Great subject matter and story
Like any point and click adventure, Sherlock Holmes has its fair share of puzzling challenges, but most are logical in construction: for example, at one point you need to type in an answer to a question that Sherlock Holmes poses to Watson. By reading back through your notes or if you had listened intensely during the cut-scenes you’ll find the answer. Thankfully, the game provides an in-depth list of records that you’ve acquired and allows you to browse through past dialogue and read reports and documents. The puzzles are entertaining and the dialogue that accompanies the discovery of a new clue is entertaining and well-written; it’s just feels rather strange that the most difficult part of the game is finding the clues rather than solving them.
The locations are well-designed, but lack graphical consistency and atmosphere across the board. While the interiors of buildings are lavishly decorated and create the ambience of being in 221B Baker Street or supping a pint down the local pub and 19th century shop fronts accurately mirror the designs of bygone days, the character animations and the lack of life on the streets do little to heighten your senses and fall short of generating an accurate portrayal of life on the busy streets of the English capital. Wandering around the streets around Baker Street was a lonely, rather boring experience and aside from the florist who stands on the corner, a newspaper boy and a couple of NPCs, who are crucial to the storyline, there isn’t enough activity to draw you into the world. With today’s technology, character animations fall short of what we’d expect and watching Dr.Watson eat invisible food of a fork didn’t impress us, neither did the lack of visual expression on characters’ faces.
Click for larger imageThe voice-acing on the other hand is extremely polished, with the highlight being Holmes’s matter-of-fact tone and his amazing logical deductions. This is helped on its way by an excellent script, a decent storyline and a whole cast of actors that throw themselves into their parts and add some credibility to the adventure.
Unfortunately, the soundtrack lets the game down, failing to shift in tempo or tone during scenes when we would have expected it: for example, when creeping around the derelict, dark and dreary docks, we expected some creepy music to accompany the eerie environment, but were severely let down.
Click for larger imageThe highlight of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is the subject matter as well as the superb style and character of Mr. Holmes himself. In that respect, it stays faithful to the brand, but the lack of consistency in the graphical and audio department, coupled with a search system that requires you to pixel search every inch of an area left us frustrated. If you’re seeking a challenge and have the patience, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened may not be a bad adventure to get started on, but Frogwares move into the realm of first person adventures could have been so much better.
