Language: English
In July 1914 Orient Express sets out of Paris and heads towards Constantinople. Aboard, a young American, Tyler Whitney, nervously looks out of the window, but the person he was waiting for did not arrive. Some time later, Robert Cath, the friend Whitney was so desperately looking for, jumps onboard the train from a moving motorcycle. He received a telegram asking him to join Tyler onboard the Orient Express, but could not do it the traditional way because currently he is wanted by the police for a shooting of an Irish police officer.
Soon after, Cath finds Tyler dead in his compartment. There are no clear clues of what happened, but whatever happened to Tyler must have been brutal. Wanted by the police and stuck in a compartment with a dead body - this leaves him very little option to choose from - he decides to throw the body out of the train window and assume the identity of Tyler Whitney. The only thing, apart from the dead body, he found in the compartment is an empty box after something quite valuable and no more clues why Tyler was so desperate to meet him. August Schmidt, a German industrialist, approaches Robert (assuming he is Tyler) and asks him for the gold...
The Last Express is an unusual adventure game, on surface it is a typical point-and-click game, only set on a moving train, but below the surface it contains few mechanics that could surprise you. First of all, there is a real-time mechanics - things just happen and time moves on, no matter if you are doing something or not. Another interesting element is the ambience - when you walk down the corridor you can hear people talking in their compartments, which could reveal information about them or their background. And another element is the Hitchcock-like narration - you are put in the situation you know very little about, and you have to adapt to what is going on around.
While those were the strong points of the title, there is another side of the game - not great interface (it is over 20 years old after all), the way the story moves on leaves very little space to stop and think about what to do next. Another thing is the real-time mechanics, which means that some things happen when you could be not there to witness them, which forces the player to replay the same scenes over and over again to find the things he has missed.
Despite being quite an old title, The Last Express is still an intriguing title, which could be fun not only for train buffs, but also fans of classic adventure games. The game was re-released in 2011 with slightly improved graphics, this version is currently available on f.e. Steam or GOG, which means you can still take a trip aboard the Orient Express and try to survive in this unusual story.
Our rating
6.8
/ 10
Game value
7
/ 10
Train scenes
4
/ 5
Adventure
4
/ 5
Scenery
2
/ 5
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