The joy of books is that they draw upon your imagination. The locations, descriptors and protagonists all take on a unique identity in your mind, a vision that is different from anyone else's. Then when a film or game is based upon a book, it shatters your elaborate mental constructions and replaces it with a reality that is often far removed from your own visualisations. So if you have ever read the eponymous novel by Agatha Christie - And Then There Were None, don't expect to be marvellously thrilled by this reinterpretation. And to save myself the irksome task of typing out the full title, the game will from henceforth be referred to as ATTWN.

The basic structure of the book is adhered to rather less than religiously. A new character is invented so as to grant a way in which to tell the story. You play the part of an 11th character, Patrick Narracot, and from his perspective, must solve the mystery. To those who never read the book, the storyline brings together a number of unconvicted murderers and starts killing them off, one by one. It must be mentioned that the game's ending differs from the book, and is a good deal less satisfying. The inclusion of the book's ending as an extra does mollify this gripe somewhat though, and I suppose that to use the same ending would have spoiled the game for anyone who has already read the book, and vice versa.

In terms of creating an atmosphere, ATTWN manages to generate a remarkably moody milieu, with every scene somehow just managing to exude a foreboding miasma. The graphics are all pre-rendered, which limits their interactivity with the 3D characters, but allows the capability for some truly gorgeously styled backgrounds. The 3D models do look a little out of place plodding around a rendered scene that is clearly dimensionally deficient, but if you squint you may be able to overlook this.

Having created a wonderfully atmospheric mood in which to immerse the player, ATTWN sadly fails to follow this up with a game that actually plays very well. The story itself and the cut scenes wind an elaborate tale, and can easily capture the attention. But then as soon as interaction is required, you start to see why this magnificent tale should have forever remained as a book.

Gameplay falls under the generic format of most adventure games, requiring you to converse at great length with the in-game characters to ascertain why their cat is feeling poorly, or why Mrs Bladdersnitch's lawn is neater than Mr Blubberingale's. In fairness, the voice acting is pretty decent on the whole, and not all the conversation is dull waffle. Then the rest of your chores involve acquiring as many items as you can and combining them with all your other items in the hope that some abstract puzzle might somehow solve itself. A lovely soundtrack accompanies your progression through the game, helping build the tension even more as time inexorably ticks by. The ominous tone of the plot is well represented musically throughout the entire game, while the ambient sounds also add character.

The problem with ATTWN is that it should simply never have been converted into game format. As a story it is magnificent and it allows you to unleash your imagination upon the horror of what is happening. But when it tries to add interaction into the equation, the attempt falls flat. A car is never used as a salad seasoning is it? So why is a perfectly good novel squeezed into the mould of an adventure game. It just doesn't suit interactive gameplay as well as it does a work of literary fiction. Sure, the whole game does suffice to deliver up a healthy wedge of intrigue, but it seems strange that a story should be offered that so many people already know. Admittedly the ending is different, but being so unsatisfying, it is bound to annoy a good deal more people than it pleases.

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None is generic adventure gaming bolstered by a decent plotline. There is nothing new here, but if you are looking for some tense, atmospheric adventuring, then you could do worse than add this little title to your collection - whether or not you've read the classic novel upon which it is based.

Reviewed by Adam Shirley for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).