Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Review

 

 

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.

 

Sherlock on the banks of the Thames, heading for the docks in Chapter Two.

Holmes and Watson visit a tavern in the docklands in their search for a missing servant. 

 

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.

 

These two images show the correct interpretation of four of the crime scenes in the New Orleans mansion.  Holmes fills in the details for us, which are recorded within the game for reference.

 

Two views of New Orleans, which is actually a large town to explore in the game. 

 

A large mural in Arneson's upstairs study, which holds an important key to solving this part of the game.

 

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. 

 

Holmes has another trippy episode in a strange land, likely drug-induced.  He is slowly being driven crazy. 

 

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.

 

Two views of 221b Baker St.

 

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?

 

Beneath the lighthouse.  Sherlock gets lost in the cave and dies a few times.

 

Cave paintings as seen without Sherlock observing closely.

 

Cave paintings with Sherlock observing closely (Q key). 

 

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 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

Spring

It has arrived.  It was a long awaited event (since last November).  This past week I have had to wear three different jackets to go outside.  My normal winter one, a light jacket but very warm; a spring/summer jacket; and my warmest winter jacket.  Our weather continues to be all over the map in the way of temperatures.  We were able to add another day to our sub-zero daily highs, making it 52 now.  Sudbury had a major snowstorm, along with a lot of the American Midwest, with nearly 20" of new snow.  That should keep them white until at least May.  We had a few flakes, but the cold really took a bite out of our spring bulbs.  Hopefully they will survive.  So far only snowdrops have bloomed.  We are considerably behind this year.

 

It's kind of funny/odd, but just as our thoughts are able to turn once again to travel a new war begins, driving up the price of jet fuel and making airfares even more pathetic.  Depending on Deb's next two blood work results, we had hoped to cross the Atlantic again.  It would be our first time since 2019.  Possible destinations include Iceland (a shorter jaunt), Vienna (a longer stay) and, of course, London.  But now who knows?  I had to fill up the gas tank on our vehicle yesterday, and it wasn't pretty.  At least there were no lineups at the pump.

 

We also have a very expensive house fix coming up March 30th, as we will get our radon problem mitigated.  Readings this winter went sky high, so it's time to fix it.  We (mostly Deb) have been doing a house clearing, something that happens every five years or so around here.  This time we are serious to get things down to a manageable level, making a possible move not only easier but more likely.  There are several large apartment blocks in Amherstburg with a river view, so we likely wouldn't go far.

 

In PC gaming news, my wishlist continues to shrink as Steam sales continue.  Great games can be had very cheaply if one awaits the frequent sales.  I recently collected six great older games, paying less than $35 Can.  I also added a few perks to my Train Sim World collection.  After completing Black Mirror, we have moved on to a newer Sherlock Holmes game called The Awakened.   It is an updated version of a 2008 game and is extremely complex and difficult to learn.  We nearly gave up on it a few times, but have used a walkthru to get through parts.  It uses about half the keyboard for commands and thus has a very long learning curve.  We are improving, and have played a few segments with no help.  Holmes and Watson are up against Cthulhu no less!

 

Screenshot of a young Holmes from The Awakened, a game for PC. 

 

In film news, Deb has completed her most recent one.  It took almost two months longer than expected due to her illness, but once she recovered things moved along well.  It is another great looking (and sounding) film, and will likely do well at festivals.  Watch for it on her website soon (her website link is in my upper left margin, top of this page).

 

In film watching news, we have completed all 30 episodes of Apple TV's Foundation.  The final episode was a trope-filled wonder, with extreme violence and sadism galore.  Of course another series is forthcoming, someday, which will cover all three books.  From what I have read about the series the further along it gets the less it has to do with Asimov's novels.  It is a great looking series, taking lessons from recent Star Trek series, and no doubt from Game of Thrones.  For my money there are too many characters, too many sub plots, too much violent conflict and too little science.  Asimov did not write a fantasy of the future; he wrote a science-based work of fiction.  But we all know that TV viewers are too dumb to care much about science.  Besides, it's more fun watching things blow up.  I will get around to the first Asimov book of the series in the very near future.

 

We also completed a multi-season travel series hosted by Eugene Levy.  Called The Reluctant Traveler the Canadian actor is supposedly brought out of his deep shell by the experiences he undergoes.  However, he travels in five star luxury, meets up with important locals who show him around, and gets to see things other travelers never would see.  For example, on his visit to London he spends 4/5ths of the time in Windsor in conversation with Prince William.  It's fascinating to see a future king being so candid with Eugene, but really, a travel show?  Hardly.  He gets a private tour of the palace and grounds, then goes into town and has a pint at the pub with William.  Ah yes, just like our visits to England.

 

And we have completed watching all 4 seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus.  When it's good it's very good.  But when it's bad, it's very racist, sexist and hardly funny at all.  Still, every episode offers up something memorable and hilarious. We have now moved on now to another comedy classic series, Second City TV, with some of Canada's funniest comics (John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy and many others).  We also managed to get through all three seasons of the original Addams Family series.  This stuff is usually lunch time viewing, as we eat.

 

In film news there are two to report.  One of them should have been trashy and the other classy, but as things turned out, our expectations were incorrect.  Women of Devil's Island is from 1962, part of our "Drive In Classics" DVD library.  It sounds like an exploitation film, and there are certainly a lot of beautiful women in it.  However, it is a swashbuckler and a bit of fun viewing.  The women are prisoners of the revolution, sent there after their families were murdered or exiled.  They are badly misused by a cruel and sadistic warden.  A pirate ship comes by and attempts to steal the gold that the women work so hard to mine.  In the process they also attempt to rescue the women.  For the most part the women stick together and help defeat the prison guards.  Sisterhood has never looked so brave and noble.  Hurrah for the women of Devil's Island!  While there are a few heaving bosoms, it is mostly the fancy feminine hairstyles that viewers will be drawn to.

 

From our classic DVD collection. 

 

Lastly comes Lancelot du Lac, a Goddard film from 1974.  Possibly regarded as a good film, it isn't.  The actors say their lines like a class of high school kids who don't want to be in drama class.  The men wear armour all of the time, a ridiculous look and even more ridiculous sound.  Horses gallop, jousts and battles take place off screen, the two lovers don't seem much in love, and blood spurts from all directions at times.  The film is quite tedious.  Watch John Boorman's Excaliber instead.

 

Showing on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike