Product Description

Agatha Christie’s A.B.C Murders tells the story of Captain Hastings and Hercule Poirot as they attempt to solve a series of bizarre murders committed by an elusive madman. Going off the simple clue of the A.B.C railway guide left at the scene of each crime, Hastings and Poirot follow the leads to Andover, Bexhill, Churston, and Doncaster trying to apprehend the killer before the next crime is committed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6218 in Video Games
• Brand: Dreamcatcher
• Model: NDS74791RB
• Published on: 2009-10
• Released on: 2009-11-04
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .63" h x 4.92" w x 5.72" l, .25 pounds

Features

• Live through a modern classic for the first time on the Nintendo DS
• Solve the crime in multiple ways, and then solve it again
• Complete mind-bending puzzles
• Use your Investigator¿s Journal to record clues and notes
• Collect hidden notes found in-game that contains unique facts about Agatha Christie or one of her characters

From the Manufacturer
As easy as A...B...C?

Agatha Christie’s A.B.C Murders tells the story of Captain Hastings and Hercule Poirot as they attempt to solve a series of bizarre murders committed by an elusive madman.  

Going off the simple clue of the A.B.C railway guide left at the scene of each crime, Hastings and Poirot follow the leads to Andover, Bexhill, Churston, and Doncaster trying to apprehend the killer before the next crime is committed.

He soon realizes a serial killer is on the loose, murdering his victims in alphabetical order, leaving an ABC Railway Guide beside each body and playing a dangerous game with Hercule Poirot. He alerts Poirot in advance of the locations of the murders, but Poirot always arrives too late. Intrigued by the psychopath’s mind and methodology, Poirot travels the length and breadth of England - determined to track down this ruthless killer.


FEATURES

* Live through a modern classic for the first time on the Nintendo DS.

* Solve the crime in multiple ways, and then solve it again!

* Complete mind-bending puzzles!

* Use your Investigator’s Journal to record clues and notes.

* Collect hidden notes found in-game that contains unique facts about Agatha Christie or one of her characters.

Customer Reviews

Passable Point-and-Click Adventure, Good for Christie Fans
Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders is a passable point-and-click adventure, and I think it would be especially appealing to Agatha Christie fans. Basically, in the game, you will tag along with Poirot and Hastings, helping them to investigate crime scenes, interview witnesses/suspects/family members, and solving various puzzles along the way that will test your logical and analytical skills. There isn't a whole lot of gameplay in the crime scene investigations, with the exception of the first scene in which you do find evidence. After that, when you click around to investigate the crime scene, you won't find evidence or clues but you will be given various interesting facts about Agatha Christie's England and her writing. Similarly, when you interview people, you'll basically just run through a series of questions, and you'll need to go through all of them. In other words, what you ask and when makes little difference, as you just have to click through all of the questions and answers. However, often the dialogue does prompt a puzzle, which you must solve in order to proceed, and this is where the actual gameplay takes place. The puzzles are pretty good analytical problems along with a few riddles, similar to the kind of puzzles that one encounters in the Professor Layton games.

In the end, I came away with mixed feelings about this game. On the one hand, I have a soft spot for Agatha Christie, as I used to read those books as a kid. I also thought the puzzles were pretty well-done, and a few were even rather tricky (in a good way). On the other hand, I was disappointed that crime scene investigations didn't yield actual clues or drive the story, the dialogue bits get a little boring since there isn't really any gameplay or decision-making involved, and the interface is rather clunky at times. Overall, the game seemed too easy and too short. I'd say it took me roughly 5-7 hours, though there is no in-game timer, so I'm not sure. To be honest, I feel a full-retail ($28+) game should provide at least 8-10 hours of gameplay. On the bright side, ABC Murders more than twice as long as Women's Murder Club.

Read the book
As an Agatha Christie fan, I highly anticipated this video game. After playing for half an hour, I decided I will not play it again. First, you will know who the murderer is if you have read the book. Second, the puzzles range from unclear to dumb (guess which date the murder will be committed? Merry Christmas). Third, too many dialogues and too few interesting games. There is an "examine" function that gives trivial facts about Agatha Christie's life and random facts about the first lighthouse built in Scotland (or something). The game is simply dreadful. It is a shame that the wonderful book was adapted into something so tedious and boring.

Not Impressed
I was not impressed with this game. I did not get very far. I just put it down and have never picked it up again. Maybe I might when I get some cheats (ha!ha!). I only have one set back on this game and it is the exact times of when someone was killed. I usually like doing riddles but these are not fair. How can you pinpoint the exact time for anything happening in a story. I do not recommend this game to anyone.