Developer: KING art Released: October 2013

Played on: PC (also available on 360 & PS3)

An Agatha Christie inspired point-and-click adventure game sounds like a reasonable idea. The adventure game format suits the detective mystery genre nicely and the opening chapter of The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief shows that potential.

You are Constable Anton Zellner, a Swiss policeman with a penchant for detective fiction, who finds himself on the Orient Express guarding a valuable Ancient Egyptian artefact from the infamous Raven, a master-thief seemingly resurrected from the dead. Zellner seeks to be more involved in the investigation than he is, and is kept down by French Inspector Legrand who has a personal vendetta against The Raven. A cast of supporting characters (of varying levels of quality) are gradually introduced, including one who is quite clearly based on Agatha Christie herself, which is a respectful nod to the author who would no doubt be rolling in her grave if she was forced to endure the grave descent this game becomes.

The first chapter takes place entirely on the Orient Express in 1960, and Zellner spends most of his time engaging in standard adventure game fare – talking to passengers, fetching items and solving rather simplistic puzzles with them. While bordering on bland, the story and characters are interesting enough to make the first chapter a reasonably enjoyable outing (although I’m writing this a few months on and can hardly remember what actually happened!)

The second chapter takes place on a cruise ship bound for Cairo and here the lack of polish starts to show. The ugly supporting cast character models fare poorly in the harsh sunlight. Uplifting elevator music starts to play at seemingly random times, completely undermining the tone of a particularly mysterious piece of dialogue. While the chapter is punctuated by some exciting scenes and some curious twists, the enduring memory is one of wandering aimlessly through the boat trying to work out what your last bit of character dialogue unlocked elsewhere in a vain attempt to progress the story.

Great, stuck on a cruise ship full of bad dialogue and clumsy character models

By the third and final chapter playing the game becomes a chore. Set in a museum in Cairo, basic adventure game annoyances that the game had skirted thus far become par for the course. Be it pixel-hunting your way through the museum floor, obvious puzzle solutions prohibited by illogical inventory management or the game-breaking nature of the supposed “full controller support”, The Raven becomes an exercise in absolute frustration. While you might persevere for the story, the mystery of who the Raven is and how the cast of characters fit in with the larger story are compelling enough to make the slog almost worthwhile, the game’s final plot twists are amongst the most stupid, inconsistent and unsatisfying in recent memory.

Verdict: The promise of a rivetting detective game is gradually bashed in the head by dull writing, poor production levels and an exceptionally frustrating final third. Not recommended, not even for the most passionate Agatha Christie fan. There must be something better out there. Might have to re-visit The Last Express to de-tox…

Should Bradley play this: Yes, just so he can appreciate how great the point-and-click golden age of the early-mid 90’s really was! (But seriously dude, DON’T PLAY THIS!)