porn involves real people doing very real things to each other, games do not.

    Now I’m no prude but the sex in porn is usually as cosmetically distorted, unreal and oftentimes as grotesque as the violence featured in many games but the former will always be more affecting because it’s real, in the same way as a snuff movie would be more affecting than the many brutal deaths in say, Manhunt or Postal. There are a lot of perceptual and subjective variables here but I’d wager that virtual reality will always be overshadowed by reality.

    Also, what sort of porn do you watch Meho?? Roles in human society?!! There’s me thinking it was just pounds of processed meat slamming into each other…

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    I’ve always been hesitant to ask Meho that question, for fear that he might tell me. Or worse, show me.

    Many anti-gamers state that gaming is “worse” because it’s interactive, while a passive activity like watching porn or violence is not. Of course, in my view, passive voyeurism is far worse than active involvement because you’re sitting there doing nothing. What’s worse, a violent video game or one of those Hostel films? For me, at least, it’s the latter.

  • Gregg B

    I haven’t seen the Hostel films, not least because they’re apparently shit, but mainly because, er, torture doesn’t agree with me, naturally. I know it’s not real but obviously when my suspension of disbelief is tight and all I can do is watch I can find it really unsettling, as a sort of bystander.

    Conversely, however, I do think by taking control of a virtual character you’re sort of, by default, disconnected from the virtual realness of their situation. Even as videogames become verisimilarly better, short of having a brain plug or something, I don’t believe they will really ever get to the primal core of violence while an interface is distancing you from it. Context and representation will be the key until then.

    Lewis will confirm this, but when we were younger we spent a good half an hour once in the original Half-Life, with a crowbar and a wounded but invincible Barney, splattering as much blood on the walls in that particular area as humanely possible. We thought it was fun back then, sort of like painting by numbers, only without paint. Or numbers. I wish we had the screenshot. Anyway, we knew it wasn’t real so it didn’t matter in the slightest.

  • xtal

    Stomping corpses to a pulp in Dead Space is way healthier than watching Ron Jeremy porn. Come to think of it, I would reverse their labels and call Dead Space “explicit adult content” and Ron Jeremy porn flicks would get the “survival horror” rating.

  • Lewis B

    @Xtal, oh how I laughed 🙂 very good mon frère, very good 🙂

  • Irony

    How is porn not interactive? The idea that because in a videogame you choose to act violently within the context of the game, rather than passively identifying with a character on the screen acting violently, is ridiculous, because it goes both ways. Sure, you’re free to enact whatever scenarios you wish, but you can also choose not to maim or kill in situations where the game itself allows you or even encourages you to do just that (porn v. the Fallout series, maybe?). But the idea that porn itself is less interactive, and less about choices, than videogames are is just nonsensical.

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