Now I can imagine that a lot of younger gamers out there won’t have a clue who Agatha Christie is and that’ll probably come as no surprise to the rest.  I’m going to set the scene for the game then, by giving you an idea about the book it’s based on.  It was originally published in the UK in 1939, under the original title of “Ten Little Niggers”, but got released as “And Then There Were None” in the US in 1940.  At the time of writing it has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, so some older gamers reading this may have already read the book!  Everyone reading though, should be able to appreciate it’s going to be a game with a real retro feel.

Anyway, the options are neither here nor there, so I’m just going to crack on with the game itself.  The first thing that jumps out at you is the graphics and not because they’re spectacular, they are extraordinarily mediocre.  Now I’m not naïve enough to expect something that will challenge the 360 or PS3, but I did expect a bit more than was on offer.  Anyway, it starts off by showing short snippets of each character making there way, by various means, to the rendezvous point (your boat) with the aim of reaching Shipwreck Island.  They’ve all been invited there by a mystery host, for a yet to be discovered reason, beyond the obvious party.  Until they all reach the house though, you’re just a spectator in it all, watching, listening and waiting.  Once they’re there though Chapter One starts and you get to do something… walk to your boat.  Yes, I know, please try and curtail your excitement at the last revelation…

The basic actions are very easy to figure out, because you use a cursor to do anything and depending on your options, depends what cursor is shown.  A pair of shoes signifies walk or run; a mouth gives the option to talk to a character and a keyhole let’s you peek through said keyhole in a door.  It’s also restrictive at what you can or cannot do, for example you get a walk/run cursor on some cliffs, but try going up them and you’ll get told it’s too slippy and to stick to the path.  Another example is trying to look in someone’s suitcase and being told you’re not that kind of person, or it’s too obvious a hiding place.  So, you can’t really do anything wrong and your options are limited to a degree.  Not all actions are clearly obvious though and the “hidden” ones are described as being part of the overall puzzle.  Clearly then, if your not the analytical, puzzle solving sort, forget this game!  I’ll let you in on one of these “hidden” puzzles that’s in the manual.  There is a flour sack with a scoop, you can pick up the scoop and carry it around with you, or you can make scooping motions with the Wii-mote to find some batteries in the flour.  These batteries can then be combined with a torch that you’ll fine elsewhere, to use in a dark room possibly… I’ll let you find out where, but you get the idea.  You can also disassemble various items and use individual components with other items you’ve found to make something new.  You have to remember though there are a lot of items and not all of them are useful!  You also come across various pieces of written material and these can either be carried or copied into your notebook, for later use.

In true murder mystery fashion then, the story leaves 13 people, who are mostly strangers, stranded on an island, in bad weather with no hope of rescue for a while.  Someone has it in for the 10 guests, is it the housekeepers, one of the other guests or are you also on the killers list?  Each chapter is based around one of the guests dying in turn and it’s up to you to stop it.  Naturally, this involves a lot of walking around an old fashioned house, looking at things, picking others up, talking to people and trying to piece the puzzle together.  I came to think of it as a cross between Myst and Silent Hill (without the gore), if that helps anyone make their mind up.  Though as I said earlier, anyone who has ever read Agatha Christie or even seen one of her mysteries on TV will know what to expect and the game doesn’t provide any real surprises.  I did think that it would be a good family game initially, get everyone from the kids to grandparents around and try to solve it, but to be honest, it’s too slow.  It’ll be good for someone with a lot of patience and a lot of time, but more gamers than not will be put right off.  Our lass is looking right forward to playing it, even after this review, so it’s not like it’ll go to waste, but it’s obviously each to their own.

It did get very tedious after a while, though I do enjoy a more action based game or traditional puzzler.  The use of the wii-mote is good in places, like emptying the flour sack, opening a safe or a door, but it’s not really enough to swing it for me.  The graphics and sound are nothing to write home about, but the story line cannot be faulted and 100 million+ readers can’t be wrong.  Looking for something different or a fan of Myst, here you go, the ideal game.