History VideoGame / TheLastExpress

* DeadPersonImpersonation: Robert Cath, the protagonist, impersonates his friend, Tyler Whitney (in the page picture).

** At one point, Cath must steal [[spoiler:the Firebird egg]] for Kronos, while also stealing a briefcase full of money from Kronos to show to August Schmidt. While you can lose the spoilered item, have it stolen back, give it to Kronos, or never find it at all, the game takes into account whether or not you also stole the briefcase if Kronos gets the item, and reacts accordingly. What makes this more impressive is that Kronos getting his hands on the item results in a NonstandardGameOver, meaning they thought of all of this for a path that leads to a bad ending.

On July 24, 1914, The OrientExpress sits in the Gare de l'Est, in Paris, bound for Constantinople. A worried American looks out the door of the train car as it begins to pull out of the station. With a look of disappointment, he returns to the car.

As the train speeds through a French field, a motorcycle pulls alongside it in its travel. The passenger stands up on the motorcycle. Grasping at the rails, he makes a leap across to the door of the train, landing with a hard thud, adjusting his coat and casually stepping inside. You are Robert Cath, wanted all across Europe. You have just boarded the Last Express.

''The Last Express'' was a 1997 AdventureGame by Smoking Car Productions, set on the Orient Express at the eve of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Lovingly written and put together, it was the unfortunate victim of a DiabolusExMachina involving its distributor. Creator/BroderbundSoftware's entire marketing department quit just weeks before the game was to be released, which resulted in [[InvisibleAdvertising absolutely no advertising]] for it. [[AcclaimedFlop While critically acclaimed, it was one of the biggest flops in gaming history.]] Thankfully, Creator/InterplayEntertainment obtained the rights to the game and started re-doing it.

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Cath, Anna, and her dog Max are the only ones who survive the full train ride among the main characters. The other passengers except for the Obolenskys, the Serbs, and Mahmoud Makhta only survive because Cath separated the train cars.]]

One of the creators (Jordan Mechner) edited all the significant events together into a movie, which can be watched [[http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2009/03/the-last-express-remixed/ at his site]]. The game itself has been rereleased as a [[http://www.dotemu.com/en/download-game/608/the-last-express-collectors-edition Digital Download Collector's Edition]]. It is also available on [[http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/last_express_the GOG.com]], [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/252710/ Steam]], [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]], and {{UsefulNotes/Android|Games}}. A screenplay for a proposed film adaptation is available to read [[https://jordanmechner.com/downloads/LastExpress-Screenplay.pdf here]]

* BloodSplatteredInnocents: Cath and [[spoiler: Tatiana]]. In the first case Cath is innocent in the legal sense; though he must pick up and move Tyler's body, staining his jacket with blood, he did not kill Tyler. In the second case [[spoiler: Tatiana]] is innocent in ''every'' sense, wearing a bloody hand-print from a dying man for almost two days, which does not bode well for her sanity.

* EggMacGuffin: Tyler Whitney got mixed up in a deal where he planned to sell a golden jeweled egg called the Firebird for money and then using that money to give weapons to Serbian separatists. Unfortunately, that egg was stolen around the time he was murdered. Since you are impersonating Tyler, you need to find the egg and make the two deals go through in order to prevent Tyler's creditors from dishing out consequences. And as it turns out, [[spoiler: the egg, which can turn into a sentient mechanical automaton of a bird, is what killed Tyler, answering the big mystery of the game]].

* LowClearance: Near the end of the game, [[spoiler: if he doesn't hit the deck when Vesna does, Cath smacks into the top of a train tunnel]].

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The Persian eunuch shouts at you... in Arabic. This is especially bizarre given that every character other than him speaks their native language perfectly.

* BilingualBonus: Although French, German and Russian dialogue has subtitles, there are none for Serbo-Croatian or Arabic, neither of which Cath knows. Also, although Cath can speak Russian, he apparently cannot read Cyrillic script and needs one of the Russian-speakers to translate the fairytale for him.

* BluffingTheMurderer: [[spoiler:George Abbott knows Cath is the wanted American and Alexei is an anarchist, but he's not sure which person is the bigger threat. If you talk with him, he casually mentions and notices many suspicious details about Cath, and he talks to Alexei later in a manner that offends his anarchist sensibilities, confirming both his suspicions when they quickly excuse themselves from the conversation.]]

* ChekhovsGun: When the game opens, Cath finds Tyler dead. His body is covered with bloody cuts and claw marks; the explanation for how this happened, who killed him, and why isn't explained until the end of the game. [[spoiler:It's the Firebird. The thing is secretly an attack drone, and it was sicced on Tyler to kill him. When Cath activates it right at the end of the game, the way the Firebird kills Kronos and Kahina has Cath quietly reference Tyler, explaining what killed him.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:WWI begins, Cath doesn't get the girl, Tatiana blows herself up, and the explanation of Tyler's death leaves something to be desired. Not to mention, a good portion of the cast ends up dead.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Tatiana blows herself up with August's guns to prevent anyone else from getting their hands on them.]]

* TheEdwardianEra: {{Deconstructed}}. The era's elegance, glamor, wit and technological optimism are all aboard the OrientExpress just as advertised, but it just as carefully details the centuries-old schisms and hatreds that resulted in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
* EggMacGuffin: Tyler Whitney got mixed up in a deal where he planned to sell a golden, jeweled egg called the Firebird for money and then using that money to give weapons to terrorists. Unfortunately, that egg was stolen around the time he was murdered. Since you are impersonating Tyler, you need to find the egg and make the two deals go through in order to prevent Tyler's creditors from dishing out consequences. And as it turns out [[spoiler: the egg, which can turn into a mechanical bird, is what killed Tyler, answering the big question of the game]].

* ForegoneConclusion: It's too late to prevent World War I. It's all a matter of being in the right place when it begins.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: The creators were going for this, as touched on in the "making of" video. Cath, for instance, is not a bad guy, but he's not exactly ''ethical'', either.
* HappyFunBall: [[spoiler:The Firebird can turn into a mechanical attack drone. It's what ended up killing Tyler, and what also kills Kronos and Kahina in the game's true ending.]]
* HideYourLesbians: If you read Rebecca's diary and listen to her and Sophie's conversations, it's clear that they're involved in a lesbian relationship and the purpose of their travel is to go to a [[LadyLand secluded island]] together. But then Sophie makes it clear in one conversation that she intends to [[BaitAndSwitchLesbians get married]] (to a man) one day, and [[NeverASelfMadeWoman advises Rebecca to do the same]] [[OldMaid before her beauty fades]]. Rebecca [[{{Gayngst}} does not like this idea]].
* JustEatGilligan: Averted. When Cath finds Tyler dead at the beginning of the game, just pulling the emergency stop levers on the train isn't an option for Cath because [[spoiler:he's a wanted fugitive across Western Europe; authorities meeting Cath will get him arrested on the spot]].

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Cath, Anna, and her dog Max are the only ones who survive the train ride among the main characters. The minor characters only survive because Cath separates the train cars.]]

* TheLastTitle: The game takes place in 1914 on the last Orient Express to run before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI broke out. It would not run again until 1932... [[spoiler:which results in a DownerEnding, as Anna, thinking the war would only last a month, promised to come find Robert on "the first Orient Express that runs after the war."]]

One of the creators (Jordan Mechner) edited all the significant events together into a movie, which can be watched [[http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2009/03/the-last-express-remixed/ at his site]]. The game itself has been rereleased as a [[http://www.dotemu.com/en/download-game/608/the-last-express-collectors-edition Digital Download Collector's Edition]]. It is also available on [[http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/last_express_the GOG.com]], [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/252710/ Steam]], [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]], and {{UsefulNotes/Android|Games}}.

* DeadMansChest: One of the ways to stop anyone from finding the body is to stash it in your bed.

** If you hide Tyler's body in the bed, then illogically take it out before Milos enters your compartment, you get a unique game over where Milos pulls the emergency brake upon discovering the body.

* LadyOfWar: Anna and Vesna, both of whom pull a gun and a knife on Cath..

* MacGuffin: The gold, the guns, and the Firebird. All of it plays into the tensions on the train; most of the people onboard want at least one of those things.

* PressXToDie: Pulling the train's emergency brake at any time results in Cath getting arrested. Except [[spoiler:after the Serbs hijack the train, when it does nothing since they cut the wires.]]

* VasquezAlwaysDies: The only females who die in the game (in the good ending) are also the least feminine. [[spoiler:Except Tatiana.]]

-->'''Anna''': ''(points gun at Cath)'' We're still within the Austrian Empire. In the name of the emperor, I order you to stop the train! ...Do you think I won't shoot you?\\

* HappyFunBall: [[spoiler:The Firebird can turn into a mechanical attack drone.]]

* MacGuffin: The gold, the guns, and later the Firebird.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler:George Abbot, a bumbling, loquacious British businessman... and spy.]]

* RefugeInAudacity: If you want the game to continue beyond Vienna, the correct way to obtain the briefcase is to [[spoiler:drop into Kronos's cabin from above during the concert, steal the briefcase, then walk out ''holding the briefcase in plain view of everyone''. The audience is probably too focused on Kronos and Miss Wolff to realize what's going on; Kronos and Kahina know exactly what's going on but are powerless to do anything about it at that time since their concert is part of TheMasquerade and they must keep it going.]]

* SkippableBoss: Thanks to what may or may not be a glitch. See GoodBadBugs on the YMMV page.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Alexei is a radical, revolutionary anarchist [[spoiler: who tries to blow up the whole train just to kill Count Obelensky,]] but he always believes what he is doing is for the greater good and truly loves Tatiana.