This is a review of the PC game released in 2023, which is a remake of the original 2008 game. We have not yet played the older version, so I won't be comparing them here. Like most adventure games from the past 30 years, there is good and there is bad. There is a sense of accomplishment and a sense of being sadistically used by the developers. We'll begin by examining the eight chapters of the game.
Chapter One is supposed to be there to introduce players to the gameplay. We needed plenty of help from a walkthru to get through it. It begins at 221b Baker Street and explores some of the neighbourhood. While Sherlock thinks a crime has been committed, it turns out that he was stretching his imagination too far. Watson points this out to him at the end of the scene. But players have learned some of the gameplay. The street scenes are done well, but as the game is played in third person mode (sometimes as Holmes and sometimes as Watson), one or both men are always in the way of one's view. Aside from the mouse, many keyboard commands are also used throughout the game, so it can be very confusing even long after the first chapter is done. In other words, there is a long learning curve to this game.
Chapter Two is quite long, as Sherlock accepts a case from a man whose Maori servant has disappeared. This is where using the game's resources gets complicated. Again, a lot of help was required to finish the chapter. Much of the action takes place in the docks of London, as Holmes investigates. In lieu of a hint system, the developers use something called a Mind Palace. Information is stored here and requires three different types of clues to be sorted and used to gain aid in finding the next step. Once this system is mastered it is quite a good one, but it takes a long time to get the hang of it. Even more complicated, though extremely useful, is using the Q key to get Sherlock to observe closely and analyze crime scenes. After he has observed every aspect of a crime scene he can visualize different scenarios of what might have happened. We see green ghostly figures in tableaux acting out various possibilities. We must choose the correct action. Sometimes there are multiple crime scenes in one area and we must piece together various actions. Once this is done successfully, the entire crime is then visualized, and Sherlock relates what happens in the correct sequence. This is pretty nifty and is quite useful.
Chapter Three takes place in a private asylum in Switzerland. The game grows darker with each chapter. Here we can see influence from Black Mirror, especially with a doll that belongs to one of the patients. Holmes has his second pyschotronic episode of the game, visiting a strange underworld where even more must be learned about how to use the keyboard and various techniques for advancing the game. Like the asylum scenes in Black Mirror (and Syberia 3), things are pretty grim here. Holmes is still on the original case, searching for the missing servant. What he finds is a well organized crime syndicate that is kidnapping people and shipping them in crates to the asylum and then on to New Orleans. We are soon traveling again.
Chapters Four and Five take place in New Orleans, with four being in the town itself and five in the mansion of one Mr. Arneson. We make allies and enemies in Chapter Four, and investigate a multiple murder scene in Chapter Five. Here are two images showing how the scenarios appear once the crime scenes have been investigated and interpreted correctly.
Chapter Six is still within the area of New Orleans, but it is night now and Watson is rowing us through the bayou. This was my favourite part of the game, and it is not only atmospheric but quite scary! However, I have some advice for people who make Sherlock Holmes games, or write stories of Holmes. Rule Number One: He can't die. No ifs about it. Put him in danger, but you cannot kill him. Otherwise.... Well, in this game Sherlock cannot only die, but he will die many times whilst the player frantically tries to find ways to prevent it. After several deaths and help from a walkthru, death can be avoided. But it's too late, isn't it? I mean, he died already. One positive side of Holmes dying in the bayou is that Steam gives out awards for completing certain tasks. Yes, there is a reward for being eaten by gators, and we now own it.
Four scenes from the bayou chapter. Each scene has been getting grimmer and grimmer, and bloodier and bloodier. 
Chapter Seven takes us back to Baker Street. Homes has had another other-worldly experience and is now more than half crazy. Watson returns to a book store location from Chapter One and has an old grimoire partially translated. This will lead them to the location of the final chapter, a lonely lighthouse in Scotland.
Chapter Eight takes place first outside of the lighthouse, then far beneath it, then, finally, within it and to the very top. It is a dark and stormy night, and the bad guy is in the final stages of calling forth Cthulhu! A flock of kidnapped people, now zombies, are being sacrificed to the dark waters from the top of the lighthouse. Holmes and Watson must get up there and stop him. But first Sherlock must die a few more times (in the caves beneath), and then Watson gets his turn to die a few times, being thrown off the top of the lighthouse. Realistic, no?
This is an epic game produced by Ukrainian developers Frogware. They worked on the game as their country was being invaded. It is as complex as some advanced board games. A second time through would be much smoother than the first, and it is likely worth replaying. We will probably play the original version first, though. Graphics are usually excellent and often dripping with atmosphere. It took us 18.7 hours to get through it, some of it using a walkthru. There is no way anyone could get through the game without aid, as some of the puzzles have no logical way of working through them without some kind of fore knowledge of what is required and how to achieve it. The game has so many different environments that it seems much longer than it actually is. I give the game an A- rating (82%). I mostly enjoyed playing, but when the game wants to be frustrating, then watch out. Recommended.
Mapman Mike
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