Agatha Christie: Peril at End House

by Dreamcatcher

Product Features

• Investigate numerous suspects
• Tons of challenging investigation levels
• Lots of mini-games for hours and hours of fun!
• Beautifully rendered backgrounds and captivating soundtrack

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0027EV9CA
• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: July 10, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,005 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

When Monsieur Poirot and Captain Hastings meet the mysterious Miss Buckley, owner of End House, they quickly become convinced that all is not as it seems. Now's your chance to help figure out what it is about this woman that is raising red flags.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shame on you, Dreamcatcher, August 11, 2009

By 

L. Michael - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Agatha Christie: Peril at End House (CD-ROM)

Well, first the latest Jeopardy PC game was dumbed down to multiple choice responses, then CSI: New York was dumbed down to an object hunt, and now the Agatha Christie game series has met the same fate.

After the first Christie game, And Then There Were None, Dreamcatcher/The Adventure Company announced three Agatha Christie games featuring the voice of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. Murder on the Orient Express and Evil Under the Sun followed, and the logical assumption was Death on the Nile as the third game. Instead, they re-released a downloadable object hunt game. OK, I understand trying to make a quick buck with zero effort on their part, but surely they would give us the third Poirot adventure game.

Wrong again. Peril at End House is another object hunt. I don't understand the logic behind this trend. You can easily make up an object search game, but adventure gamers want adventure games, not Where's Waldo. I don't know how profitable the previous Christie games were, but CSI was certainly successful. Why ruin these games? I have purchased many, many games from Dreamcatcher/The Adventure Company since their inception, but I have little faith in their products now.

At least Telltale Games, the company that gave us the best CSI games, has come out with a new Monkey Island series. Real adventure games for adventure gamers!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christie: Peril at End House, September 18, 2009

By 

flynsteel (Niceville, FL United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Agatha Christie: Peril at End House (CD-ROM)

Great hidden objects/mystery game with one major exception from my viewpoint: It is a timed search game. If you like to find small clues with a time clock ticking in the background, before you are required to begin all over, you'll love this game. I find the timed setbacks a royal pain in the neck and lower.

Had the timed aspect been listed on the ad, I would have passed on this game.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Christie-based hidden object game, July 10, 2009

By 

Laika (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Agatha Christie: Peril at End House (CD-ROM)

"Peril at End House" is the second hidden object game based on an Agatha Christie novel. It's very similar to its predecessor, "Death on the Nile," but there have been a few minor changes. Once again, you're hunting for clues to a murder, this time in a seaside resort town. I should note that this game is very much indebted to the "Poirot" series adaptation starring David Suchet - the characters look like the ones in the movie, and the locations are strikingly similar. It's a nice little bonus for players familiar with the series. Familiar or not, though, the scenery is lovely. Some of the objects can be tricky to find, though not impossible. Like the first game, the music here is very nice but a bit limited. In between each round is a little puzzle, most of which are pretty easy (with the exception of a really irritating radio puzzle). You can skip any of the puzzles, though, and you'll still get the relevant clues. For example, if you skip the radio puzzle, you'll still hear the news broadcast afterwards, so you won't miss anything important.

As far as the changes, the story in "End House" is told mostly through comic book-style illustrations. It was a little jarring at first, but it's much more expressive than the creepy talking heads in "Nile." Instead of interrogating suspects in between rounds, you get clue cards. On each card, a character gives you one fact about the case. I liked this system quite a bit, because it keeps you focused on the game, without the long interludes of reading dialogue. One other change is that a couple of locations are searched both during the day and at night. This is a great idea (and fits very well with this particular story), but in practice it's a mixed bag. Some of the items in the garden are almost impossible to see at night, but it does bring atmosphere to the proceedings.

Overall, I would say that if you liked "Death on the Nile," you'll find plenty more of the same here - and that's not a bad thing. Like the previous game, this might be a bit overpriced, but it's still plenty of fun for Christie fans.