Agatha Christie Death on the Nile Review (PS5)

Gameplay

Graphics

Audio

Narrative

Summary: Time to grow out that stache and boogie like it's 1974 as Poirot returns for a freaky deaky trip down the Nile.

4

Disco!

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Microids were brainstorming their adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

They’re in a meeting, sat around a large table, scratching their heads, pondering how to update this classic murder mystery for a modern audience. They’ve already done a modern retelling of Murder on the Orient Express, but how to top that? It’ll be another adventure game. The world is not ready for Doom on the Nile (Or is it?), but there has to be something.

A whiteboard propped up in the corner asks ‘What is Poirot missing?’ and one of the dev team jumps to their feet and yells, “Disco!”

Step aside, David Suchet. Move over, Kenneth Branagh, Microids Poirot is back, that’s right. The Belgian with the killer stache returns to unravel a murderous conspiracy on the banks of the River Nile.

You can tell it’s 1974 in this version of Death on the Nile, since Poirot sports a slick suit with extra-wide lapels, a swing in his step, and a neckerchief that makes all the ladies say: “Who the hell is that pompous prick in a neckerchief?”

Yes, Poirot is as obnoxious and self-aggrandizing as he ever was. But that’s why he’s such a fun character. He’s particular; he never pulls punches. He’s definitely neurodivergent. He’s happy to accuse anyone of a crime (Though most of the time they did commit it), and illegally detaining people isn’t a criminal act for him; it’s a vital part of the investigative process. The final part, but still.

The main bulk of the gameplay sees Poirot strut his way through nine chapters (plus an epilogue) being the best dang detective in the world and solving mysteries by hunting for clues, interviewing witnesses (and never forgetting to engage in polite small talk), and ultimately unravelling the whole sordid affair while navigating the social complexities and petty quibbles of the upper class.

The easiest way to describe it is that it’s a lot like the modern Hitman Trilogy, except you’re the poor sod they bring in after Agent 57 has caused another industrial accident, or murdered an heiress in her bed. The murder has already happened; you just have to figure out how.

He has such dogged determination to grab a piece of vital testimony or evidence that he’s been known to go to such lengths as fully refinishing a broken dukebox, helping squeeze a dozen suitcases in the back of a cab, and spending a brief spell steering, and then fixing a steamship..

These often random, puzzling asides do a good job of breaking up the more traditional detective work and ensure that proceedings don’t get too repetitive.

There are only so many times you can delicately line up the soundwaves and find an overhanging balcony just to eavesdrop on a cantankerous old widow as she lambasts her daughter for some petty contrivance before you want to quit playing coy and give the old windbag a piece of your mind. (Thankfully, that does happen, but my word, I’m happy there were cases to stack, steam to reroute, and elaborate mirror puzzles to crack.)

There are also Golden moustaches hidden in nooks, crannies, and the occasional toilet to find, that unlock bonus items in the museum, because why not?

Keeping track of the complicated web of interconnected clues, leads, deductions, and Poirot’s stray thoughts is done in the Mindmap. An incredibly useful resource that lets you take all of the information you’ve gleaned in the real world and sort through it into a working theory and eventually the truth.

Depending on the difficulty chosen, it can also be full of red herrings and misdirection. If you’re not in ht mood for trying to figure out exactly what room you didn’t quite find all the items you needed to. I’d recommend flicking through to story mode occasionally, as it adds more info to the mind map, essentially giving you objectives and targets instead of merely pointing out that there are some people you need to talk to, and things you need to find.

Once you’ve completed the mind map, there’s one last thing to do. Build a timeline of events in a retrofuturistic wireframe recreation of the area you’ve just been exploring while placing all the suspects in the right place. It’s simple, it’s fun, and surprisingly satisfying since it ties up the loose ends in each chapter fairly succinctly.

This isn’t a simple retelling of Death on the Nile, though; instead, Microids has cleverly used the source material as a jumping-off point to not only add more details and asides to the tale of Poirot’s Egyptian holiday and the backstabbing aristocrats that ruined it.

But it adds a substantial B plot about a young English private eye (and Poirot superfan), Jane Royce, who is investigating the death of her friend. Emmy Dunes, who was murdered after discovering major financial improprieties at the firm where she worked as an accountant.

Hot on the heels of a Hitman known as the Spider, Royce finds herself on the grubby streets of the Bronx and the bustling streets of Cairo in a revenge tale that acts as a more gritty counterpoint to Poirot’s more congenial investigations aboard the SS Karnak.

Unlike Poirot, whose plot follows the broad strokes of the book, Royce’s story carries more tension and potential replay value as she’s often called upon to make decisions that will have a bearing on the end of the story.

Although I did enjoy Jane’s chapters,(especially the lock picking, but not so much tailing suspects), they felt somewhat out of place and made the narrative feel a little disjointed, since as soon as you got going with Poirot, you’d be bounced back to Jane, which at least initially feels like it could have been a separate game entirely. It probably would have felt more organic if the two plotlines had dovetailed into each other earlier, other than some soon-to-be boat passengers popping up in Jane’s first proper case and her fangirling over Poirot during the tutorial.

Minor narrative quibbles aside, though, the presentation is pretty decent. Using a painterly style, exaggerated characters, a very 70s colour palette (brown furniture, coloured bathroom sets, and chairs only a chicken could love) help to jettison Death of the Niles from the 1930s to the 1970s.

The voice actors are also mostly decent. There are a few odd line deliveries from minor characters, but all is forgiven whenever Poirot opens his mouth because he’s an absolute delight throughout.

The same can’t quite be said for the music, though, which is all over the place. One minute, Poirot’s relaxing to smooth jazz, on the banks of the Nile, the next it goes hard with full-on prog during Jane’s trip to New York, then Poirot’s back bumbling around on the boat, accompanied by what can best be described as elevator music.

Final thoughts

Here’s the Skinny Microids adaptation of Death of the Nile: is a stone-cold groove. Microids has taken the nifty mechanics laid in their previous Poirot joint, Murder on the Orient Express, and refined them til they’re super fine.

More than just putting Poirot in some funky threads, the developers have taken the basic plot of Agatha Christie’s classic crime novella and made it their own by expanding on the text by fleshing out minor and tinkering with minor plot points in clever ways, as well as creating a whole far out b plot that takes the already rad tale to some far out places.

Ya dig.

About the Author

Gareth Newnham

Agatha Christie Death on the Nile Review (PS5)