And then there was my first adventure review

the gnome · 01-16-2006, 10:55 AM

Well.... hi....

I would like to ask for your judgement on my first adventure review ever... or maybe evaaaah!!!11!

It was recently published on my blog., which you could (

) visit by clicking on the link on my signature...

Anyway... here it is:

PC Review: ‘Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None’

Truth is they don’t make ‘em like they used to. Point and click adventures don’t have the class and production values they used to have back in the 90s. The genre is no longer cutting edge, no longer adequately funded, but at least still alive.

Since the most talented designers like Jane Jensen, Ron Gilbert or Tim Schafer are no longer producing adventures, since budgets are being cut, production times shortened and since the need for decent storytelling abilities remains, developers tend to look back at classic literary or cinematic material. Be it Jules Verne, Alfred Hitchcock or Agatha Christie, you can’t miss when basing your game on such material. Or can you?

And Then There Were None the novel (written towards the end of the 30s) is considered as one of A. Christie’s finest moments. It is about a perfect, unsolvable and actually successful crime. About a perfect mass (if 10 people can be considered a crowd) murder committed by Mr. U.N. Owen. And Then There Were None the novel had already been adapted to film and theatre before the Adventure Company decided to publish the adventure game. Adopted -mostly- to critical acclaim.

What could then possibly go wrong in the adventure adaptation? I believe that it should have been obvious to the good people who designed the game. Despite being excellent material And Then There Were None has the problem of dealing with a perfect and unsolvable crime. A bloody unsolvable crime. As in: it can’t be solved by anyone, let alone by a geeky gamer. Thus all the player gets to actually do in this game is to be an observer who might just be able to save a few of the ten guests.
The player (a.k.a. you) gets to be Patrick Narracott, a character absent from the original, stranded along with the other ten guests on Mr. U.N. Owen’s island. Mr. Narracott is the sole person on the island who isn’t accused of a horrible deed (by U.N.Owen and through a gramophone disc and you’ll have to play the game or preferably read the book to find out more). This gives him the chance to roam around the island and interact with his environments in standard point and click fashion, solving rather easy and not very inspiring inventory based puzzles. Oh and not doing any actual detective work. Unless of course gathering five fingerprints (an optional task nonetheless) can be considered detective work.

Other problems include a constantly repeating and quite annoying musical theme, the inability to skip dialog (and there are tons of it), horrible 3d character models and a few glitches/bugs. On the other hand And Then There Were None is quite enjoyable and atmospheric (for the duration of the 10 to 15 hours you’ll spend beating it). Environmental graphics are okay and with some decent weather effects, the original material is excellent, the voice-overs almost perfect and if you buy the game in the U.S. you will also get the original book as a gift (or so I hear). The manual is also a nice addition, with its decent oldskool booky feel, and you might also appreciate the multiple endings, which also include the original.

So… I guess it really is up to you… This is an adventure that won’t thrill you, but in a peculiar way provide you with some hours of moody (and quality?) entertainment

That’s a (six) out of (ten).

...................

that's it... Any comments?

thanks, the gnome

Scott Nixon · 01-16-2006, 12:28 PM

I loved it except for the negative parts. Kindly excise the 4th paragraph and change the rating to a '9' and I'll gladly give it kudos!

***fov*** · 01-16-2006, 12:37 PM

Welcome to the forum, the gnome. Thanks for sharing your review. And never mind Scott... he's a little biased.

(If you're not sure why, see here.)

I'm curious about this statement:

Quote:

Originally Posted by the gnome

On the other hand And Then There Were None is quite enjoyable and atmospheric (for the duration of the 10 to 15 hours you’ll spend beating it).

You've said a lot about the game's faults. I'm curious, what did you like about it? What you've said in the review doesn't sound like it added up to an enjoyable experience, so I'm interested to hear what you liked that you're leaving out.

I really enjoyed ATTWN, although I agree there were a lot of faults (contrary to your comment, though, I think the developers are well aware of them

). It didn't bother me that there wasn't a whole lot of "detective work" to be done, because I really did feel like a regular guy who ended up in this weird situation. Narracott's not a detective. I'd expect a different kind of gameplay if the protagonist were an investigator like Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, but in this case I was more interested in learning about the characters and seeing how everything played out. The knowledge that people are going to die one by one builds in a suspense and feeling of immediacy that a lot of games simply don't achieve.

AudioSoldier · 01-16-2006, 03:13 PM

I'll try and help you out.

For a start, you repeat: “used to” twice in first paragraph. There's nothing inherently wrong with repeating a phrase. If it sounds good, then so be it. But in this case, it doesn't sound right - as if you're struggling for a better word.

Also, I have a problem with your first statement, "They don't make 'em like they used to." Aren’t the adventure games of today rather derivative? When writing a review, read your words carefully. Don’t write a statement followed by a minor statement that fails to back up the overarching notion. Sure, adventure games don’t look the same now, and technology dictates that the creation process is slightly different, but you didn’t really need to say: “Truth is they don’t make ‘em like they used to” to get across your point that things have changed and that the road has become rather more rocky.

Saying Tim Schafer doesn’t make adventure games anymore is like saying Tiger Woods doesn’t win any tournaments anymore. He may, sometime, and Psychonauts was somewhat adventureesque.

You also a miss a comma or two in some instances. This is fairly easy to do, though, so I wouldn’t be too hung up over it. For the sake of providing an example:

”Despite being excellent material And Then There Were None has the problem of dealing with a perfect and unsolvable crime”

You could do with a comma after "material".

I don’t really care for the use of AKA either. I always view it as detrimental to the professionalism of the writing.

Some of the sentences are overly clunky too and the style of the writing is sacrificed in these instances. Without sounding too pretentious, I’d rather you kept your long winding sentences to a minimum.

” The player (a.k.a. you) gets to be Patrick Narracott, a character absent from the original, stranded along with the other ten guests on Mr. U.N. Owen’s island. Mr. Narracott is the sole person on the island who isn’t accused of a horrible deed (by U.N.Owen and through a gramophone disc and you’ll have to play the game or preferably read the book to find out more). This gives him the chance to roam around the island and interact with his environments in standard point and click fashion, solving rather easy and not very inspiring inventory based puzzles. Oh and not doing any actual detective work. Unless of course gathering five fingerprints (an optional task nonetheless) can be considered detective work.”

This paragraph requires the most work and it appears you rushed through the writing of it.

”The manual is also a nice addition, with its decent oldskool booky feel, and you might also appreciate the multiple endings, which also include the original.”

Consider:

The manual is a nice addition with its decent old-school novelesque feel. You may also appreciate the multiple endings, one of which pays homage to Dame Agatha’s original.

The best thing to do, if you're looking to get better, is read a professional review or two. Then, as you work on your next review, try and assume the role of a paid writer who will be posting his review on a website read by millions. Try and make it as professional as possible. Check the spelling and make notes as you play. Use a thesaurus for those instances when you’re struggling for a better word, and be prepared to spend several hours on your review. Don’t be afraid to let the words flow, though. Just make sure to re-read your writing several times over the course of a day or two. Once satisfied, post it somewhere and ask for a critiquing. Be wary of those who say, “nice review, good job”. Chances are, they haven’t read it. The only thing in their mind is an increased post count. Don’t be satisfied with positive responses. Demand an analysis of the review. Ask questions. Be interested in writing something good. And practice.

the gnome · 01-17-2006, 08:24 AM

First of all thank you for your comments...

fov and scott: I just want to explain that I consider a 5 the score for the average game. Anything above it is (obviously) above average. As to what I enjoyed about the game... I liked (among other stuff) the story, the overall atmosphere and the beautiful mansion... I guess I should have stressed the positive aspects of the game a bit more... Lack of experience you see...

Audiosoldier: I've already thanked you for your criticism, and I am doing it now too. Thanks. I guess you 're mostly right and definetely very constructive. You see I hadn't written anything (besides scientific papers, but noone requires style there) amusing or for amusement purposes in English before...

Oh, any comments on the blog would be appreciated too...

Thanks a lot

*stuboy* · 01-19-2006, 05:34 PM

I think a lot of people would take issue with your promotion of Ms. Christie's work (which is damn good crime fiction) into the "classic literary" canon. George Eliot she's not.

Otherwise, AudioSoldier has got most of the bases covered. It could be just a typo, but adopted/adapted are very different words.

Generally good stuff, keep at it.

the gnome · 01-20-2006, 10:57 AM

I can't truly disagree with you stuboy... All I have to say in my defence is that Christie is a 'classic' in detective stories...

Oh, and thanks for spotting the adopted/adapted problem... (blush-blush)

01-16-2006, 10:55 AM	#1
the gnome Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 349	And then there was my first adventure review Well.... hi.... I would like to ask for your judgement on my first adventure review ever... or maybe evaaaah!!!11! It was recently published on my blog., which you could ( ) visit by clicking on the link on my signature... Anyway... here it is: PC Review: ‘Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None’ Truth is they don’t make ‘em like they used to. Point and click adventures don’t have the class and production values they used to have back in the 90s. The genre is no longer cutting edge, no longer adequately funded, but at least still alive. Since the most talented designers like Jane Jensen, Ron Gilbert or Tim Schafer are no longer producing adventures, since budgets are being cut, production times shortened and since the need for decent storytelling abilities remains, developers tend to look back at classic literary or cinematic material. Be it Jules Verne, Alfred Hitchcock or Agatha Christie, you can’t miss when basing your game on such material. Or can you? And Then There Were None the novel (written towards the end of the 30s) is considered as one of A. Christie’s finest moments. It is about a perfect, unsolvable and actually successful crime. About a perfect mass (if 10 people can be considered a crowd) murder committed by Mr. U.N. Owen. And Then There Were None the novel had already been adapted to film and theatre before the Adventure Company decided to publish the adventure game. Adopted -mostly- to critical acclaim. What could then possibly go wrong in the adventure adaptation? I believe that it should have been obvious to the good people who designed the game. Despite being excellent material And Then There Were None has the problem of dealing with a perfect and unsolvable crime. A bloody unsolvable crime. As in: it can’t be solved by anyone, let alone by a geeky gamer. Thus all the player gets to actually do in this game is to be an observer who might just be able to save a few of the ten guests. The player (a.k.a. you) gets to be Patrick Narracott, a character absent from the original, stranded along with the other ten guests on Mr. U.N. Owen’s island. Mr. Narracott is the sole person on the island who isn’t accused of a horrible deed (by U.N.Owen and through a gramophone disc and you’ll have to play the game or preferably read the book to find out more). This gives him the chance to roam around the island and interact with his environments in standard point and click fashion, solving rather easy and not very inspiring inventory based puzzles. Oh and not doing any actual detective work. Unless of course gathering five fingerprints (an optional task nonetheless) can be considered detective work. Other problems include a constantly repeating and quite annoying musical theme, the inability to skip dialog (and there are tons of it), horrible 3d character models and a few glitches/bugs. On the other hand And Then There Were None is quite enjoyable and atmospheric (for the duration of the 10 to 15 hours you’ll spend beating it). Environmental graphics are okay and with some decent weather effects, the original material is excellent, the voice-overs almost perfect and if you buy the game in the U.S. you will also get the original book as a gift (or so I hear). The manual is also a nice addition, with its decent oldskool booky feel, and you might also appreciate the multiple endings, which also include the original. So… I guess it really is up to you… This is an adventure that won’t thrill you, but in a peculiar way provide you with some hours of moody (and quality?) entertainment That’s a (six) out of (ten). ................... that's it... Any comments? thanks, the gnome Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Usually blogging away on gaming issues in my random (?) lair

01-16-2006, 12:28 PM	#2
Scott Nixon Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	I loved it except for the negative parts. Kindly excise the 4th paragraph and change the rating to a '9' and I'll gladly give it kudos! Share Share this post on Twitter

01-16-2006, 03:13 PM	#4
AudioSoldier Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 387	I'll try and help you out. For a start, you repeat: “used to” twice in first paragraph. There's nothing inherently wrong with repeating a phrase. If it sounds good, then so be it. But in this case, it doesn't sound right - as if you're struggling for a better word. Also, I have a problem with your first statement, "They don't make 'em like they used to." Aren’t the adventure games of today rather derivative? When writing a review, read your words carefully. Don’t write a statement followed by a minor statement that fails to back up the overarching notion. Sure, adventure games don’t look the same now, and technology dictates that the creation process is slightly different, but you didn’t really need to say: “Truth is they don’t make ‘em like they used to” to get across your point that things have changed and that the road has become rather more rocky. Saying Tim Schafer doesn’t make adventure games anymore is like saying Tiger Woods doesn’t win any tournaments anymore. He may, sometime, and Psychonauts was somewhat adventureesque. You also a miss a comma or two in some instances. This is fairly easy to do, though, so I wouldn’t be too hung up over it. For the sake of providing an example: ”Despite being excellent material And Then There Were None has the problem of dealing with a perfect and unsolvable crime” You could do with a comma after "material". I don’t really care for the use of AKA either. I always view it as detrimental to the professionalism of the writing. Some of the sentences are overly clunky too and the style of the writing is sacrificed in these instances. Without sounding too pretentious, I’d rather you kept your long winding sentences to a minimum. ” The player (a.k.a. you) gets to be Patrick Narracott, a character absent from the original, stranded along with the other ten guests on Mr. U.N. Owen’s island. Mr. Narracott is the sole person on the island who isn’t accused of a horrible deed (by U.N.Owen and through a gramophone disc and you’ll have to play the game or preferably read the book to find out more). This gives him the chance to roam around the island and interact with his environments in standard point and click fashion, solving rather easy and not very inspiring inventory based puzzles. Oh and not doing any actual detective work. Unless of course gathering five fingerprints (an optional task nonetheless) can be considered detective work.” This paragraph requires the most work and it appears you rushed through the writing of it. ”The manual is also a nice addition, with its decent oldskool booky feel, and you might also appreciate the multiple endings, which also include the original.” Consider: The manual is a nice addition with its decent old-school novelesque feel. You may also appreciate the multiple endings, one of which pays homage to Dame Agatha’s original. The best thing to do, if you're looking to get better, is read a professional review or two. Then, as you work on your next review, try and assume the role of a paid writer who will be posting his review on a website read by millions. Try and make it as professional as possible. Check the spelling and make notes as you play. Use a thesaurus for those instances when you’re struggling for a better word, and be prepared to spend several hours on your review. Don’t be afraid to let the words flow, though. Just make sure to re-read your writing several times over the course of a day or two. Once satisfied, post it somewhere and ask for a critiquing. Be wary of those who say, “nice review, good job”. Chances are, they haven’t read it. The only thing in their mind is an increased post count. Don’t be satisfied with positive responses. Demand an analysis of the review. Ask questions. Be interested in writing something good. And practice. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Edward Love Journalist www.AmpedIGO.com Last edited by AudioSoldier; 01-16-2006 at 03:18 PM.

01-17-2006, 08:24 AM	#5
the gnome Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 349	First of all thank you for your comments... fov and scott: I just want to explain that I consider a 5 the score for the average game. Anything above it is (obviously) above average. As to what I enjoyed about the game... I liked (among other stuff) the story, the overall atmosphere and the beautiful mansion... I guess I should have stressed the positive aspects of the game a bit more... Lack of experience you see... Audiosoldier: I've already thanked you for your criticism, and I am doing it now too. Thanks. I guess you 're mostly right and definetely very constructive. You see I hadn't written anything (besides scientific papers, but noone requires style there) amusing or for amusement purposes in English before... Oh, any comments on the blog would be appreciated too... Thanks a lot Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Usually blogging away on gaming issues in my random (?) lair

01-19-2006, 05:34 PM	#6
stuboy Staff Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 531	I think a lot of people would take issue with your promotion of Ms. Christie's work (which is damn good crime fiction) into the "classic literary" canon. George Eliot she's not. Otherwise, AudioSoldier has got most of the bases covered. It could be just a typo, but adopted/adapted are very different words. Generally good stuff, keep at it. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ (Already hates your game)

01-20-2006, 10:57 AM	#7
the gnome Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 349	I can't truly disagree with you stuboy... All I have to say in my defence is that Christie is a 'classic' in detective stories... Oh, and thanks for spotting the adopted/adapted problem... (blush-blush) Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Usually blogging away on gaming issues in my random (?) lair

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