Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun is the upcoming third installment in the adventure series by AWE Games.  I played through the previous title, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express, and Mark E. Hengst II reviewed the first one, Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None.  We received a beta version of the game for previewing purposed and from the looks of it, I’m happy to report that AWE seems to be on the right track with this game.

 

You really can’t go wrong with a storyline that’s taken from an Agatha Christie book, one of the best selling crime authors of all time. The following is a brief setting description for this game.

 

The year is 1940 and war is raging in Europe.  Arthur Hastings is visiting Hercule Poirot, the world famous detective, at the Whitehaven Mansions where Poirot is recounting his most recent mystery.  While vacationing on an island at the Smuggler’s Rest Hotel, Poirot learns of a horrific murder that occurred shortly after his arrival.  One of the few resorts that hasn’t been evacuated yet, it has a small variety of guests. Poirot managed to solve the mystery within one day and is now wondering if Hastings would have been able to match the renowned detective’s skills.

 

One of the biggest issues I had with the previous game was the fact that you didn’t get a chance to actually play as Poirot, instead taking on the role of Antoinette, who was just employed by the railroad.  In Evil Under the Sun, however, you do get to play as Poirot… well, sort of.  Here are the exact details straight from the Adventure Company:

 

“Eager to prove himself, Hastings allows Poirot to take him back in time –  to recount all the events he experienced and see if Hastings can arrive at the same insightful conclusions as Poirot himself. Play as Hastings (who is in turn playing as Poirot!) as you relive the tragic confluence of people, circumstances, dark histories, and motives culminating in the primal crime.”

 

 

"In Evil Under the Sun, however, you do get to play as Poirot..."

Yes, it might be a little confusing at first, but you basically play Poirot with some commentary from Hastings from time to time.  It works much better and makes quite a bit more sense to me to play as the main character.  Update: Originally I had stated that David Suchet does the voice acting for Poirot in Evil Under the Sun but this was incorrect.  Poirot is actually played by Kevin Delaney; I didn't think his voice sounded the same while playing.  This will obviously be somewhat of a disappointment to fans.

 

Another complaint I had with the previous title was the constrained environment.  Most of it took place on a train with only a few cars, which became rather boring.  This time around, however, that has all changed.  The Hotel itself seems large, and even though you’re on an island, it’s a good-sized island.  There are multiple beaches, a tennis court, etc., and judging by the screenshots, it looks like a small town will be added for the final version as well.  It’s a very open and relaxing environment that works much better than a cramped train.

 

It also appears that you don’t necessarily have to do everything in a standard order, which was a complaint that both Mark and I had with the previous games.  I collected objects and interviewed guests in a completely random order and everything seemed to work out just fine.  However, it’s difficult to judge the entire game at this point, because the beta demo isn’t very long.

 

The quality of the graphics is average and seems to be the same as in Murder on the Orient Express.  It is much nicer to be looking out at vast seas, however, compared to train car walls with small windows.  One disadvantage, as far as the graphics are concerned, is the fact that you can’t change the game’s resolution.  You’re stuck in the 1024x768 setting and it doesn’t work very well with a widescreen monitor, which I now have. Poirot looks about two hundred pounds heavier, almost penguin-like, than he’s supposed to for me, and I’m sure I’m not the only person that will be in this situation.

 

There are also a couple of new features I noticed while playing through this demo. You come across a man and woman in a conversation on a balcony overlooking the ocean on one part of the island.  You then have the option to eavesdrop on their conversation; an option I don’t remember having in the previous game.  There was also a point towards the end of the demo where you get the chance to shadow a suspicious character.  I’ll be looking forward to these and possibly other new features in the full game.

 

After releasing two average adventure games with good storylines, it looks as if AWE Games is raising the bar and has been listening to reviewers and fans of the series.  Common issues people had look to be resolved in this game, and it will be interesting to find out how this Poirot mystery unfolds when the game is released in a couple of weeks.