Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Preview

Sherlock Holmes is a character that was practically designed for a point-and-click adventure game. Holmes’ sharp wit, investigative talents and problem-solving skills can make the most heinous crime seem like a walk in the park to solve. The Awakened is the third adventure game centering upon the legendary detective and his sidekick, Dr. Watson. This time the duo has made the jump to the third dimension with their latest adventure built upon a 3D-gaming engine. The use of the 3D engine hopes to provide the most involved Sherlock Holmes adventure yet for gamers.

The preview version of the game has Holmes discovering a recent rash of disappearances across various locations in and out of London. No ransom notices have been left and no connection between the victims can be made to link the disappearances together. Soon Holmes starts to unravel the morbid mystery of the disappearances that will push him towards the brink of insanity. It’s up to you as Holmes and Watson to solve the mystery and the secrets of the Cult of Cthulhu.

The game plays out just like any other point-and-click adventure game. You simply keep searching for items that can be investigated, which are indicated by the change of your cursor. The majority of the interaction in the game is simply just point and click. Once you have an item in your inventory you can then try to combine items together to unlock additional clues for the game. Some of the items you collect in the game can be subjected to tests in the crime lab created by Holmes.

Graphically Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened really does stand out from other games of this type. The 3D environments reminded me of a RPG or first-person shooter instead of an adventure game. All of the locations in the game are presented with some nice detail with hardly any bland textures on the walls or floors. Each character in the game is represented by a great face model with excellent details in skin colors and effects, such as wrinkles. Unfortunately their clothes all had the same bland and boring look to them with hardly any details in the textures and designs.

There were some minor bugs in this preview version of the game. Occasionally the game would close back to the desktop only to start loading my previous save spot. There were a few times when the game would switch back to the desktop, only to lock up the entire PC. One issue I was able to duplicate repeatedly was with Watson. In some areas he will always follow you unless you look directly at him. Once you start looking at him he will remain motionless, that is until you turn around again. Somehow he was able to travel faster than the speed of light to catch up with me in no time. No matter how far away I walked away from (while looking at him) he would immediately catch up to me when I turned around.

In the end Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is a game you should enjoy if you love point-and-click adventure games. If you’re a fence sitter then Sherlock Holmes might be enough to get you to jump to the other side with the rest of the point-and-click gamers. The interesting story, thought provoking puzzles and 3D visuals should help in keeping you going in the game. Look for Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened at a game store near you very soon.