1. strav

   9

   Being somewhat a seasoned adventure gamer and having enjoyed Conan Doyle's works in my youth, I must say that I had great expectations for this game and fortunately, it met and sometimes exceeded them. Considering the numerous and most of the time awful adaptations of Sherlock Holmes out there, I must say that this is one that truly nailed the original stories character and ambiance; they got their details right. Aside from the details, something that really sets this game apart from other adventure games, is the attention given to the deduction process. In most adventure games, once you found the appropriate clues the conclusion is outright given to you while in this game, you must put these clues together and logically deduce the right conclusion. While somewhat limited, this process really gives you some sense of actually solving the case. Another good design decision is the general absence of pixel hunting: most of the relevant items will become highlighted when you pass next to them. As for the puzzles, I must say that this is one aspect of the game that truly shines: they are realistic, logical, not too easy nor too hard or tedious. It's really been a long time since I appreciated that much a game for the consistence of it's puzzles (I guess the last one I had so much fun was Braid). As for the story, it is a really enjoyable, credible Sherlock Holmes case perhaps not as subtle as the original stories but enjoyable in it's own merit. Technically, the graphics are superb are I would place The Testament of Sherlock Holmes amongst the few games that achieved a 3D adventure game without it being awkward in some way. The voice acting is flawless and the music, while being a little bland, still manages to create the right atmosphere.
   
   As for the bad points, it is to notice that the character animations (lip sync and such) is often a little off and you have to compensate with your imagination. As for the controls, if I remember correctly, the game offers 3 different ways to control the characters but unfortunately, they all get a little tedious at some point (although, I really don't know how they could have done better than offering those 3 different ways (FPS, Third person, and point and click).
   
   In all, if you're sick of toy games such as Botanicula (where clicking at random can lead you to finish the game in approximately 4 hours), if you appreciate the Sherlock Holmes novels/stories, and happen to enjoy puzzles, then The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a game you'll surely like.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
2. HARALD

   8

   So i played all the other sherloch holms games made by focus. This is a stroy based puzzel game, so dont expect action. withe the poseblety to skip puzzels you dont get stuck and you can keep playing the story. I Loved how i manged most ot thr puzzels this game, by usind dedution. At times you felt like sherlock holms for real:D There are som real draw back for this game, i wouldd have loved more deduction boards, The ending was a bit disapointing, and you feel like you are beeing pushd thrue the game.
   
   I realy enjoyed this game and recmonend it to every one that can take a good story for what it is.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 4 users said Yes.
3. timthegreenbeas

   5

   Okay so I've just finished The Testament of Sherlock Holmes the video game. Here is my review. I give it a 4.5 out of 10 due to the fact of simple graphics and poor game play as well as a general lack of open game play. This is the first game I ever bought used that I'm glad the company who made this will never see a dime.
   
   Okay lets tackle the first thing that annoyed me in this game. The lack of instructions. Every time you had to do a minigame it just said solve the mini game. Which got very annoying and since they aren't repetitive, I keep saying what do I have to do here? Even as I looked this up on youtube to try to solve them, the narrations of the people where highly confused taking them on average 6 or 7 minutes to figure it out what you needed to do and then another 6 to 10 just solving it even after they themselves looked it up on the internet.
   Another thing besides the minigames that confused me were the items and how they were used. Near the ending it got better because they became more obvious, like a ladder just standing 3 feet away from a window with an action icon next to it. But in the game you had to go to an attic tear open a magician's cloak, which was in a locked trunk, get the keys that will open anything sewn into the cloak on the inside after turning the cloak upsidedown manually which the stitch you had to pull could barely be seen due to poor lighting and bad graphics, just to open a tool shed which you could have used a crowbar on, (which was in your inventory) in real life.
   
   Next were the graphics. It irked me that this game looked like it should have been in the N64 era of gaming. No real detail in anything including the faces or even in the cut scenes. This game was clearly never about good graphics.
   
   Last but not least the non open play that the game states on the cover. This game promises to be an open game where you can interrogate who ever you want and do what ever you want. That is a bold faced lie. You have to do everything down to the exact detail of what they wanted of you and if you do not do it, you can not progress in the story. You can't even guess at combinations. You have to find the paper with the combination on it, decode it, find some key to unlock it as well and then come back and put it in. It is like that for almost every lock in the game. It's a nice feature but it gets so repetitive and annoying after the first 2 times you do it.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
4. paprik

   3

   Has some decent concepts but fails at executing most of them. The opening and ending "missions" are quite good, though sadly that's it. In all other missions you are a SHEEP. You're not told or hinted why you should do the things you do or even what they are exactly. You're basically kept in the dark THE ENTIRE GAME for the purpose of an incredibly foreseeable plot twist. Half the things you're supposed to do don't even make sense.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 4 users said Yes.

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