The Last Express:
Last week's article on The Last Express attempted to avoid spoilers, but this week the plot becomes the focus, as Robert Cath must begin his investigation into the many mysteries on board the Orient Express.
As mentioned previously, the player
gains control as Cath boards the Express shortly after it departed
the Paris station. At this moment, the player recognizes nothing
except the date, 1914, the appearance of two unnamed characters
(later to be revealed as Tyler Whitney and Robert Cath), and that the
latter boarded a train illegally to avoid French police.
In spite of the tense opening, the
first minutes seem either rudderless or hectic, depending on if one
appreciates the circumstance they've embarked upon. The Orient
Express, for most of The Last Express, is composed of six
cars, the Engine, the forward Baggage Car, the
Kitchen/Dinning/Smoking Car, the 1st Passenger Car, the
2nd Passenger Car, and Kronos' car. Cath enters the
forward door of the 2nd Passenger Car, which contains
compartments numbered 1 to 8. The Last Express contains no
tutorial, prologue, or recommendation, enabling the player to wander
freely to wander through the narrow setting until they're arrest
fifteen minutes later. This first failure occurs if Cath doesn't
enter compartment #1 before the conductor, who wants to change the
bedding, but will discover something Cath should have seen first.
Fortunately, talking to one of the
three conductors reveals a few facts. As American's, Robert Cath
looks enough, to the European eye, like a man named Tyler Whitney. A
majority of the unobservant passengers will mistake one for the
other, and the conductor will remind the player that his correct
compartment is #1. And when Cath opens the door, and sees Tyler's
bleeding corpse on the floor, he says, “Tyler” in a manner which
informs the player of their close bond.
Unfortunately there isn't time for a
respectable burial. Cath has boarded the train illegally and is
standing over a murdered body. The solution: unceremoniously toss
Whitney's body out the window of the moving train! Leaving the
compartment immediately ensures another fail state, as Cath's jacket
is covered in his friend's blood. Yet, Whitney had courteously
removed his coat before being murdered. Cath's goes out the window
after the body, and Whitney's compliments his disguise. Now the
player can allow the conductor to enter, but before leaving the room,
Cath should discover a few letters of friendly correspondence between
himself and Whitney. Whitney wanted Cath's help with an unspecified
trouble, but tribulation arrived before Cath. Furthermore, there's a
empty box, clearly meant to contain an object of value, with only two
indents to indicate where something had rested.
If one takes the time to wander the
corridor after this traumatic incident, a young child, Francois, can
be heard telling his parents, “It was a body, I saw a body fall off
the train,” in the sort of tone implying he finds the whole
experience exhilarating. The boy isn't the only one who noticed the
body, as a little while later, French police board the train. Let's
just say, Cath needs to hide somewhere, and inside Tyler's
compartment is insufficient. If found, the game displays another of
its many failure scenes. Each of these are journal entries composed
by another passenger, Sophie, and delivered by her voice with no
visual effect except a picture of the diary page with her scrawling
cursive script.
Once these dangers are past, Cath can
settle in and begin to explore. There are so many people of
significance aboard the Orient Express, it's useful to keep
handwritten records even if one isn't composing a multi-part video
game article. It's the only way to catalog the depth of their
character, and try to unravel the mystery of Whitney's murder.
Yet, it's a mistake to see The Last
Express as a single mystery. There are many conflicts fomenting,
just as the storm of war prepares to sweep across the continent. In
his quest to discover Whitney's missing object, Cath may find it
useful to search compartment #1 again. Whitney's luggage contains a
copy of a Russian folk tale. Though fluent in many languages, Cath
can't read it, as it is written in Cyrillic script. Fortunately,
there are Russians aboard; an elderly aristocrat, Count Vassili, his
granddaugher Tatiana, and her former childhood friend Alexei, an
anarchist (or more correctly, a communist revolutionary). Tatiana, a
charitable soul, will volunteer to translate the document. It
contains the myth of the Firebird, a phoenix.
By now, the Orient Express has passed
from Paris to Strasbourg, and is traveling towards Munich. Act 1 is
over and Act 2 is about to begin. If Act 1was about settling on the
Orient Express, Act 2 enables Cath to meet the other occupants and
begin to determine the cause of Tyler's death.
Soon, the enigmatic Kronos, residing in
his own personal car, invites Cath for an introduction. He
recognizes the distinction between Tyler and Cath, and tells the
latter he'd commissioned the former to deliver him an artifact of
great value. Kronos expects Cath to procure the object, but Cath
demurs, since he doesn't know what or where it is. Shortly
afterwards, the seemingly jovial Herr Schmidt, failing to realize his
former customer is dead, informs Cath that the weapons will be loaded
onto the Orient Express in Munich, and he expects payment upon their
arrive in Vienna.
When Cath finally has a moment to
return to his room, he sees someone slip inside, and going in, finds
himself assaulted by a man with a full beard and a cheap black suit.
Milo's seen the massive bloodstain on the carpet which the oblivious
conductor has conveniently overlook, and he's seeking to extend the
stain with Cath's bodily fluids. Here The Last Express
introduces the combat mechanic, a simple minigame, where the only
options are avoid an attack or attack the enemy. After a few counter
attacks, Milo drops his small knife and explains his situation.
Tyler planned to pay the German Schmidt for the guns, and deliver
them to the Serbians. As a member of the Black Hand, Milo is
dedicated to defending his people against the German-Austrian
alliance, by preparing for war. Tyler, Milo explains, wanted to help
the repressed people of Serbia. When he saw Cath pretending to be
Tyler, he became suspicious, and investigated. Worried the shipment
of weapons will be canceled, he extracts a promise from Cath to bring
Tyler's plan to fruition, and then departs.
Meanwhile, another passenger is seeking
to exert her influence on the Express. Anna Wolff, a well bred
Austrian, can be observed charming Herr Schmidt in the dining car and
whispering with Tatiana in the corridors. Are they chatting, or
hiding something of value? With a bit of snooping Cath ease his way
into Ms. Wolff's compartment, only to discover a gun pointed at his
chest. The elaborately engowned Wolff knows Cath isn't Tyler,
because she broke into compartment #1 and saw the dead body. Pressed
by an emotional Cath, she denies being the murderer. Did she take
the object (which by this point is obviously the Firebird) or know
who did the deed? Unfortunately the player has no means of forcing
Cath to ask these critical questions. As mentioned previously, one
weakness is the inability of the player to direct the flow of
conversation, and its highlighted by Cath's failure at this critical
juncture to extract the information critical for his success.
And that's the end of Act 2. Next
time, we'll take the information we've gather, and use it to solve
the difficult, complicated mess of mandatory actions, which are
required for Cath to avoid arrest, ignominy, and death.
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