The Greatest game ever ... EVER made

godfather

so the greatest game ever made, or more accurately: the best game I ever played in my opinion is: "The Last Express".

It's a pretty old MASTERPIECE that took about 4 years of making was released in 1997.

Has anyone ever played it? IF so, do you know any game which is similar to it?

I've been looking for such a game for ages now, ever since I first bought The Last Express.
If no one's played it before, I'll try to explain how that game is at least.. although I think it's beyond words.

samer

Never played it, can we still get it ? on which platform was it ? how about making us a review about it :)

godfather

In Lebanon, it's hard to get, unless you know somebody who has it... It's a 3 CD's realtime adventure game.
well I can copy/paste a preview:

The Last Express
by Al Giovetti
Preview, 02/15/97
Release: Spring 1997
Genre: real time graphic animated adventure
Producer: Jordan Mechner
Developer: Smoking Car Productions
Publisher: Broderbund
Web site: http://www.lastexpress.com/
Requirements: Windows 95, Macintosh, DOS

History: Jordan Mechner, the same guy that brought us Karateka and Prince of Persia, has turned his attention to the world of cinematic adventures or inteactive movies. The Last Express is one adventure game that is based in the history of the animated feature film.

Company line: Paris, 1914. The world is on the brink of war and your life is about to change forever. You are Robert Cath, a young American who is urgently summoned by his friend Tyler Whitney to join him on the train departing the Gare de l'Est, Paris, 24 July for Constantinople.

Arriving late, you are overcome with the heavy feeling of danger. Something has gone terribly wrong. Before you can grab hold of your senses, the adventure overtakes you and you are plunged into a world of suspense, romance, international intrigue and murder.

The Last Express allows you to move freely through the rich and detailed 3D environment of the world's most luxurious train, circa 1914, during its final European crossing prior to the outbreak of WWI.

Gameplay involves interacting with characters, exploring objects, engaging in action sequences and uncovering multiple story threads--with your perspective shifting from 1st person to 3rd person for maximum dramatic effect.

The fluid, constantly-changing way the other characters react to you--and the fact that the train moves relentlessly onward--creates a sense of real-time suspense and unpredictability beyond that of a traditional adventure game.

Information gained is used to piece together a series of interrelated puzzles which advance you through the story. If you are clever enough, you ultimately discover the shocking secrets of The Last Express ... before it's too late!

Plot: Multiple plot pathways lead to multiple outcomes. You must unravel the mystery of who killed your friend as the American, Robert Cath. Just as the game starts in the 1914 backdrop to war, you are summoned on a train ride to Istanbul with a friend who is subsequently murdered.

Game play: Over 30 major characters speak twice the dialogue of a full-length motion picture. The game play is exploration and communication with the others on the train. The game promises over 40 hours of game play and dramatic action sequences.

The majority of the puzzles do not center around the traditional treaure hunt type where you find an object and use it at the proper place or combine it with other objects to form something else. These puzzles involve doing the correct thing at the correct time. Trains run on a rigid time schedule and if you do not react, like hiding after the murder to avoid arrest, your game will end abruptly.

Should you make an error causing your death, an interesting game feature, returns you to the point just before you made the fatal mistake and allows you to correct matters. You may find yourself repeating events over and over again until you get it right. This type of repetitive game play is not generally appreciated by players and probably results for the less than perfect reviews this otherwise excellent game is getting.

Graphics: Historically accurate 3D rendered environments rendered faithfully in the art nouveau style of characters is the look of the historical period of the game.

Animation: Actors and train set were filmed from eight different angles in live action using a blue screen. The technique of using live actors as models for animated film was pioneered by Walt Disney in his first feature animated film, Snow White. You film the animated feature just like a movie and then draw the pictures either on top of the film, Ralph Backshe style or using traditional hand drawn animation, Walt Disney style.

Voice actors: The game uses twice the dialogue of a major motion picture.

Music score: Listen to your own music by clicking the sountracks 1, 2, or 3.

Sound effects: Movie sound effects were used to get the correct effects.

Utilities: Rather than a traditional save the game interface allow players to turn back the hands of time to replay events.

Multi-player: This is a single player game.

Future: We look for more of this type of excellent product

godfather

well actually, there are much better reviews than this, you can check them out yourself, they're extremely easy to find...

Well at least I hope someone here has played "Blade Runner". Come on you guys! more games like Last Express and Blade Runner.

godfather

another review...

Developer: Smoking Car Productions
Release date: 1997

I have nothing but respect for a designer who, in this era of twitch-reflex gaming and short attention-span consumers, labors so intensely over a game design to create a setting that can truly enchant the player. Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince of Persia games, went against every conventional thought of design theory, in an almost kamikaze attempt to do something that had just not been done before. The setting of The Last Express, the resulting product that both began and ended Mechner's Smoking Car Productions studio, is nothing short of sheer brilliance. The idea of riding a train through Europe in the midst of a heap of political drama is exciting enough in itself. This isn't just any train though; it's the famed Orient Express, running from Paris to Constantinople. And the time isn't just any era; it's late July of 1914—the week that World War I began.

The Last Express, though imperfect to be sure, is a masterpiece in many respects. You play Robert Cath, summoned to Europe by an old friend named Tyler Whitney who requests your assistance on the train. Once you get there, Tyler's been brutally murdered, and that's just the beginning of the mystery. As you assume Tyler's identity, you will soon be plunged into a mass of political intrigue. There is a member of African royalty with his own private car, who is prepared for some sort of exchange. A German man named August Schmidt seems prepared to sell you some contraband, not to mention an Austrian spy and a group of Serbian nationalists who will give their life (and take yours) for their cause.

This game is unbelievably successful in drawing the gamer into the environment of the train, and almost demands that it be played with the lights dimmed and no extraneous noises so as to appreciate the claustrophobic sounds of the train. It's a small environment indeed; two sleeping cars with eight compartments each, the prince's private car, a dining room, a smoking room, and the baggage car. All the action takes place in these areas. Unlike games such as Beneath a Steel Sky which are scenery-driven in many respects, this game is as completely character-driven as an adventure could be. The characters are distinct and vividly realistic. The main character has a personality, a rarity in most first-person games.

The puzzles are also implemented quite well in this game. There are no frustrating Myst-like puzzles, because Mechner has no desire to hamper your progress in the game. But this isn't a cakewalk; there are quite a few necessary dilemmas that may take the gamer some time to unravel. Most of these are issues of timing, and the skillful balance generally prevents them from becoming exercises in frustration. In the event of death, the player has the freedom to rewind the game's clock to any point in the game and start over from there.

There are two things that I really love about Last Express. One is the technical aspect: TLE features some staggeringly gorgeous graphics and animation. The jerky frame-skipping style of animation takes some getting used to, but in the end it adds to the old-movie feel. When there is full animation, such as cut-scenes when the train pulls into a major station, it is a breathtaking sight. The hand-drawn scenes of Europe are gorgeous. The sound is also noteworthy; an understated classical soundtrack frames the monotonous clatter of train tracks. The voice-acting on this game is absolutely second to none. Obviously there are many different languages being spoken and apparently no expense was spared in hiring the best in voice talent. German, Russian, French, Serbian...each is here, spoken to perfection.

But the feature that I really love is the way time passes whether or not you're doing anything. I always wished that games would incorporate this more. Willy Beamish was one notable game that I appreciated this about. In this game, there are fifteen other passengers aboard, and they work under their own schedule. Herr Schmidt will go have dinner with Miss Wolff at 7:40 whether or not you intercept him in the hall, or sit next to them and eavesdrop, or simply sit in your compartment and examine your inventory. This feature makes it impossible to experience everything in the game the first time through, providing for immense replay value. I hope that more games will utilize this feature in years to come; I'd love to think how it could be utilized in a detective mystery game.

The Last Express is not very useful as a Pepper's Adventures in Time-ish history education device. The European political situation in mid-1914 is complicated, and not easily explained by a computer game. You will find that you enjoy the game much more if you have a fairly decent understanding of what was happening; otherwise the characters' motivations will remain cloudy. Perhaps this can be seen as a weakness, but the game would have lost a tragic amount of its dramatic edge otherwise, and if anything here's a reason for you to bone up on your pre-WW1 history. Sadly, Broderbund was led to believe there was no audience for this game as a result of the high level of storytelling, and the marketing was minimal at best. Suffice it to say the game was a financial failure, and without a doubt the saddest non-success story on this countdown.

mezin

i've played it .. its a super game ... even my MOM was tempted to play it

darkstar

Well imo there isnt a game which can cover all aspects of gaming in one piece of software , but u can point out games that stand out the most , i am not gonna list my fav games cause its a bit large....changes my mind here are some:

Blizzard games (ALL except WOW)
COD
Pro Evolution 4 (best Soccer game EVER)
...etc

mahdoum

I think the way that the GTA series are going, they are and will continue to be one of the best games ever created.

DxDevil

the best game i've ever played is Final Fantasy X, i've been playing it for 165 hours and there are still some things i havent finished yet

karim-soubra

grim findango

mahdoum

grim findango was a great game, have you played monkey island and monkey island 2.

btw have Lucas Arts created any new games with the same idea in mind?

karim-soubra

i played a bit of monkey island but didn't like it
any ways i don't like playing much adventures games (last one beeing syberia) because they take too much time to complete so that is a big turn off for me
but grim findango was one of the early games that i played that left an impression

karim-soubra

this topic would be more interesting if we add genres
ex: action, rpg, strategy, adventure, simulation, sports....

mahdoum

yeah it would makes it clear what type of game we're talking about even if we haven't heard of it before.