Rating: 
Summary: An amazingly unique and innovative classic
Review: There are certain things that I like to have in each adventure game I play. First, I want a cast of characters that are unique and interesting to talk to, and secondly I like to feel that I make an impact on the events around me. And finally I like the setting to be real enough for me to lose myself in and feel like I'm really there.The Last Express does all of those things. The animation takes some getting used to at first (it looks as though they filmed live actors and then animated over them, although at times the animation is more of a slide show than people actually moving around), but sooner than you think you quickly fall into the mystery of the game. You are an American spy who sneaks on board the famous Orient Express to meet up with a companion,only to find him dead and an object in his room stolen. From there you venture out on a 4CD game of whodunit. One of the appealing things about the game is that whether you sit in your room or if you wander around, things happen. You might be walking down the hall and see a woman rushing past you in tears, but if you choose to sit in the dining car and evesdrop on people's conversations you might find out what made her cry. But whether you are there or not, things will happen. but fear not! If you die or fail the game will rewind the clock and allow you to try again. The ambiance in this game was phenominal, and the eye for detail was equally as nice. I wish there were more games like The Last Express.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm sorry, but this game is terrible!
Review: There are two main problems with the game. One is the mechanics: it attempts to play in pseudo-real time. Which means that if you aren't in the dining car when Anna talks about the Phoenix, you've missed your one and only chance at hearing that conversation. For the most part you can succeed without hearing all of those conversations, although the game doesn't handle this completely gracefully. Sometimes your character will act as if he heard something that he never did. For instance, when I first started playing the game I walked into the dining car and sat down next to a German man and said, "Hello Herr Schmidt." Imagine my surprise, I had no idea my character knew who this was. It turns out that if you are in your room at just the right time the conductor comes to tell you that Herr Schmidt is waiting in the dining car for you. Even though I missed that, the game still thought I knew Schmidt's name. The far worse aspect of this "real-time" game play is you spend a lot -- and I mean A LOT -- of time walking back and forth in the halls of the train. Which wouldn't be too bad except that the game world is amazingly small for a game on three CDs. And there is very little to interact with. So when you have a concert at 3:00 and it is only 1:15 now, you just walk back and forth, up and down the train, clicking on anything and everything even though there isn't anything for you to except wait until 3:00. But those are technical details. They could be overlooked if the game was completely engrossing with a compelling, immersive, believable story. The problem is that last word: "believable". Almost every aspect of the game is unbelievable. Imagine this, you arrange to meet a friend on the train. You board the train and make your way to the room you share with him. Inside you find his dead body. What is your reaction? Call the conductor? Report the murder? The game doesn't even allow those options. Nope, instead you toss his body out the window and put on his jacket. Huh? Later on you are invited to a concert. You stand up in the middle of the small private concert (with about 5 spectators listening), exit through Door A, climb onto the roof of a train, break a skylight to enter a private room, and find a suitcase full of gold. What would you do? Climb back up through the skylight, taking the gold with you? Nope, the game won't let you do that. Your only option is to walk back into the concert, this time coming in through Door B (and carrying a suitcase you didn't have when you left through Door A). You walk past the five people listening to the music who show no suspicion or in any other way indicate that something is out of place. Huh? What's going on here. Likewise the conductors will prevent you from entering other people's rooms, but they seem to have no issues when you mysteriously emerge from supposedly locked rooms. All in the all the game is just way way way too forced. It is impossible to suspend disbelief and take part of the game world. The provides a small amount of free action but only enough that it becomes extraordinarily frustrating when you run up against its many, many limitations. Please don't waste your time on this game. (Not that it takes very long to finish, you can do it about 10-15 hours.)
Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry, but this game is terrible!
Review: There are two main problems with the game. One is the mechanics: it attempts to play in pseudo-real time. Which means that if you aren't in the dining car when Anna talks about the Phoenix, you've missed your one and only chance at hearing that conversation. For the most part you can succeed without hearing all of those conversations, although the game doesn't handle this completely gracefully. Sometimes your character will act as if he heard something that he never did. For instance, when I first started playing the game I walked into the dining car and sat down next to a German man and said, "Hello Herr Schmidt." Imagine my surprise, I had no idea my character knew who this was. It turns out that if you are in your room at just the right time the conductor comes to tell you that Herr Schmidt is waiting in the dining car for you. Even though I missed that, the game still thought I knew Schmidt's name. The far worse aspect of this "real-time" game play is you spend a lot -- and I mean A LOT -- of time walking back and forth in the halls of the train. Which wouldn't be too bad except that the game world is amazingly small for a game on three CDs. And there is very little to interact with. So when you have a concert at 3:00 and it is only 1:15 now, you just walk back and forth, up and down the train, clicking on anything and everything even though there isn't anything for you to except wait until 3:00. But those are technical details. They could be overlooked if the game was completely engrossing with a compelling, immersive, believable story. The problem is that last word: "believable". Almost every aspect of the game is unbelievable. Imagine this, you arrange to meet a friend on the train. You board the train and make your way to the room you share with him. Inside you find his dead body. What is your reaction? Call the conductor? Report the murder? The game doesn't even allow those options. Nope, instead you toss his body out the window and put on his jacket. Huh? Later on you are invited to a concert. You stand up in the middle of the small private concert (with about 5 spectators listening), exit through Door A, climb onto the roof of a train, break a skylight to enter a private room, and find a suitcase full of gold. What would you do? Climb back up through the skylight, taking the gold with you? Nope, the game won't let you do that. Your only option is to walk back into the concert, this time coming in through Door B (and carrying a suitcase you didn't have when you left through Door A). You walk past the five people listening to the music who show no suspicion or in any other way indicate that something is out of place. Huh? What's going on here. Likewise the conductors will prevent you from entering other people's rooms, but they seem to have no issues when you mysteriously emerge from supposedly locked rooms. All in the all the game is just way way way too forced. It is impossible to suspend disbelief and take part of the game world. The provides a small amount of free action but only enough that it becomes extraordinarily frustrating when you run up against its many, many limitations. Please don't waste your time on this game. (Not that it takes very long to finish, you can do it about 10-15 hours.)
Rating: 
Summary: Very good game for person sick of pointless puzzles
Review: This game is truly one of a kind. There is absolutely no other game that can come close to it. I bought this game in 1997 and have played it as recently as today! It's that entertaining. Beautiful visuals aside, the story of The Last Express is breathtaking. Although a sequel had been planned, Smoking Car Productions has sadly disbanded, ending the deal. However, I have exciting news that a movie version is in the works, with both Jordan Mechner and Tomi Pierce supervising. My advice is to buy this game and then go see the movie:) More game developers need to take their cue from this game, if more games came close to this one I'd buy them as fast as they could make them.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Express is one of a kind
Review: This game is truly one of a kind. There is absolutely no other game that can come close to it. I bought this game in 1997 and have played it as recently as today! It's that entertaining. Beautiful visuals aside, the story of The Last Express is breathtaking. Although a sequel had been planned, Smoking Car Productions has sadly disbanded, ending the deal. However, I have exciting news that a movie version is in the works, with both Jordan Mechner and Tomi Pierce supervising. My advice is to buy this game and then go see the movie:) More game developers need to take their cue from this game, if more games came close to this one I'd buy them as fast as they could make them.
Rating:
Summary: Best Game Ever!
Review: This is perhaps the best game out there! It is very interactive, with many different characters. The game goes on as you play, so wherever you are on the train there are different things going on. It's so cool. I've beaten this game many times and the puzzles are fun and aren't too hard. It's the best! Get it for everyone you know!
Rating:
Summary: A New Art
Review: This is the first video game that has ever made me consider that the video game might be the novel of the twenty-first century. Looking at the screen-shots, it may not draw in the traditional video game player (such as myself). And yet, once you are in the environment, the game is totally aborbing. There aren't enough "puzzles" to qualify the game as Myst-style, but the characterization and story make this game something beyond any other video game I've ever seen. It's emotionally involving, in the way that we merge ourselves into truly good movies and books. The somewhat cartoonish style isn't so much like King's Quest or Space Quest as it is like Toulouse-Latrec. And the background design is stunning and intricate. There are plenty of plot-twists and mysteries to solve -- this is no stale adventure -- but the involvement you experience in the story is unlike anything I've seen since, despite all of our technological advances. This is, still, one of the finest video games ever produced, a first-person story of the highest order, where you determine, every time you play, the flavor of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, yet Frustrating
Review: Those who enjoy this genre will probably have much less trouble playing this game than I did. I am a complete novice at this type of game(similar to games like Myst), and was about as frustrated as one could possibly be without actually resorting to physical violence against the computer. I finally broke down and downloaded the "helpful hints" from a sight on the internet...which made ALL the difference! In general, I would say that the graphics, the design of the game,etc. were beyond excellent...unbelievably good, actually. The frustration comes in knowing that you have obviously missed something (because the computer kills you off), but having no idea just how far back you need to go (when so many of the events are very precisely timed)in order to try to figure out what you've missed. For those who normally enjoy playing this type of game, it would probably grab all 5 stars and maybe more; for me, the frustration factor was just a little too high.
Rating:
Summary: the best adventure game I've ever played!
Review: When I started playing LAST EXPRESS I felt a bit annoyed because of the screen presentation (the game used only about the middle third amount of the computer screen when walking through hallways on the Orient Express). But all negative thoughts thoroughly evaporated when I got into the flow. There are dozens of characters to get involved with, and I never felt a lack of plot or characterization. Even the minor characters such as the cheif berating his apprentice behind the dining cart curtain gave me something to laugh about. And unlike many of the adventure games out today, there is more than one way to play it. As another reviewer mentioned, you could simply walk around and listen to conversations, you could choose to ignore the characters that you find to be "creepy," or you could just follow up on the events leading to the world war by reading the newspaper that is changed once in the game. I think that the cartoonish style is an interesting touch because I understand what the creators meant by using it. Too often when there is digital video graphics in a game people tend to concentrate on the graphics instead of the plot, which is the heart of adventure gaming. In short, I couldn't stop playing. If you are the type of gamer which need to blow something up every five minutes, this game isn't for you. If you are interested in a game with thought-provoking conversations, and exciting events occuring one after the other (including scenes where your character REALLY DOES fight!) you should seriously consider buying THE LAST EXPRESS. If you are an adventure gamer (or a beginner in this genre) that is interested in history, or the out-break of the first world war, this is a GREAT game for you. Thank you for your time
Rating:
Summary: Adventurers Out There!
Review: Where do I even begin? I have no complaints! The music arrangement was beautiful. The scenes dramatic and exciting! This game contains international intrigue, suspense, mystery and romance. I enjoyed playing Robert Cath, an American fugitive with a mysterious background who has come onboard the Express to visit an old friend. When he arrives, he discovers his friend has been murdered. Robert then embarks on a quest to find out who did it and why. There are a few fighting scenes but if you get killed, you can set the clock back and try again. The game is in real time, which I found to be an advantage giving you a true sense of your surroundings. There is a need for urgency in some scenes where you have so much time to complete a particular task, which I found challenging and exciting. There are times when nothing is going on so I kept myself busy reading the paper or exploring the train. The time frame is just before the outbreak of WWI so if you like history, you'll enjoy reading the newspaper articles regarding that era. You eat, sleep, explore, talk to people, listen to conversations just like you would in real life. The effect is amazing! I would recommend this to history buffs, adventurers and romantics.
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