To be Hercule Poirot is to know you’re probably going to win. Agatha Christie’s best-known child is sharp, methodical, and insufferable, even more so now because Microids decided to make him hot. Some might argue that it doesn’t matter what Poirot looks like, but those people are wrong; I know a few of the older Blazing Griffin games stuck with Poirot’s shiny egg-shaped head, but none can hold a candle to the bowtied visage of David Suchet. I try not to dwell too much on this as I reacquaint myself with Microids’ tall, angular daddy-o – head full of hair, resplendent in a white suit and silk cravat – who first appeared in 2023’s Murder on the Orient Express. Tonight, this Poirot is in the club, and unlike David Suchet (or the entirely rizzless Kenneth Branagh), he could probably get it.
Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile reviewDeveloper: Microids Studio LyonPublisher: MicroidsPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and Switch 2.
Death on the Nile is one of Christie’s most famous works; watching new adaptations as a crime fiction fan is essentially an exercise in indulgence if you already know the main twists. It makes sense, then, that Microids’ version of Death on the Nile brings in a new playable character and story arc – Jane Royce, a young private detective and Poirot superfan who introduces herself at the club and eventually works on a case that intersects with Poirot. The prologue chapter rolls out the main characters: heiress Linnet Ridgeway meets her friend Jacqueline de Bellefort’s boyfriend Simon Doyle for the first time. Jackie and Simon are deeply in love; Linnet craves their sort of fiery romance, but can’t find it among the weedy middle-aged aristocrats vying for her attention (girl, you would have loved Raya).
Fast forward six months later: Poirot is in Egypt, checking into the hotel where and Simon are celebrating their honeymoon. Yes, that hag married her friend’s fiance, and they’re going on a lavish cruise down the Nile. It’s a timeless flavor of tea that endures in soap-style narratives today, and I firmly believe that Christie would have loved the Chinese micro-dramas that nobody wants to admit watching. Because who should show up but crazy-eyed Jackie, hellbent on revenge?
The core mystery takes place on The Karnak, a luxury riverboat, with a pit stop at an ancient historic site. Mechanically, Death on the Nile follows the same point-and-click formula as Murder on the Orient Express – the player directs Poirot to gather clues and interrogate suspects, form theories in a Mind Map, and trigger Confrontations to wring truth out of liars. The player also fills out simple profiles in Poirot’s mental rolodex to keep track of characters, but these have no real effect on gameplay. Everyone has a secret, concealed in the form of a puzzle in their respective cabins. There are also lockpicking and eavesdropping mechanics, and Jane’s chapters have some tedious stealth sections that Poirot wouldn’t be caught dead doing. Most of the puzzles feel appropriately busy without hurting the brain, but it wouldn’t be a Microids game without a couple of taskmaster-y sadistic solves.