This 1997 Interplay game is quite possibly the most unique adventure game I’ve ever played. It takes place on the Orient Express and the story is straight out of an Agatha Christie mystery. The characters are filmed actors that have been rendered as three dimensional cartoons. They mostly move as a series of stills and occasionally are fully animated. What makes this game so unique are two things: it’s non-linear interactivity, and it’s game saving.

First of all, there is no game saving to speak of. Your progress is constantly being saved. If you die or want to approach a problem differently, you have to use a clock to rewind the time and try it again. I’ve only played the game for a few hours, but so far this seems like a very nice device. Since you’re bound to the confines of the train, you don’t need a lot of saved game slots to save you the trouble of traversing through a large map unnecessarily. Having only one game “thread” makes the story feel more immersive and real.

Secondly, the characters in the train move about and act like real people do. They eat in the dining car at dinner times, sleep at night, and mill about the train as they wish. This takes some getting used to for those of us accustomed to the standard adventure game where characters can always be found in the same place. I get the feeling that I’m going to have to play this one a few times to really experience everything it has to offer. It’s a lot like Blade Runner in that respect; another great, non-linear adventure game.

Has anyone else here played this one?