Sir Athur Conan Doyle's famous detective Sherlock Homes has had several video game releases over the last decade or so. In the past, I've greatly enjoyed adventure games, as well as solving crimes in games such as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, so I decided to pick up The Testament of Sherlock Holmes during the Steam Summer Sale last week. After spending a bit of time with Dr. Watson and Holmes, I've got some impressions to share about Frogware's 2013 title.
When it was originally advertised, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes promised to take a darker turn than previous Sherlock Holmes games and narratives, and to actually delve into the psyche of the famous detective. The game is meant to chronicle his descent into supposed madness, and it's also meant to inject more player choices into the series, in order to dictate how threatening Holmes can be when trying to solve crimes. Since I've only spent a little over an hour with the game, I haven't seen really any of this descent yet, but as someone who loved Alan Wake, I'm really looking forward to how the story plays out.
Even though I'm not very familiar with many elements of the Sherlock Holmes universe, I did not feel very confused when I booted up the game. There are references to past games, as Dr. Watson references dealing with Jack the Ripper, which was a focus in the previous game, but I was able to follow along with what was going on. The world of the game is established, but it's clear that you don't need to know everything about Sherlock Holmes to understand what's going on. All you really need to know coming into the game is that he is a self-centered intellectual who is aided by his colleague Dr. Watson. Relationships with other characters like Inspector Baynes are made apparent immediately, even though I had no idea who that character was before trying out the game. As someone who appreciates story in a game above all us, I was happy to see I could understand what was going on with my limited knowledge of the series.
The game opens up with Sherlock Holmes investigating the disappearance of a Samoan necklace, one of the most valuable pieces of jewelry in London. After finding it hidden in the very room it was stolen from (having been dropped by the thief), the necklace is verified as being the original by its owner, and Holmes and Watson relocate to their home at Baker Street. The next day, however, an article is published in the paper saying that the necklace is actually a shoddy fake, according to the owner, and it insinuates that Holmes himself took the real one and replaced it with the fake. After being visited by the police, Holmes easily identifies the necklace as a fake, and Watson is disturbed at both the accusation and at the fact that the owner had confirmed it was the real one the previous day. The police are skeptical of Holmes being the culprit, and so they let him go on his way to his appointment, but it's clear that Holmes' validity is already deteriorating a bit.
The most surprising development occurs when Holmes arrives at his destination; he had a previous appointment with the Bishop of Knightsbridge, but upon arrival Holmes discovers that the man has been brutally mutilated and murdered. It's here that the game starts to open up, and you get a real taste of what's in store for the future of the game.
Probably my biggest complaint, so far, is that moving Holmes around the environment in any perspective that isn't first-person is just plain awkward. With the game taking place in more confined spaces than games like Alan Wake and Dead Space, it's hard to effectively move about when the camera is set in a third-person perspective. Moving in first-person is better, but the fact that you cannot move while characters are talking is a bit of a nuisance, in my book. Examining clues in the environment is easy, however, and Holmes also has a special sixth sense ability that shows where clues are in the environment. It may be a bit of a cop-out, but it definitely works for when you can't find that one last item/clue in order to advance the story.
One feature I've enjoyed is putting the clues that Holmes finds together. Inside his journal you can start a sort of flowchart, starting with the clues he knows, and then moving on to connecting them and giving them more meaning. There's some trial and error, if you get one of them wrong, but doing it correctly is very satisfying.
The game definitely won't win any awards for how it looks, but it looked pretty fine on the low settings I had. Lip-synching was a bit off, but the actual voice acting during the story sections is pretty good. However, when investigating/performing activities...it's a little too repetitive. When I was examining evidence at Holmes' desk at home, he kept repeating the same tired lines over and over when I did something wrong, with no variety. This took me a bit out of the experience, and felt disappointing, especially because I'll likely hear that line repeated quite often in the future.
Even though The Testament of Sherlock Holmes has some obvious flaws going on, the premise of the game (and story) is intriguing enough that I'm anticipating the next big development. I don't know how dark Holmes truly goes during the events of the story, but I hope that Frogware made his descent an enjoyable one.
Until tomorrow, everyone.
Peace.