07. Cruise For A Corpse

(Amiga/AtariST/PC, Delphine, 1991)
Remember when murder was classy and dignified?
As opposed to today's "knifed in the street by a nobody for looking a bit funny" I'm led to believe that in the 1940's murder was incredibly clean and stylish, always performed for the most dignified of reasons by a beautiful young girl who, upon being discovered, would light a cigarette and take the arm of the detective as they walked to his Bentley.
Of course, that's all bull, murder has always been a tragic and grisly occasion, yet a lifetime of Cluedo and Christie has given me a romanticism about the act of homicide should it occur to rich aristocrats anytime before 1950.

Delphine's Cruise For A Corpse is just such a romanticised murder mystery. As Hercule Poirot rip-off Insp. Raoul Dusentier, the player must solve the murder of a wealthy and disliked business, killed during a yacht journey with all of his enemies invited (Another great cliche "Hey, all you guys who hate me, come and stay for a few days")
Inspector Raoul doesn't mess around with this kind of matter, just look at his shoes and moustache, he's clearly a man of superior intellect and cunning skill. The player takes our snooping hero around the ship using a point and click interface. Searching for clues, interrogating suspects, finding logic holes and hypocrisies, Inspector Raoul aims to bring the perpetrator to justice before the journey ends and our killer escapes scot-free.
Cruise For A Corpse is considered a fine, if very difficult, early entry in the point and click genre. Corpse features lavish backgrounds, polygonal characters, atmospheric cut-scenes and an in-depth and complex plot to work the little grey cells of even the most hardened murder mystery fan. A click-item-then-select-verb based interface was debuted in the game and worked extremely well at the time, allowing for easy manipulation of items, furniture and people. Against the clock, the player must decipher the clues, who's, why's and where's before gathering the suspects together and pointing the accusing finger (Literally dude, that part is in first person)
Women put their hands to their head and faint, men stand and shout accusingly, justice is served and our Inspector smugly walks off the boat. Another well dressed, knife wielding psychopath is behind bars.

Cruise For A Corpse is a classic adventure game that reviewed brilliantly and sold successfully. Whilst Cruise (like many point and clicks) has aged a little roughly today, it is a fine murder mystery game and still one of the toughest adventure games developed.
Wax your moustache and polish those spats because wherever cigar smoking businessmen, gorgeous, fan waving dames, jealousy and cold hard cash are involved, you can always expect one thing..
..Merde!