History VideoGame / TheLastExpress

* BilingualBackfire: The train has English, French, German, Russian, Serbo-Croation and Arabic passengers. Cath is American, but speaks ''[[CunningLinguist four]]'' of those languages. The only one on the train who doesn't assume he is monolingual is the [[NotNowKiddo little kid]] running around who speaks in French.

* 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.]]

Paris. July 24, 1914. The OrientExpress sits in the Gare de l'Est, bound for Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, and Constantinople. Gendarmes look out from a balcony as an announcer warns of the train's imminent departure. 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. Two people have squeezed onto its frame. The passenger stands up on the motorcycle. Grasping at the rails, he makes a leap across to the door of the train, as the motorbike's driver pulls off her cap to reveal her long, flowing red hair. You are Robert Cath, wanted all across Europe. You have just boarded the Last Express.

* ActionGirl: Anna, in the second half of the game.

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Schmidt's arms deal was arranged only so it could be thwarted by Anna and give the Austrians and Germans an excuse to go to war with Serbia. It fails if either Anna dies, Schmidt cancels the deal, or Cath pushes the train on to Constantinople.]]

* BilingualBackfire: An ''integral'' story element. The train has English, French, German, Russian, Serbo-Croation and Arabic passengers. Cath is clearly English, but speaks ''[[CunningLinguist four]]'' of those languages. The only one on the train who ''doesn't'' assume he is monolingual is the [[NotNowKiddo little kid]] running around. This lets him eavesdrop with impunity save for...
* 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.
* BilingualDialogue: Done to the extreme.

* BluffingTheMurderer: Done by [[spoiler:George Abbott. He 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.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Tatiana. Let's start with the fact that her grandfather is a Czarist and her lover is an anarchist bomber and say [[FromBadToWorse it only gets worse]] from there.

* ControllableHelplessness: Robert gets knocked out and tied up by Slav militants. After waking up, you can do nothing but fidget around until the book of matches falls out of his pocket, enabling him to burn through his bonds.
* CulturedBadass: Cath and Anna.

** Also, meeting August Schmidt for the first time. Granted, you have to go out of your way to avoid him, but eventually, you'll have no choice but to talk to him, making part of the deal with him about his merchandise.
* 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. The other ending hints at a sequel, but the player dies just afterwards. Not to mention, a good portion of the cast ends up dead.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Tatiana.]]

* EverybodySmokes
* ForegoneConclusion: It's too late to prevent the war; it's all a matter of being in the right place when it begins.

* GorgeousPeriodDress

* HappyFunBall: [[spoiler:The Firebird.]]

* LadyOfWar: Anna.

* LipstickLesbian: The two French and English girls traveling together.

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Several. Most of them where Cath actually dies involved being stabbed, oddly enough. But, Cath can also get arrested, blown up, shot, hit with an iron bracelet, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking walk off with a briefcase full of gold coins but no closure.]]

** Kronos is also particularly mysterious. His descent and what title he has to be addressed as "his excellency" is unclear, along with how he knows what's ''really'' going on in general, including knowing Cath's name and that he's masquerading as Tyler from the outset, or why he wants anything to do with the Firebird.

** Somewhat justified in that the train conductors consider them just small-town cops with nothing better to do than harass them with something that can't possibly be their problem. That said, if they ''do'' find Cath, they realize he fits the description of a fugitive and [[NonStandardGameOver arrest him right away]].

* ThrillerOnTheExpress
* TraintopBattle: Two of them, in fact.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: The fight scenes.

* BilingualBackfire: An ''integral'' story element. The train has English, French, German, Russian, Serbo-Croation and Arabic passengers. Cath is clearly English, but speaks ''[[CunningLinguist four]]'' of those languages. The only non-Englishman on the train who ''doesn't'' assume he is monolingual is the [[NotNowKiddo little kid]] running around. This lets him eavesdrop with impunity save for...

* BilingualBackfire: Also applies to Cath. All of the French people on the train (except François, the little boy) assume he cannot speak French. This lets him eavesdrop on their conversations very easily.

* CassandraTruth: Nobody believes François when he says he saw a body being thrown out the window. Even though that's exactly what you did.

-->'''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?
'''Cath''': Go ahead!

** Also applies to Cath. All of the French people on the train (except François, the little boy) assume he cannot speak French. This lets him eavesdrop on their conversations very easily.

->The Orient Express service between Paris and Instanbul was stopped by the outbreak of World War in July 1914.\\

Paris. July 24, 1914. The Orient Express sits in the Gare de l'Est, bound for Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, and Constantinople. Gendarmes look out from a balcony as an announcer warns of the train's imminent departure. 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.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LX-Tyler.jpg

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Lampshaded in a dialogue between Cath and Schmidt.

'''Cath''': "I didn't say I wasn't sympathetic. I said they were terrorists."

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign - The Persian eunuch shouts at you... in Arabic.

* AllThereInTheManual - The story works just fine if you don't check, but the official web site ([[http://lastexpress.markmoran.net/ mirror]]) and the official strategy guide have a bit of background on the characters. Playing the game without these just dips you in headfirst.
* BadassBookworm - Robert Cath; medical doctor, speaks at least four languages, currently pursuing an interest in classical Byzantine literature... and throws a hell of a punch.
* BatmanGambit - [[spoiler: Schmidt's arms deal was arranged only so it could be thwarted by Anna and give the Austrians and Germans an excuse to go to war with Serbia. It fails if either Anna dies, Schmidt cancels the deal, or Cath pushes the train on to Constantinople.]]
* BigNo - [[spoiler: When you blow the whistle at the end, Kronos loses it.]]
* BilingualBonus - Although French, German and Russian dialogue has subtitles, there are none for Serbo-Croatian or Arabic, neither of which Cath knows.

* BilingualDialogue - Done to the extreme.

* BreakTheCutie - Tatiana. Let's start with the fact that her grandfather is a Czarist and her lover is an anarchist bomber and say [[FromBadToWorse it only gets worse]] from there.
* ButNowIMustGo - Just after Anna and Cath save each other and there is a bit of romance, Anna unfortunately has to leave the train. The game is scripted so that it will always arrive just after the fight sequence.
* CassandraTruth - Nobody believes François when he says he saw a body being thrown out the window. Even though that's exactly what you did.

* DeadMansChest - One of the ways to stop anyone from finding the body is to stash it in your bed.
* DeadPersonImpersonation - Robert Cath, the protagonist, impersonates his friend, Tyler Whitney (in the page picture).

* 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. The other ending hints at a sequel, but the player dies just afterwards. Not to mention, a good portion of the cast ends up dead.]]

* EmptyRoomPsych - Some of the passenger compartments have (at times) nothing important or plot related in them, but you'll be so happy you managed to sneak past the conductors, you'll look everywhere before leaving.

* ForegoneConclusion - It's too late to prevent the war; 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.

* WesternTerrorists: The Black Hand, Serbian nationalists. Alexei Dolnikov, Russian nihilist/anarchist. Cath himself is a fugitive for ''at least'' his involvement with the IRB; [[spoiler:though his only crime there was treating their injured - or so George diplomatically concedes. It's not clear if that's what happened or if that would become the "official story" if Cath took his offer to ally himself with British interests; either way, the offer isn't taken.]]

* TheLastTitle: The game takes place in 1914 on the last Orient Express to run before WorldWarOne 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."]]

'''Schmidt''': "You surprise me. I had thought you'd at least keep up the pretense of sympathy with the group who is paying you."\\

-->Cath: "Where do the Fatherland's interests lie in arming a band of Serbian terrorists?"
-->Schmidt: "You surprise me. I had thought you'd at least keep up the pretense of sympathy with the group who is paying you."
-->Cath: "I didn't say I wasn't sympathetic. I said they were terrorists."

* TheLastTitle: The game takes place in 1914 on the last Orient Express service to travel between Paris and Instanbul before WorldWarOne broke out. It would not run again until 1932... [[spoiler:which results in a DownerEnding, as Anna promised to come find Robert on "the first Orient Express that runs after the war."]]

''The Last Express'' was a 1997 AdventureGame by Smoking Car Productions, set on the Orient Express at the eve of WorldWarOne. 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.]]

* TheLastTitle: The game takes place in 1914 on the last Orient Express run to take place before WorldWarOne broke out. It would not run again until 1937... [[spoiler:which results in a DownerEnding, as Anna promised to come find Robert on "the first Orient Express to run after the war ends".]]

* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Several. Most of them where Cath actually dies involved being stabbed, oddly enough. But, Cath can also get arrested, blown up, shot, hit with an iron bracelet, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking walking off with a briefcase full of gold coins]].

----

* TheLastTitle: The name of the game.

''The Last Express'' was a 1997 AdventureGame by Smoking Car Productions, set on the Orient Express at the eve of WorldWarOne. Lovingly written and put together, it was the unfortunate victim of a DiabolusExMachina involving its distributor. Creator/{{Broderbund}}'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.]]

* StillbornFranchise: The Last Express hints at an awesome sequel in which both the significance of Cath's ring and the reason behind his all-consuming drive to get to Jerusalem will be revealed. The suggestion that the 13th tribe of Israel may be involved somehow makes it all the more tantalizing. These would all be spoiler tagged but there will never be a sequel, so we will ''never'' know what happened.