Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders Wiki – Everything you need to know about the game

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders is an investigative action adventure story that allows players to take on the role of Agatha Christie’s most famous detective Hercule Poirot. This french detective is a kind of alternate detective to what readers saw when they read Sherlock Holmes stories. While he has the same kind of investigative skills, he did not have the same sort of quirks that Holmes did. Developed and published by Artefacts Studio and Microids, the two have actually created a kind of remake of a game that was first published on the Nintendo DS. The game is also based on the Agatha Christie novel by the same name and announced in January of 2016 and was given a release date of February 4, 2016. It was eventually moved back to February 23, 2016 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Development

An official announcement took place on January 7, 2016. Two weeks later, Microids announced a new official trailer to Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders. Officially titled the Pre-order trailer the video was meant to show people just how they would be solving the murders contained in the game. In addition to these videos, Microids released a number of behind the scenes videos that were geared towards showing people how the company developed the game. The videos also shed light on the mechanics and the modes that make up the title.

It was originally slated for release in early February of 2016 but it was eventually pushed back until February 23, 2016.

Story

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders features the same story that was in the popular book. In the game, the private detective Hercule Poirot will find himself up against a mysterious opponent who goes by the name of “ABC”. This particular killer is good at what he or she does and quite smart. That will challenge the detective in ways he hasn’t been before.

Gameplay

In Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders the player takes on the role of the famous Hercule Poirot in a 3rd person perspective adventure game. As the developers have pointed out, Poirot is not someone who is going to be running or jumping in order to catch the killer. This is a man who tends to try and outthink his adversary and may be able to catch them simply by having them in the same room at the right time. One of the key aspects of the gameplay then, is called the Brain Mode. This mode centers heavily on the character using his “little grey cells” which is a direct homage to the character in the books who often referred to this turn of phrase. When using this mode, players will identify different clues that were surrounding a particular body and attempt to answer a number of questions that include but are not limited to the time of death.

Another mode that is used when investigating a murder is called the Summary Mode. This particular mode is supposed to embody the detective’s penchant for psychological observation. This means that the character will actually be able to deduce a number of things just by the way one character or another reacts to comments or questions. The developers have shown off one video where a woman is being interviewed about an apparent male murder victim. The detective notices the woman is sad, after being given a couple of different choices to answer relatively the same question. This leads right into the investigation mechanism. This isn’t much different from other games of this kind and is even used in other adventure games where investigating isn’t the key goal such as The Walking Dead from Telltale Games. This particular game play mechanism offers the player a number of different ways to approach a conversation. If a witness or suspect has just announced they were in a fight, Poirot can either decided to be somewhat antagonistic, or just curious as to what happened. In other situations, the player can choose to have the detective attempt to empathize with the character. The game has several turning points that will help you deduce who the ABC killer is when all is said and done.

Not all of the investigating is done by interviewing people or simply hovering a cursor over something that is found at the crime scene. There is also a puzzle solving aspect of the game that is needed in order for the detective to go down the right path. The developers have said there are more than 15 puzzles total in the game. Puzzle solving isn’t the central aspect of Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders but it does appear to play an important part in finding the right kind of clue and discovering who is doing the murders. Some of the puzzles will focus on having the player manipulate a kind of mechanism while other puzzles will be based on the player’s observations from earlier in the game. By doing this, the developer has said it is attempting to bring the true feel of being a detective to the game.

Characters

The main character in the game is the Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot. This is a man who relies on his wits and his experience. He does not believe that detective work requires someone to get down on their hands and knees in the dirt. Another of the characters that might turn out to be a top suspect in the murders is a man by the name of Franklin Clarke. Clarke is a supremely confident man who has recently turned his amorous attention towards his deceased brother’s personal assistant. He’s described as a big fellow with a tanned face. A.B. Cust is a tall man who is somewhat socially awkward. His odd mannerisms have led to the attention of many other characters in the story.

Sir C. Clarke was the third victim of the ABC killer. The rich former doctor used to enjoy long walks around the grounds of his estate. This apparently made him a target for the murderer. Donald Fraser has landed on Poirot’s radar as one of the prime suspects. The young Scotsman’s beloved wife has gone missing and there are many who believe Fraser is the one who made her disappear. Elizabeth Barnard is presumed to be another victim of the ABC killer. The 23 year old was outgoing and friendly and was engaged to Donald Fraser when she went missing.

James Harold Japp is a police detective that attempts to work alongside Poirot despite the two men having investigative approaches that sometimes clash. Poirot feels as though Japp misses too much and talks too loudly. There are other characters in the game that the company has said will only be discovered by finishing the game.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game