I hopped on the first demo machine I could find and was immediately struck by the cinematic look. I want to say it was beautifully shot, even though I know full well there were no cameras involved. But, it sure looks like there were! Moving shots, long shots, close-ups and varied angles give you a sense of immediacy and lend drama and expressiveness to game play.

This use of traditional film techniques made me aware that there were three creative forces at work here:

1. The hugely popular Murder On The Orient Express book by Agatha Christie, who has been outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible.
2. The ever-evolving aesthetic of interactivity in games.
3. Traditional filmic storytelling techniques.

Since I too come from a television background, I was eager to pick these topics apart with him. How was he able to make these three creative forces work together in a way that’s innovative, true to the original book and engaging to players? We first discussed the game’s cutscenes while referring to monitors that were set up around the room playing them. He feels cutscenes are “the ghetto of story,” and prefers to use game play to move the plot along. MotOE certainly does a good job of this, first by the choice of who the player character is. Instead of being expert sleuth Poirot, Sheldon has laid him up in bed as the result of an injury. Instead you play from the perspective of an employee of the train company who has an interest in sleuthing but is new to the art. Regular consultations with Poirot are what constitute the game’s clue system, but be careful because asking him too many questions will drive your score down. Clever, heh?

There still are a good number of cutscenes, but Sheldon explained how when he wrote them, he specified the use of multiple angles and even details like sun shining through a window and lighting up the dust particles in the air to dramatize what’s happening. Producer Mike Adams pointed out additional details like blinking eyes and a 30% increase in graphic resolution over AWE’s last Agatha Christie game, And Then There Were None. These techniques result in an audio/visual experience that rivals television and actually make you want to watch them instead of clicking through them. You care about what is happening because your actions got you to that point, and the artistry of their representation draws you into watching your their results.

So, Sheldon is applying the tried and true techniques of the established forms of linear storytelling (TV/film and books) to the still nascent art form of interactive games. He has been doing it long enough, and has thought enough about it (indeed taught enough about it) that the effect serves to heighten the experience and advance the interactive artform.

True to the mystery adventure genre, there are mini-games. The first one I played was a jigsaw puzzle that reveals a message once completed. It wasn’t too difficult, which is good because it is a secret source of tension for me to play a game for the first time in front of a bunch of people. What if they start to laugh and point? Thankfully, I blew through it pretty quickly. The next one was a puzzle box that didn’t seem to have any rhyme or reason at first, even when I enlisted the help of my fellow attendees. I would, however, proudly like to announce that I ended up solving it while playing alone at home. The well-composed musical score stands out during these portions and provides a good backdrop as you mull over your approach.

These mini-games add a needed degree of interactivity to the game. Aside from them, the bulk of the interactivity consists of moving around the train, talking to people, and gathering clues. Thankfully, moving from car to car has been made easier by the ability to click on an image of whatever train car you want to go to and instantly ending up there, as opposed to having to walk through multiple cars. The game’s more passive degree of action may take some getting used to for fans of action games or even RPGs. But once you get into it, you realize the game takes place in your head, as you wrack your brain trying to make sense of seemingly unconnected elements. Advancing in this regard can be more rewarding than simply blasting aliens or slaying creatures. I found it to be a refreshing change to my normal gaming routine.

I am excited not only by the game itself, but by the way it uses traditional techniques to advance the interactive artform. However, a mystery adventure is the most convenient genre of game to do this in because it is the most similar to linear entertainment. I look forward to seeing these techniques permeate other genres. How could this be done with an RTS or a squad-based shooter? Could it cause the creation of new genres? At the very least it will make games more engaging and give interactivity a greater sense of purpose than simply leveling up or scoring points. I can’t wait to see that happen, as gaming continues to evolve into a dominant form of entertainment and expression.