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I love a good detective yarn – and Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, is one of the greats for a reason. I can never resist checking out a new adaptation or cracking open one of the books I've not read over a weekend. After the not-very-good 2022 movie, I've been eager to see this particular iconic mystery revived, so was quick to download Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile's Steam Next Fest demo. I really enjoyed it! (And you can find out more in our Steam Next Fest guide about what's on offer).
OK, that makes sense – based on the information in the above paragraph I fit the motive of someone who would enjoy a game like this. But those of you who have thumbed my character profile, studied the deep lore, will know that I really did not like developer Microids Studio Lyon's last game, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express – in particular how it adapted the central mystery and modernized it for its 2023 setting. What's changed?
Disco fever
I don't want to say it's all to do with the '70s setting. But it does have a lot to do with it. Why has the seemingly unchanged moustachioed detective suddenly been transplanted into the '70s when we last saw him in the present day? I know we're playing detectives here but maybe with this one let's not ask a gift horse too many questions.
As Poirot struts his stuff into the Chez ma Tante nightclub, his walk cycle giving plenty, it just works. He's friends with the nightclub owner, and makes a point to order a house cocktail – the 1957 – that's named after the year the club was founded. Yes, it'll be a clue later. There's a botched wedding proposal to a business woman. The ring has been stolen. It's tutorial time!
This fresh twist on the opening scenes to Death on the Nile really work well here, the tutorial a simple mystery that's compelling to unravel. There's a bit of a looser feeling to how Poirot assembles his mind map of mysteries too, where it feels easy to review character profiles and evidence, but not too pushy with how you should do it. Maybe this is just a well-spun tiny mystery to get me started, but I'm much more compelled by this one than the early hours of Murder on the Orient Express.
Whether Death on the Nile can keep up the momentum is another question, but the opening does serve to introduce us to all the major players of the mystery to come – and I feel positive about them at least so far. It also neatly introduces us to Jane Royce, another detective following in Poirot's footsteps. She's an immediately more likeable presence than Orient Express' Joanna Locke, and her presence seems to be more elegantly weaved into the story.
Despite not loving Locke, or a lot about how the Orient Express mystery was adapted and extended in the last game, I did think the dual-protagonist mechanics showed a lot of promise during the very end of the game. Death on the Nile teasing an expansion and evolution of that set-up definitely has me curious. But for now, I'll have to wait and see when our murderous cruise will set off down the famous river. Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile will release in September 2025 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
