Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, will keep you interested and intrigued and will leave you wanting more.
The SUMMARY: This game, set in the year 1894, takes you through several fully explorable locations around the world including several locations in London, old forgotten tunnels, Switzerland, an insane asylum, the city and swamps of New Orleans, and an island off the coastline of Scotland, which keeps the game fresh and exciting. As Sherlock and Watson, you begin searching for missing people, only to discover that a more sinister plot is involved, namely, without giving too much away, a stolen treasure, an international smuggling and kidnapping ring, and horrific experiments conducted on living subjects: all as a result of a cult dedicated to the return of Lovecraft's Cthulhu. There are several surprises throughout the game that keep you on your toes. Nothing is predictable, as in some other adventure games, which keeps you glued to your computer screen for hours.
The CHARACTERS: This game contains all of the usual quips which makes Sherlock and Watson so lovable such as: "It is simplicity itself Watson," "Come Watson! The game is afoot!" and "Holmes, you go to far!" As you travel the world you meet many characters, whose voices and accents are entirely believable and about as close to accurate as I believe a developer can get. Not once did I role my eyes at a character's "southern drawl" or Swedish accent. Speaking with characters is not monotonous and kept interesting due to the fascinating storyline, great voice acting, adult content and humor and original dialogue. Additionally, conversations are kept to a "need to know" basis, and do not drag on with idle chit chat of no importance to the story.
The GRAPHICS: The graphics are very well done. There is an option to play in either first or third person. I strongly recommend playing in first person as this allows you a 360* rotation and full view of every area you are in. I noticed in third person format that some of the inventory items you need to pick up are not accessible due to limited camera angles so it is possible to get stuck in a few places if you are playing in third person, an oversight of the developers. Due to the fact that the graphics are so detailed and crisp, it would be, in my opinion, a waste to play the game in third person. I highly suggest playing it in first person to get the full effect of the game.
This game is NOT for young children! There is enough blood, gore, and mutilated bodies to keep any serious gamer happy. And because the graphics are so crisp, I found myself at times, even though I played through the game of F.E.A.R and Silent Hill, truly horrified and unsettled at what I was seeing. Lovecraft, were he alive, would be impressed at how this game was delivered, and the horror it invokes in its storytelling.
The ENVIRONMENTS: As mentioned earlier, there are numerous global locations to explore, each as interesting as the next. With 360* camera angles, you can wander neighborhoods just admiring the view. A bonus with this game is, once you have discovered a location of importance, it places it on a map, so if you don't feel like walking from Point A to Point B you can just pull up your map, click on the location and you are transported there immediately. Another bonus is that, as you are exploring, you can avoid frustrating backtracking. If you are on a mission and not sure where to go, Holmes will say things like, "I have no reason to go that way" to let you know you are on the wrong track and should turn around. The sound effects in each environment are just as realistic as the graphics without being too intrusive. The soundtrack plays at just the right moments to heighten the intensity during certain "encounters." Because the game was so realistically put together, you will be able to submerse yourself entirely and feel like you are really there.
The PUZZLES: The puzzles are challenging without being too difficult. You must put yourself in the mind of Sherlock Holmes and really be a detective: analyzing evidence, piecing together documentation, studying maps and books of the occult. Logic plays a large part in the puzzles, and as long as you can reason and deduce, you should have little difficulty getting past any of the puzzles, which are spaced out enough to not overwhelm or frustrate. An excellent thing the developers did with this game is include a strategy guide with the inventory. Therefore, if you do find yourself stuck, you can access the "question mark" icon and be provided with clues, one by one to allow you to solve it on your own. If each individual clue provided does not help you and you still find yourself stuck, you can get the answer to the puzzle directly from the built-in strategy guide...no need for online walkthroughs. I would like to see more developers utilize this added feature.
As long as you fully explore your environments, inventory items are fairly easy to find. Just remember that you are Holmes, which means looking for traces of blood, fingerprints, footprints, examining dead bodies, etc. It does not take a lot of pixel hunting, the clues are fairly obvious, as long as you fully explore the environment you are in.
The CONCLUSION: Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, will keep you interested and intrigued until the very end and will leave you wanting more. There is no need to have a background in Lovecraft to enjoy this game, as you will have a thorough understanding of one of the most popular morbid short stories of all time, The Call of the Cthulhu, as you will have a thorough understanding of it once you are done. Don't wait for the bargain bin for this one. Play it now. You will NOT be disappointed. And Frogwares! Please keep adventure games like this one coming!