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IGN Review of Agatha Christie: Evil under the Sun
Published by The Adventure Company and developed by AWE Games, Evil Under the Sun is the second title in the Agatha Christie mystery series to find its way to Wii. Originally released for PC last year, Evil Under the Sun is a point-and-click adventure game based around the events of the popular 1941 novel of the same name. Unfortunately, all the problems that have plagued the genre in the past have returned once again, which will have you wondering - is this a throwback to adventure games of yesteryear, or just another vain attempt to push an outdated and obsolete gameplay formula on Wii's unwary new fan base?
Evil Under the Sun follows the renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot as he arrives at an ocean-side hotel on the secluded Seadrift Island for what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. As you might expect, someone ends up getting murdered, and it's up to Poirot to explore the island's shady past and the secret lives of the other guests to figure out who is responsible.
Unlike the book, the game begins after the case has already been solved, as Poirot recounts the events of the novel to his long-time friend Arthur Hastings. You play as Hastings as he takes on the role of Poirot in the story. A bit unusual, but it works. The detective explains that you (Hastings) will be the one to determine his actions, and he will relate the details to you only as they are discovered, giving you the chance to solve the mystery just as he did. The set-up is a little odd, but it is an interesting way to explain why you are walking in this man's shoes, why he knows things you don't, and why the detective doesn't always do what you tell him to. The game's creators even use it to explain why there are missing characters and areas. As Poirot points out, they are of no importance to his story, so why bother including them? It also offers a bit of comic relief as the two men frequently interject their commentary. If you do or say something that Poirot wouldn't, he will be sure to let Hastings know.
One of the biggest problems in this game is that the story fails to grab you from the start. When you first take control of the detective, you have no idea what you're supposed to be doing. I immediately assumed that I was supposed to look for clues to start solving the murder - I didn't realize that it hadn't even happen yet. In fact, the murder doesn't occur until you're about halfway through the adventure. You spend the majority of the game confused, talking to random people, arbitrarily clicking on random junk, and really just wandering around aimlessly. By the time something does finally happen, you just don't care.
The gameplay is classic point-and-click, straight out of 1995, and it brings with it all the problems we remember. Just like the adventure games of old, this one consists mostly of clicking on everything you see trying to figure out what you can interact with or pick up. You'll then take the seemingly random items you find and try them on anything that might be of interest, waiting for something to finally work. Most of the time, you don't know what you're looking for, and you'll rarely know why. It's entirely possible that you'll overlook some hidden item and find yourself stuck early on, with no hope of ever finishing. In fact, that's the most likely scenario. Most of the island is open to you at any time, but different items occasionally appear where they weren't before. You're going to spend the majority of the game walking the same paths over and over, trying to figure out what tiny little item you may have overlooked the first ten times through. And this certainly isn't helped by the fact that Poirot waddles around at a snail's pace. What's left of your time will be spent talking to people, but you never really know what may be an important clue or if it's all just small talk. You'll be introduced to so many different characters through the dialog; it's impossible to keep track of everyone, and even harder to care.
The graphics are just as dated as the gameplay. Character models are toned down from the PC version -- that's to be expected -- but there's no doubt they could have been much better. Animations are mechanical and jumpy; characters move like robots and they have even less personality. Pre-rendered backgrounds look decent, but they still don't come close to anything we've seen in the GameCube Resident Evil titles. Environments can be confusing, and because of odd camera angles, many areas are unnecessarily difficult to navigate. The layout often gives the impression that paths are open when they actually aren't, and vice versa. You'll have to move you're cursor all around the screen just to make sure you're not missing something that should be obvious.
One thing that the game does do well is the voice acting. The writing may not win any awards, but the fact that everything is spoken out loud helps to compensate for the staggering amount of tiresome conversation you will frequently find yourself in. The accent's are a little heavy at times, and the characters somewhat pompous, but at least you won't have to be staring at text boxes all day. After all, if you wanted to read, you would have just picked up the book.
©2008-12-19, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Evil Under the Sun follows the renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot as he arrives at an ocean-side hotel on the secluded Seadrift Island for what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. As you might expect, someone ends up getting murdered, and it's up to Poirot to explore the island's shady past and the secret lives of the other guests to figure out who is responsible.
Unlike the book, the game begins after the case has already been solved, as Poirot recounts the events of the novel to his long-time friend Arthur Hastings. You play as Hastings as he takes on the role of Poirot in the story. A bit unusual, but it works. The detective explains that you (Hastings) will be the one to determine his actions, and he will relate the details to you only as they are discovered, giving you the chance to solve the mystery just as he did. The set-up is a little odd, but it is an interesting way to explain why you are walking in this man's shoes, why he knows things you don't, and why the detective doesn't always do what you tell him to. The game's creators even use it to explain why there are missing characters and areas. As Poirot points out, they are of no importance to his story, so why bother including them? It also offers a bit of comic relief as the two men frequently interject their commentary. If you do or say something that Poirot wouldn't, he will be sure to let Hastings know.
One of the biggest problems in this game is that the story fails to grab you from the start. When you first take control of the detective, you have no idea what you're supposed to be doing. I immediately assumed that I was supposed to look for clues to start solving the murder - I didn't realize that it hadn't even happen yet. In fact, the murder doesn't occur until you're about halfway through the adventure. You spend the majority of the game confused, talking to random people, arbitrarily clicking on random junk, and really just wandering around aimlessly. By the time something does finally happen, you just don't care.
The gameplay is classic point-and-click, straight out of 1995, and it brings with it all the problems we remember. Just like the adventure games of old, this one consists mostly of clicking on everything you see trying to figure out what you can interact with or pick up. You'll then take the seemingly random items you find and try them on anything that might be of interest, waiting for something to finally work. Most of the time, you don't know what you're looking for, and you'll rarely know why. It's entirely possible that you'll overlook some hidden item and find yourself stuck early on, with no hope of ever finishing. In fact, that's the most likely scenario. Most of the island is open to you at any time, but different items occasionally appear where they weren't before. You're going to spend the majority of the game walking the same paths over and over, trying to figure out what tiny little item you may have overlooked the first ten times through. And this certainly isn't helped by the fact that Poirot waddles around at a snail's pace. What's left of your time will be spent talking to people, but you never really know what may be an important clue or if it's all just small talk. You'll be introduced to so many different characters through the dialog; it's impossible to keep track of everyone, and even harder to care.
The graphics are just as dated as the gameplay. Character models are toned down from the PC version -- that's to be expected -- but there's no doubt they could have been much better. Animations are mechanical and jumpy; characters move like robots and they have even less personality. Pre-rendered backgrounds look decent, but they still don't come close to anything we've seen in the GameCube Resident Evil titles. Environments can be confusing, and because of odd camera angles, many areas are unnecessarily difficult to navigate. The layout often gives the impression that paths are open when they actually aren't, and vice versa. You'll have to move you're cursor all around the screen just to make sure you're not missing something that should be obvious.
One thing that the game does do well is the voice acting. The writing may not win any awards, but the fact that everything is spoken out loud helps to compensate for the staggering amount of tiresome conversation you will frequently find yourself in. The accent's are a little heavy at times, and the characters somewhat pompous, but at least you won't have to be staring at text boxes all day. After all, if you wanted to read, you would have just picked up the book.
©2008-12-19, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved