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Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun

Developer:  Awe Games
Publisher:  The Adventure Company

Preview by Rosemary Young (September, 2007)
Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun Screenshot A quick report after playing the First, then touching on the Second Act, of a beta version of Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun.

It's the third game in the Agatha Christie Series, and the first one where you get to direct Poirot himself in the gameworld, although it's not quite as straightforward as that. The game sets up a situation where Poirot is relating the story to Hastings yet allowing (or should that be challenging) his friend to pull the strings and solve the mystery. So you are actually assisting Hastings to direct Poirot in his snooping endeavours.

Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun looks and plays very much like the previous games: And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. It's a third-person point and click adventure and the graphics suit the game well with a rather stylish guesthouse and enticing Seadrift Island to explore. You can follow the trails and walk around the perimeter of the island. Maybe visit the tennis courts and check out some of the sandy coves, or look out over the sea from various high points. All this is accompanied by a very professional soundtrack.

A game for everyone
Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun Screenshot The interface is easy to master for anyone comfortable with a mouse and, as with the previous games, there are lots of handy features and plenty of help forthcoming, so Evil Under the Sun should be suitable for both new and more experienced players.

Poirot himself gives verbal hints occasionally and there's the aptly named Finger of Suspicion that he explains will later give hints relating to the various suspects. Added to this there's his notebook, which is a good reference providing access to maps, a list of suspects, tasks, and the like. Some of these features were available in this build, others are yet to be implemented. What was available worked fine, providing useful reminders regarding the tasks at hand.

This time around Poirot is voiced by Kevin Delaney rather than David Suchet and he does a pretty good job. All the voices are excellent and text captions are available for the dialogue. As you're directing Poirot he has the most to say, although the disembodied voice of Hastings interjects occasionally with some suggestions of his own. Perhaps the text could have identified the speaker on these occasions to avoid confusion, especially for deaf players.

In the first Act Poirot meets all the characters, I counted around 18 to 20. Here you learn something of the life of the guesthouse staff or, in the case of the guests, why they are holidaying on Seadrift Island and, perhaps, what they think of one another. You'll feel the undercurrents and learn about possessions going missing and some threatening letters... something's surely in the air! Added to this there's mention of a ghost and a treasure, and there's a ruined Monastery with a secret — that strange circle must mean something, and where does that blocked tunnel go?

A favour or two
Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun Screenshot So, along with exploring Seadrift Island, there are plenty of conversations going on at the beginning of Evil Under the Sun. Occasionally there's the opportunity to eavesdrop and to shadow characters as well. However this is an adventure game, so to vary the gameplay Poirot also does a few favours and a bit of menial work with some prompting from Hastings. He might get his hands a little dirty but thus far he hasn't got his feet wet, he's not inclined to take a swim.

It is good to see so much of Poirot in this game and the developers have got his mincing walk down to a tee. Naturally he's never in a hurry to get anywhere but you can double click on a location exit to zap him along in the blink of an eye.

I must say Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun is looking like an interesting trip that anyone can take. Agatha Christie fans should take note! When I played both And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express I'd read and remembered the books, but this one I've forgotten what happens and whodunit, so this should add to the mystery. In any event the publishers boast, "Additional storyline appended to that of the original novel providing a new ending"! And then there's the Finger of Suspicion as well. When he tells you about it Poirot also explains that it has a mystery of its very own and challenges you to solve it. He gives the first clue then and there and the second one came at the beginning of Act 2 ... something more to ponder over.

Copyright © Rosemary Young 2007. All rights reserved.