Ramses_Emerson Reviews

The Last Express (1997 Video Game)

The Greatest Game You've Never Played

[7 March 2006]

The Last Express

Published in 1997 by Broderbund, re-published in 2000 by Interplay

The Last Express is my favorite game. You've probably never never heard of it, well, most people haven't. The game was helmed by the legendary Jordan Mechner, father of the Prince of Persia series. Jordan and his team at Smoking Car Productions spent four years on the game, only to have their publisher close it's doors on the eve of it's release, thus the marketing for the game was minimal, and though it was hailed as a masterpiece by CNN, MSNBC, and Games Domain it sold very few copies. It was picked up and re-published in 2000 by Interplay, but the sales just weren't there. Once again it was discontinued. The game has been out of print for years now, and is fast becoming rare, though you can still get it through the "Used and New" section of amazon.com.

Story: The Last Express is set on the Orient Express in July 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War. Enter our hero, Robert Cath, a mysterious American who was supposed to meet his friend Tyler Whitney at the Paris train station. Missing the train, Cath jumps aboard via a motercycle sidecar. He carries nothing but a newspaper clipping with a description of a wanted criminal who sounds suspiciously like himself. Quickly he makes his way to Tyler's compartment. He finds his friend dead, murdered! And thus Cath assumes the identity of Tyler Whitney in an attempt to catch his killer, and evade his own past. I won't spoil any more of the plot for you, it's best discovered on your own.

The Game: Most of the game is seen through the a first person perspective, though whenever you have conversation with someone, pick something up, interact with the environment, or get into a fight, it's seen in the third person. The Last Express is not a traditional adventure game. There are none of the annoying, illogically placed puzzles of most games in the genre. Playing the Last Express feels like stepping right into a really good old film, it has a feel to it very reminiscent of Casablanca, or The Third Man. The puzzles in the Last Express are the characters, they are all complicated and interesting, the German industrialist, the British spy, the young Russian anarchist, the old servant of the Czar, his 16 year old granddaughter, and a beautiful and mysterious Austrian violinist. These are just a few of the characters in the game, all of which are fully fleshed out. You can eavesdrop on their conversations or walk up and speak to them. The entire game is in real time, and takes place over the course of three days, as the train hurdles through Europe. This adds an interesting feel to the game, as things are happening all the time even if you aren't there. I will say right now that The Last Express has the greatest story and dialogue of any game I have ever played, it is of the same quality as a great movie, or a classic book. There is murder, political intrigue, suspense, characters who are not what they seem, fist fights, and even romance. The character of Robert Cath makes for a fantastic protagonist, at first we are unaware of his motivations, but all becomes clear as the game progresses. There is no saving system in the Last Express, the game simply remembers where you are when you quit, and you can rewind time to undo past mistakes.

Sound: The actors all do a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life. The main character is very well done, as are all the supporting characters, many of whom speak in French, Russian or German (There are subtitles for these languages, though there are no subtitles for languages such as Arabic, or Serbo-croation, which Cath does not understand). And the music is the finest I've ever heard in the game. The mournful violin, and tragic piano are perfectly to the game's setting and style.

Graphics: The graphics are in the Art Nouveau style of the historical period, which may seem a little odd at first, but somehow they really work brilliantly for the game. The characters are detailed and expressive, and the beauty and extravagance of a 1914 luxury train is captured perfectly.

In Conclusion: The game may be out of print, though, as I said before, you still can get copies through Amazon.com or Ebay. I highly reccommed that you do what is necessary get your hands on this game. I believe The Last Express is a textbook example of what gaming should be.

Without a doubt the greatest adventure game I have ever played.

10 out of 10

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

Forgotten Classic

[10/10 · 24 February 2006]

You are unlikely to have heard of "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer." It has long been overshadowed by it's more popular contemporaries "Beau Geste" and "Gunga Din", though it is, in my humble opinion, a finer film then either of them. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning.

"The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" is the story of a regiment of British soldiers in Imperial India. It's an adventure film first and foremost, but it is also an intimate drama about the life of a soldier in an age of Victorian honor, chivalry, and stiff upper lip stoicism. The characters are all interesting and complex and the dialogue is witty and literate.

The film holds up very well for a movie made in 1935, largely due to the lack of any melodramatic romantic subplots, which have permanently marred other adventure films of the period. This is a man's film about men in desperate situations, it's about being willing to die for your country or your friends at a moments notice. It's about a concept that most people consider outdated, honor. How many films have you seen recently about honor, loyalty, and true courage? Probably not many. The action scenes are exhilarating, and the film really does a wonderful job of establishing it's Indian setting.

The performances are all first rate, Gary Cooper stars as Lt. McGregor. I've always imagined Cooper as the quiet, serious, everyman characters he played later in his career. Here he gets to try his hand at comedy and complexity and gives arguably the most layered performance of his career. Franchot Tone is also perfectly cast, he won on Oscar the same year for his performance in Mutiny on the Bounty, but his performance in this film is equally deserving of acclaim. Tone was one of the best actors of the 1930's, though he never really hit it big as a leading man. He's wonderful here, his character exudes charm and wit, and he and Cooper bounce off each other wonderfully. Richard Cromwell is a little over the top, but he makes sense for the character. British stage actor Guy Standing plays Colonel Stone as being emotionless on the outside, and yet torn apart on the inside, having to make the impossible choice between loyalty to one's family and loyalty to one's country. It's a great performance for which he should have received an Oscar nomination. As for C. Aubrey Smith, he is wonderful as usual, the quintessential British officer, often imitated but never equaled, there is no one like the man himself. Douglas Dumbrille also gives a fine performance as the evil Muhammad Khan.

"The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" is a great film, that has been unfairly denied the classic status it so deserves. For years the only way to see it was on Turner Classic Movies, but recently it was released as one of the five films on the $25 "Gary Cooper Collection". Don't miss it.

10 out of 10

Also, though most people don't know it, this is the film in which the now famous line "We have ways of making men talk" is first uttered.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (I) (2003 Video Game)

Jordan Mechner and Ubisoft have truly created a classic.

[13 September 2005]

Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Why? Let me tell you why.

Story: This game has one of the best stories in any game (ever). It was written by the Creator of the original Prince of Persia game (made back in 1989) Jordan Mechner, who also wrote what may be the best adventure game ever made The Last Express (1997). Jordan weaves the complicated narrative into a story that is exciting, romantic, and actually intriguing and involving. The characters are interesting and complex and the hero is far more interesting then most video game heroes (not you're typical one-liner spewing space marine).

Sound: The sound design in this game is excellent. The voice acting is very good for the most part. But, what makes the sound design really remarkable is the excellent soundtrack by Stuart Chatwood. He skillfully mixes traditional Middle Eastern music with electric guitar and drums and some excellent vocals. The music reminded me of the wonderful score for Gladiator (2000).

Graphics and Animation: The graphics in Sands of Time are breathtaking! The environments and characters are amazingly detailed and rendered. So much attention to detail on every character and area. And best of all the videos in the game are absolutely stunning, at first glance you will think you are watching a live-action Hollywood movie. The Prince is animated very well and the game manages to make all of his very acrobatic moves look real. They developers also gave him and the other characters very realistic facial animations.

Game play: And most importantly of all the game play, all those other attributes don't really matter if the game isn't fun, and this game is most definitely fun! Most of the game play consists of getting from one place to another in the giant palace that the entire game takes place in. The fun part is how you get there. The prince is some what of a Middle Eastern ninja in the way that he can run along and up walls. The game isn't to big on traditional puzzles, in Sands of Time the environments are the puzzles. The most flawed part of the game is easily the combat, it starts out great, with you being able to pull of all sorts of moves like jumping over an enemies head and slashing them in the back, however as the game progresses the enemies begin to be able to block all the interesting attacks and thus you are forced to use only a few different moves. This is a minor complaint considering how good the rest of the game is.

NOTE ABOUT DIFFERENT VERSIONS: The Xbox version of the game is the best all things considered. If you have any of the three consoles (PS2, Xbox or Gamecube) I recommend that you buy it for one them. However, if you only have a PC don't deny yourself this fantastic game.

Overall: The game is an excellent, well written, amazing looking, involving and entertaining experience. I absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoys games. 5 out of 5.

Hornblower: Loyalty (2003 TV Movie)

Superb entertainment! One of the best Hornblower films yet.

[10/10 · 18 April 2005]

Loyalty is the 8th installment in the Horatio Hornblower series and so far it's one of the best. If you enjoyed the previous Hornblower films you will surely enjoy this one. As we have come to expect from the Horatio Hornblower series the acting is great, Ioan Gruffudd as Hornblower is fantastic as usual and Robert Lindsay and Paul McGann also turn in excellent performances. The rest of the crew is back ( and fans will surely enjoy seeing Sean Gilder and Paul Copley as Styles and Mathews). The script is great and the battles on land and sea are epic and intense. The visual effects are pretty good especially in one scene that has Horatio running as everything is exploding behind him. The music is basically the same material we have heard in the other Hornblower films, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. All in all an excellent production and a great continuation of the Hornblower saga.

Building a Better Mummy (1999 Video)

Fairly interesting for die hard fans

[13 February 2005]

Building a Better Mummy is the making of documentary on the DVD edition of "The Mummy". I am a huge fan of "The Mummy" and so I was interested in seeing this documentary. It focuses mostly on the computer generated effects part of the production which disappointed me a bit. The best part of this documentary is when the cast and the director talk about the movie, and I would have liked to have seen more of the interviews with them. It would have been nice to see how they built the sets, why the casted the actors, what it was like filming in the desert, instead most of the documentary is about how they digitally created the character of the Mummy. Still it is interesting for die hard fans of "The Mummy" though most other people will probably be bored.