Post by seventyone on Aug 11, 2014 16:05:24 GMT -5
This is my first attempt to write something like a review and be coherent at the same time. The reason for this urge came from latest Frogwares adventure detective game concerning the legendary fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Lets begin with the necessary info and links.
Title: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.
Developer: Frogwares.
Released: September 2012.
Genre: Point and click Detective Adventure Game.
Platforms: PC, XB360, PS3.
Single Player: Yes.
On-Line: No.
Difficulties: Normal, Hard.
Played by: SeventyOne.
Experience on Genre: Minimal/non-existent.
Difficulty played: Normal.
Time Consumed: 20 hrs.
Played on: PC, i7 8GB Ram, R7 260 1GB
Gamepad Use: Yes, XB360.
Steam Page: store.steampowered.com/app/205650/
Wikipedia page : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Testament_of_Sherlock_Holmes
Random Favorable Review: Rock Paper Shotgun
Random Unfavorable Review: Kotaku
"I smell that the game's afoot, Watson!"
"That's a fine mess you got me into, Watson!"
"Ne'er too old foh tha scirt, Guv'nah!"
And a few words about the story, now that this sort of a review is wrapping up. While the Holmesian Enthusiac will see familiar names and faces, the plot is not based on a Doyle novel, it is completely original, non-canon as the Holmesians would easily deduct.
"But is the story bad?"
Short answer: No.
Long Answer: No, not at all.
Verdict.
A polished and warmly suggested title with praises,
For the Adventurous, Mystery Solving Enthusiac, the Story Loving Enthusiac the casual one or above that likes the Holmesian universe and enjoys the setting.
A polished Suggested title,
For the Average Enthusiac who likes a brief but entertaining change on his gaming habit.
Title: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.
Developer: Frogwares.
Released: September 2012.
Genre: Point and click Detective Adventure Game.
Platforms: PC, XB360, PS3.
Single Player: Yes.
On-Line: No.
Difficulties: Normal, Hard.
Played by: SeventyOne.
Experience on Genre: Minimal/non-existent.
Difficulty played: Normal.
Time Consumed: 20 hrs.
Played on: PC, i7 8GB Ram, R7 260 1GB
Gamepad Use: Yes, XB360.
Steam Page: store.steampowered.com/app/205650/
Wikipedia page : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Testament_of_Sherlock_Holmes
Random Favorable Review: Rock Paper Shotgun
Random Unfavorable Review: Kotaku
"I smell that the game's afoot, Watson!"
I ‘ve always liked mystery and detective stories, those ones having sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal sleuth are among my favorites. For anyone that does not know the setting or the general details of the original stories, they take place during and some time after the Victorian Era in England, most of the locations are in London as it was then. The hero, Sherlock Holmes, is a rare genius of a man, well educated, sharp witted, keen observer, unparalleled deductionist, master of disguises, beacon of logic, awful violin player, asexual and drug addict. He enjoys the trust of Scotland Yard and is very frequently requested to help as a consulting detective when difficult mystery cases or seemingly unsolvable crimes occur and, naturally, they do occur often. Just like any decent detective hero, he has a sidekick who is also his best, if not the only one, friend and biographer with military service in Afghanistan, the notorious dr. John Watson. The good doctor is not as good a detective as his friend but he is not bad either. When the need arises he steps into the shoes of the mystery solver and sees the job done.
This is the crime busting duo that has Frogwares, the developer from Kiev, Ukraine, been occupied with, they already have published eight Sherlock Holmes titles and claim to have sold more than seven million and counting. There is a ninth and very promising title just around the corner named Crimes and Punishments, scheduled for release this very September, so this impression piece is very, very late, just as late i was introduced to these games and i only have myself to blame.
This title, as the wikipedia page informs me, was made in a period of three years, mainly aiming for the console crowd without counting out the PC master race. The environment of the game is 3D using motion capture techniques. The result is very pleasing to the eye and the attention to the detail (something that people said lacked on previous titles) for the recreation of the period the game takes place is so well made that fortifies the immersion adequately. However there are some body movements of the models which seem to be out of place sometimes and some mannerisms which are repeated to the point of (i.e.) you can easily predict when Holmes will cross his hands and shake them when he addresses someone or is about to explain a clue. These are small details, while i nitpick, that do not harm the overall value of the game or its graphics. Now that i mention models, i must also mention the distant resemblance of the two major characters to Jeremy Brett and David Burke respectively. Those actors starred on the critically acclaimed Grenada TV series of Sherlock Holmes that aired from 1984 to 1994 where Burke played Watson for the most of the episodes and Brett -which was considered as “the definitive Holmes” stayed until the end. This was a huge plus towards my evaluation.
This is the crime busting duo that has Frogwares, the developer from Kiev, Ukraine, been occupied with, they already have published eight Sherlock Holmes titles and claim to have sold more than seven million and counting. There is a ninth and very promising title just around the corner named Crimes and Punishments, scheduled for release this very September, so this impression piece is very, very late, just as late i was introduced to these games and i only have myself to blame.
This title, as the wikipedia page informs me, was made in a period of three years, mainly aiming for the console crowd without counting out the PC master race. The environment of the game is 3D using motion capture techniques. The result is very pleasing to the eye and the attention to the detail (something that people said lacked on previous titles) for the recreation of the period the game takes place is so well made that fortifies the immersion adequately. However there are some body movements of the models which seem to be out of place sometimes and some mannerisms which are repeated to the point of (i.e.) you can easily predict when Holmes will cross his hands and shake them when he addresses someone or is about to explain a clue. These are small details, while i nitpick, that do not harm the overall value of the game or its graphics. Now that i mention models, i must also mention the distant resemblance of the two major characters to Jeremy Brett and David Burke respectively. Those actors starred on the critically acclaimed Grenada TV series of Sherlock Holmes that aired from 1984 to 1994 where Burke played Watson for the most of the episodes and Brett -which was considered as “the definitive Holmes” stayed until the end. This was a huge plus towards my evaluation.
"That's a fine mess you got me into, Watson!"
A huge minus on my evaluation was the music of the game. Ambient sounds and effects were fine but the music themes lacked emotion. Clearly designed to stay in background, the music becomes from boring to uninspiring and annoying. In most cases it serves its purpose yet it is the same uninteresting theme over and over again, even on situations where the scene reaches its climax you listen to the same melody, almost every time. One note, the music reminded me of some of the music The Secret World MMO uses, where it was, in my honest opinion, boring but, just like this game, i liked the investigation gameplay a lot. This is highly subjective ofcourse but i believe that Frogwares could have done better with the game’s music background.
And that is not the only concern i had with the sound. While the voice acting was superb at times - serviceable at least- the lack of varied answers when the same action is chosen was, also, predictable. When i tried to open a locked door a couple of times and listened to Sherlock, surprisingly voicing his discovery “Locked!?” or when i select poor doctor Watson, after having all the dialogs at the scene, telling me “What now, Holmes?”, i knew the next time i do this what i will be the game’s response, on a few times i did it on purpose just to laugh with. These annoyances do not belittle the serious work and its quality that is shown to the game’s story.
And that is not the only concern i had with the sound. While the voice acting was superb at times - serviceable at least- the lack of varied answers when the same action is chosen was, also, predictable. When i tried to open a locked door a couple of times and listened to Sherlock, surprisingly voicing his discovery “Locked!?” or when i select poor doctor Watson, after having all the dialogs at the scene, telling me “What now, Holmes?”, i knew the next time i do this what i will be the game’s response, on a few times i did it on purpose just to laugh with. These annoyances do not belittle the serious work and its quality that is shown to the game’s story.
Except for a seemingly large area of Whitechapel there is not any room to roam. You have many closed areas to explore, where, once you enter, you can not leave unless you do what needs to be done, solve a few puzzles and get that vital clue to continue, a fundamental mechanism of the adventure gaming category. The experience is linear all the time and one might feel the game often takes them by the hand but the game’s progression is well enough structured so this is more comfort than annoyment. The puzzles need no clock to beat, at least on normal where i played it (and not in hard difficulty as i read), so you can take your time thinking about the solution. Still, you can not go wrong, either you will find the clue to move on or you will stay put till that happens. However, those tasks are not hard, in my case as a casual problem solver, i easily navigated through them, searching the web for solutions only for a couple of puzzles, where, if i was patient enough, i could have done the deed without any help. I would have liked the possibility of failure and its consequences to be as an option or different outcomes if you did not guess right, that would add a lot to the replayability of the Testament of Sherlock Holmes. Frogwares seem to include such options in their above mentioned forthcoming title.
After a brief -and uninteresting intro- intro of three kids exploring an attic you are in control of Sherlock Holmes who, along with the good doctor, are in a locked room trying to discover the fate of a stolen necklace, only by examining the objects in this room. This brief episode serves as a tutorial for the player to familiarize with the controls of the game. You can move Sherlock freely anywhere in the room in a first or third person view and, just like any point-and-click adventure, you do exactly that. You can use a feature called “sixth sense” which is used like a hint pointer, if you are near an object of interest it will highlight it. You can speak with your friend dr. Watson or other non player characters in the game to extract information or discover a clue. There are indicative icons shown to point you where you should click, some of them will appear only if you do some actions needed before i.e. combine some items you have in your inventory. The dialog works much like the dialog wheel Bioware uses on their games ,nothing difficult to use, but nothing that deep. You can pick up some items and put them in your inventory, where some of them might be combined to make a new item which usually solves a puzzle or gives another clue. This is, again, the norm on adventure games, the basic concept is there, only the graphics have changed for the better.
One of the game’s strong points is when, while investigating, you have to make deductions using the deduction board. This is a mechanism where you analyze the hints and clues you have found through a multiple choice selection for each assumption, that will eventually give you the lead on where to look next. The bad news are you do not get to do this often and you can not fail, either you solve it or stay there. The good news are you have to think over a lot of clues, even from previous examinations and the process itself is very entertaining. I hope Frogwares will expand and perfect this mechanism -which seem raw on its execution- for their oncoming Holmes titles, it adds so much depth to an already story-deep game. To conclude my brief description on the gameplay, i should inform you that you can play both with Holmes and dr. Watson, and in one occasion you can play them at the same scene, going from the one to the other and, you can play Toby, Holmes “baggage sniffing dog”, the best nose in London. As for Toby, i am torn between the notions of the dog being a careless saviour or a ruthless murderer, you have to play the game to get the joke.
"Ne'er too old foh tha scirt, Guv'nah!"
And a few words about the story, now that this sort of a review is wrapping up. While the Holmesian Enthusiac will see familiar names and faces, the plot is not based on a Doyle novel, it is completely original, non-canon as the Holmesians would easily deduct.
"But is the story bad?"
Short answer: No.
Long Answer: No, not at all.
It is in my belief that the reasons people play adventure games are the puzzles and the story combined. If that is true, then the game succeeds on both. It feels as a Sherlock story, you can be certain it IS a Sherlock story to the core, due to the familiar names and locations, the usually unexpected twist and the twist afterwards and the full revelation at the end. But it also comes with things that would disturb or even shock the player and throw him out from the comfort zone when he realizes that the much adored hero could be a cold blooded killer with dark selfish motives and all this time she/he was following an unreliable character. The dialogues are well made, the pace where the story is revealed seems right, there is not a single excuse to cause for a suspension of disbelief, there is no notion that the story goes too far or it breaks the immersion and, speaking for myself, i was hooked to the very end, although i suspected how things will be done, i never saw this coming. And, as a good sport, i am not going to spoil it.
So we come at the end of this text and if you read all above you deserve a cookie. Go to your kitchen drawers and get one. My impression of this game is that it really shines as a game of its genre, it is a highly rewarding experience that will justify its purchase for those who like that sort of games. It might be a -so called- indy title but it is like a good triple A quality, if only the Big Developers had titles that tell great stories.
So we come at the end of this text and if you read all above you deserve a cookie. Go to your kitchen drawers and get one. My impression of this game is that it really shines as a game of its genre, it is a highly rewarding experience that will justify its purchase for those who like that sort of games. It might be a -so called- indy title but it is like a good triple A quality, if only the Big Developers had titles that tell great stories.
Verdict.
A polished and warmly suggested title with praises,
For the Adventurous, Mystery Solving Enthusiac, the Story Loving Enthusiac the casual one or above that likes the Holmesian universe and enjoys the setting.
A polished Suggested title,
For the Average Enthusiac who likes a brief but entertaining change on his gaming habit.