REVIEW | Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The London Case

Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The London Case review | While I haven’t read an Agatha Christie’s book before, I am familiar with Detective Hercule Poirot, mainly because I’ve played another game based on her work called Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders. I knew what to expect from this new Hercule Poirot game, despite not playing its predecessor Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The First Cases, as I have played quite a few detective games before, but the question is, how does it compare to them? You’ll find out very soon.

DeveloperBlazing Griffin
PublisherMicroids

ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series X | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion of the writer. Got unanswered questions about this game? Get in touch on Twitter!

What we Liked!

  • Classic detective gameplay | I know exactly what I’m signing up for when it comes to gameplay in detective games, and that’s precisely what I got with Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The London Case. You will be searching for clues, analyzing certain objects closely, interrogating suspects and anyone else involved with the crime in question, and also connecting the dots in what the game calls your “little grey cells”, which is essentially a mind map with a lot of different info regarding the case. Differently from some other detective games, you cannot come to the wrong conclusion, as Poirot will always tell you that what you chose doesn’t make sense or simply isn’t right, you’ll be forced to choose the right options, and in your “little grey cells” you’ll also be hinted about what connects with what.

Mixed Feelings

  • “This sounds good, but I’m sure I’ve heard it before” | The theme played in the intro sequence is excellent and very powerful, but through the remainder of the game, the soundtrack is a lot more subtle, though it does sound good, just like sound effects, in general, are pleasant to listen to. The voice acting sounds pretty good, fitting pretty well with their respective characters. The only reason I’m putting the soundtrack in the “Mixed Feelings” category is that it does repeat itself a little bit.
  • Decent visuals | I liked the cartoon-like aesthetic chosen by the developers, it has some charisma to it, and it strangely gives me the feeling of those fake mobile game ads, but in a considerably better way than them. However, there are instances where some textures, objects, and even characters don’t look as good as they should.

What we Disliked

  • Technical issues | I have unfortunately experienced some technical issues during my playthrough, some of them seemed to be prevalent in the prologue. Characters have popped up when the camera angle changes during a cutscene a few times; there were also some instances where characters weren’t looking where they should be during cutscenes; the lip-sync felt somewhat robotic quite often; and I also was unable to finish the game thanks to a bug in chapter seven preventing me for interacting with a painting to open a secret door despite me imputing the right code the door wouldn’t open.
  • Inconsistent | The overall pacing of the game felt inconsistent, despite feeling interesting most of the time. There were low points where walking to a place and shortly coming back after going to a distant place felt tiresome, and certain important moments that happened off-camera felt like they should be shown in a cutscene. Finally, I felt lost as to what I should do at specific points in the game.

How long to beat the story | 7-8 hours
How long to achieve 1000G | 8-10 hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The First Cases, Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders, among other detective games.

Conclusion
70/100

To put it simply, Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot: The London Case has charisma, a good soundtrack, decent visuals, and an overall interesting story. But there is plenty of space for improvement, with some technical issues that can’t be overlooked, and a pacing that could have been better.

Gameplay 🎮

As in most detective games, you’ll be walking around searching for clues, interrogating suspects, analyzing objects, and managing your “mind map”.

Visuals 🎨

It has interesting cartoonish visuals, but it can sometimes not look great in character models and objects. In summary, it’s not incredible, but not bad either.

Sound 🎵

There are good sound effects, and decent voice acting, but the soundtrack itself is a bit repetitive, even though it’s nice to listen to.

Story 📃

In general, it’s a good one, it has its highs and lows, and it’s not one of the best I’ve seen in detective games.

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