Last Express on GOG

edited February 2011 in General Chat
Truly an overlooked adventure classic. Released in 1997, The Last Express is a beautiful and mechanically brilliant adventure game with a truly engaging story and living world. A truly innovative game that has yet to be topped in the key areas in which it excels.

The game had a truly "living" world, played in real-time with characters that moved about their own business with their own plans and actions that move independent of the player. A storyline that truly changes based on your actions, with a wide variety of possible endings. And it's a great one too, a murder mystery on the Orient Express circa 1941.

7lfTE.png

And stylistically pretty, to boot.

Seriously, if you haven't played this game, you're missing out.

Comments

  • edited January 2011
    I'm hoping it releases on Steam, personally - I have yet to make a purchase on GOG and like to keep everything in one place... :P
  • edited January 2011
    zmally wrote: »
    I'm hoping it releases on Steam, personally - I have yet to make a purchase on GOG and like to keep everything in one place... :P

    Gog > Steam. You get not only a DRM free copy of the game, but tons and tons of extras, and they actually put in the effort to make sure the game runs on modern operating systems.
  • edited January 2011
    Also, DOS games on Steam really are a crapshot. You have no idea what you're getting, really, and sometimes there are a ton of inherent issues. I'm not anti-Steam or anything, but GOG is THE best shop for older titles, and a DRM-free model is better than anything else out there.
  • edited January 2011
    Is it something really dependent on GoG/Steam or maybe the game license holder/publisher? I mean, most DOS games on GoG come with DOSBox (and it's really the only way to run them), so did some of the old games I've bought on Steam - DOSBox. While Beyond Good & Evil, for example, never had problems with running on new systems, but always had graphical artifacts which made it look like crap when running with many of the newer video cards: and all the releases: original, Steam AND GoG (I have them all) don't have this fixed (so I can't play BG&E without the artifacts which is a big damn shame). There ARE games on GoG which were REALLY adapted for new systems, but since those games usually aren't on Steam there really is nothing to compare to, so my guess is that it's not GoG which is fully responsible for how well the game runs on a system. Not that GoG isn't great, I love it.
  • edited January 2011
    I'm thinking of re-buying Beyond Good & Evil on GOG, but that also has to do with the nice shelves layout the site has.
  • edited January 2011
    It's more that GOG seems to put a lot more care into making their releases work properly. Considering their whole entire deal is making old games work on modern computers, no hassle involved, that's not surprising. Generally speaking, rights holders re-releasing games on Steam do a half-assed job.
  • edited January 2011
    Great, great game. It's also on DotEmu, cheaper than GOG and Multilingual...
  • edited January 2011
    ...How is $5.99 cheaper than $5.99?
  • edited January 2011
    nomecopies wrote: »
    Great, great game. It's also on DotEmu, cheaper than GOG and Multilingual...

    It's the same price in US dollars, though.
  • edited January 2011
    Thanks for the heads up, I've been wanting to get that game for a while.
  • edited January 2011
    This has been on my ever growing "to play" list for a while now. I'll definitely check it out when I have the time.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2011
    I totally commend the recommendation. The Last Express is one of my most favourite games of all time, if not THE favourite. If you've never played it, fix that. You're in for a rather nice treat.
  • edited January 2011
    I've never played it, but I've always wanted to - but like I said I'm hoping for a Steam release.. I don't own anything on GOG

    Suppose that could always change.. :P
  • edited January 2011
    I played this last night. It's pretty gosh darn good. Can't believe I overlooked this game.

    This shit's what i'm all about!
  • TeaTea
    edited January 2011
    zmally wrote: »
    I've never played it, but I've always wanted to - but like I said I'm hoping for a Steam release.. I don't own anything on GOG

    Suppose that could always change.. :P

    If you buy it on Steam, you will suffer.

    DOS games do not work from Steam. The publisher/developer is only in control if
    a) they can be bothered
    b) they still exist.

    Look at the Doom releases. They simply don't work without configuring them yourself. This is because id couldn't be bothered. id know full well that good source ports exist for Doom. You could say that they didn't want to choose one because they didn't know what the majority of people would want, but they addressed that with the Quake releases by giving the option of source port. The WAD file is also binary identical to the original Doom WAD and is unprotected so id should expect users to install their own source ports if they dislike the stock ones. (btw, skulltag)

    Smoking Car Productions no longer exist so do you think the game will be worth getting on Steam? It won't.

    You're only hurting yourself if you wait for the Steam release. Get it on GOG to ensure that it will work. Remember that the Steam client is only a list of games so just add it as a non-steam game. If you really hate that, remove the "Status" column to hide the fact that it's a shortcut.

    Remember that when you sign up to GOG.com, you automatically get some of the free games placed on your shelf. You're a fan of Telltale (presumably), so you should be able to appreciate the fantastic Beneath a Steel Sky, which comes in an easy-to-install package.

    So buy it on GOG. Or you'll have no fun.
  • edited January 2011
    Get it on GOG to ensure that it will work.

    I don't know about Last Express yet, but... That statement is wrong... Well, okay, it's not wrong (all GoG games do work, kinda), BUT. I've already mentioned the graphic glitches in BG&E. I neglected to mention pretty frequent crashes in Constructor: Street Wars (i.e. Mob Rule), Messiah, Advent Rising, King's Quest 8 (from those GoG games that I have and that I remember that DO crash... there may be more, who knows?). So, no, I still don't agree that GoG equals 'absolutely no worries'. I don't say that it sucks, cause GoG is great, BUT... some of it's aspects are overhyped, and this hype is part of the reason that, in my opinion, doesn't make them check ALL of their games properly.
  • edited January 2011
    Tea wrote: »
    If you buy it on Steam, you will suffer.

    DOS games do not work from Steam. The publisher/developer is only in control if
    a) they can be bothered
    b) they still exist.

    Look at the Doom releases. They simply don't work without configuring them yourself. This is because id couldn't be bothered. id know full well that good source ports exist for Doom. You could say that they didn't want to choose one because they didn't know what the majority of people would want, but they addressed that with the Quake releases by giving the option of source port. The WAD file is also binary identical to the original Doom WAD and is unprotected so id should expect users to install their own source ports if they dislike the stock ones. (btw, skulltag)

    Smoking Car Productions no longer exist so do you think the game will be worth getting on Steam? It won't.

    You're only hurting yourself if you wait for the Steam release. Get it on GOG to ensure that it will work. Remember that the Steam client is only a list of games so just add it as a non-steam game. If you really hate that, remove the "Status" column to hide the fact that it's a shortcut.

    Remember that when you sign up to GOG.com, you automatically get some of the free games placed on your shelf. You're a fan of Telltale (presumably), so you should be able to appreciate the fantastic Beneath a Steel Sky, which comes in an easy-to-install package.

    So buy it on GOG. Or you'll have no fun.

    For the record, Tea has some sort of position at GOG so he is sort of biased if you couldn't guess.
  • TeaTea
    edited February 2011
    Ribs wrote: »
    For the record, Tea has some sort of position at GOG so he is sort of biased if you couldn't guess.

    I don't work for GOG and I'm no longer associated with the TF2 server, which was also not affiliated with GOG.
  • edited February 2011
    Tea wrote: »
    I don't work for GOG and I'm no longer associated with the TF2 server, which was also not affiliated with GOG.

    I went on that server one Friday night. There was talk of "bears", a lot of talk about "bears".

    In fact it was all bloody "bears" all bloody night!
  • TeaTea
    edited February 2011
    JedExodus wrote: »
    I went on that server one Friday night. There was talk of "bears", a lot of talk about "bears".

    In fact it was all bloody "bears" all bloody night!

    We were talking about the opening level of Thief beforehand. One guy was drunk. Bears becomes a buzzword.
  • edited February 2011
    Tea wrote: »
    We were talking about the opening level of Thief beforehand. One guy was drunk. Bears becomes a buzzword.

    Ahhhhh!
  • edited February 2011
    Farlander wrote: »
    I don't know about Last Express yet, but... That statement is wrong... Well, okay, it's not wrong (all GoG games do work, kinda), BUT. I've already mentioned the graphic glitches in BG&E. I neglected to mention pretty frequent crashes in Constructor: Street Wars (i.e. Mob Rule), Messiah, Advent Rising, King's Quest 8 (from those GoG games that I have and that I remember that DO crash... there may be more, who knows?). So, no, I still don't agree that GoG equals 'absolutely no worries'. I don't say that it sucks, cause GoG is great, BUT... some of it's aspects are overhyped, and this hype is part of the reason that, in my opinion, doesn't make them check ALL of their games properly.

    I don't agree.

    GOG has always been great about making sure their releases run well. In most cases I've seen where someone has graphics glitches or the like, it's usually a case of just playing around with GOG's configuration utility to find the setting that works on that system.

    Of course there always is the occasional game that is a legitimate problem, but GOG's always seemed good about making that right. Take the situation with Motoracer 2 or Motocross 2 or whatever it was. They were able to confirm there were serious issues so they pulled the game until they fixed it.

    Not only that, but they left it as a purchase for those who'd bought it so they would be able to redownload the fixed version and also issued a gift credits as an apology for any inconveniences/not having the game available.

    That kind of customer service coupled with the extras they throw in (as well as making alternate versions CD/DVD/floppy available to all purchasers/past purchasers as they come available) is the reason I buy the vast majority of old games from them.
  • edited February 2011
    Btw was there ever a Mac version?

    Great game.
  • edited February 2011
    I've bought this game, I am planning on playing it through. I tried once and I got owned. I have to agree that the game is brilliant though.
  • edited February 2011
    One of the best adventure games ever. Period!

    Every line of the script is perfect! Every character is interesting!
    Also think it's a great whodunnit with a great twist at the end.

    The only complaint I have that we never got the sequel it foreshadowed. =(
  • edited February 2011
    taumel wrote: »
    Btw was there ever a Mac version?

    Great game.

    There was indeed.

    In fact, I kinda want to say the retail release actually was a Win/Mac product, but don't hold me to it.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited February 2011
    JJoyce wrote: »
    I kinda want to say the retail release actually was a Win/Mac product, but don't hold me to it.

    I think it was.

    1254096117-00.jpg
  • edited February 2011
    Thanks! Hmmm, so the Win version should work on both systems. I didn't buy the game on my own just borrowed it from a friend. Interesting, i've just learned that they've used rotoscoping to produce the animations, same like in Tron or A Scanner Darkly.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited February 2011
    The original CD came with a video showing how the rotoscoping was done. It's weird (but very cool!) to see the real-life actors behind the animation.

    Ooh, I found the behind-the-scenes video. The rotoscoping part starts around 6:15 - it's rather good stuff.
  • edited February 2011
    Sadly i don't have flash, on purpose i might add, installed here. I'll give it a try later, so thanks again. It's quite interesting when you're thinking about it. Going by train can produce these random and interesting moments where you come closer to strangers, a lot more than if you would go by plane or car, maybe excluding short trips in Egypt with planes even Indiana Jones would be afraid of to use.

    I've never done a ship trip. I imagine this ranging from beeing boring to quite interesting, depending on whom you travell with, the more specific situation like a cargo ship/route vs. cruise line and who gets killed (if it's only inside your head, the murder, the suspects, the case, who has something to hide, evaluating what they say on such a basis, ...) on board.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.