Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie: Peril at End House

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!!

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.

"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.

Much like Death on the Nile, the other Poirot hidden object game, Peril at End House is a decent, somewhat challenging hidden object game. My only real complaint about the game is that it is far too short and can be completed in just a few hours, depending on how quickly you find items. As another reviewer stated, if you are a fan of the David Suchet Poirot adaptations, you will probably really enjoy this game as it is based on that adaptation.

This game is what it is. It's advertised as a hidden object game, so I don't think anyone should go into it thinking that it's going to be like the first Agatha Christie adventure games. This is a solid game, despite its flaws.

Since I wasn't expecting a point and click adventure game I was not as disappointed as other reviewers. I find this to be a standard H.O.G. It's not the most creative one I ever played but the graphics are good and so is the story. My only complaint would be not having a choice between timed and not timed. Options are always nice. But over all it's a good game and objects can be easily found and puzzles can be skipped.

i was sooo dissapointed. its just like the highlights seek and find pictures. THATS ALL!!! i finished the whole game in just a few hours. i wont purchase any more of the agatha christie games until they FIX them.

Be careful-I bought this thinking it would be an adventure type game but it is just a boring hidden object game.