Hercule Poirot, one of Agatha Christie’s most famous characters and the protagonist of this action-adventure game gives players a chance to experience what it would be like to assume the role of the renowned detective. The plot is only tangentially related to her book of the same name. Therefore audience members who have already perused that book will find this one fresh and original.
Poirot tells his colleague Hastings about an incident during his holiday at a resort on Seadrift Island while discussing the most recent case he worked on. Poirot’s vacation time is cut short when the body of actress Arlene Stuart washes up on shore, and he immediately goes back to doing what he does best: solving murders. Poirot is the one who tells the story, with Hastings providing occasional asides. Take control of Poirot as he investigates his immediate area (the Smuggler’s Rest Hotel, the island, and the town), meets and interrogates approximately 20 people, and more.
The gameplay consists of point-and-click mechanics and is driven by the mouse in a third-person perspective. Most of the games’ puzzles depend on the player’s inventory and require basic logic and reasoning skills to solve. This is par for the course in adventure games.
Graphics, character facial expressions, lip-syncing, the inventory system, and the general background appearance have significantly developed due to user feedback from earlier Agatha Christie games. The time spent traveling in both directions has also been cut down significantly. The “Finger of Suspicion” tip system is all new to this installment of the series and will assist players in figuring out what to do next.
