Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

It's a great game to pick up and leave off whenever you want (because IRL, right?). It doesn't demand a whole lot of attention, but is engaging enough to keep you wanting to solve the mysteries, either in the way the story and the characters are written, or as new gameplay mechanics open up while progressing. Also, as clues come up, you can be forgiven for initially thinking that it's easily solved, but further investigation usually provides new clues that add new perspectives. Each of the five cases is different and no gameplay mechanic really repeats itself (except for the "lockpicking" which is a rather simple puzzle). I had great fun pretending to be Sherlock Holmes and never once felt bored (and this comes from someone who has over 300 games, installed and started quite a number, but never got past the first 15 minutes). The greatest pity of this game is that your Sherlock hardly ever makes use of his large wardrobe and interesting disguises, but that's probably the only complaint I have. Although, I admit that I empathise with a previous reviewer who expressed some frustration with a couple of mini-games, but all I can say is, hallelujah for the Skip button, that feeling is barely a memory. So yeah, pick this up!

I have played all of the Sherlock Holmes games from Frogwares, save for the Devil's Daughter (up next). This one absolutely proved to be my favorite so far, as well as now being one of my all time, top Adventure games. This has massive replay value, and I intend to do so regularly. For those of you who have played any of the other Homes games, you will find a lot of changes in mechanics and setup - which at first I found very alarming and made me quite skeptical, but I quickly not only adapted but have now grown to favor this approach over the previous games. The gameplay is far more intuitive and user friendly this way. Thankfully the unwritten Adventure Game rule holds fast where you can't *really* make any mistakes or "die" or lose 3 hours of progress from one faulty step. The most substantial change is the fact that in this game, you get to work multiple cases as opposed to the one huge epic quest line approach - which I did like in the previous games, but this collection of cases makes the overall experience feel much more robust and engaging. The graphics are quite nice, and I must give a special nod to the sound team for creating exceptionally good atmosphere with their fully immersive and quite convincing surround sound. There was actually one night where I had to keep taking off my headphones because I thought there was sounds in the room, which really says something. My only minor critiques are that there was not more Toby (I won't say who that is lest I spoil things). Frogwares, I would absolutely adore a game that was centered solely around the partnership of Toby & Holmes. Seriously. Being Toby is truly fun and delightful. I did kind of miss being able to walk around the few blocks of the Baker Street neighborhood, but it's hardly a deal breaker. Overall, this has very good graphics, excellent atmosphere, great stories, and is absolutely worth every penny. Thank you Frogwares! Please keep doing this series.

Vast improvement over the last one, Testament of Sherlock Holmes (which was itself a lot of fun). -Graphics are way better (and you get to customize your appearance a little) -Voice acting has improved slightly (Holmes is still Kerry Shale, who's fantastic, and they finally found a really great kind old doctor voice for Watson) -You won't spend time looking at completely irrelevant items -The morality/decision making is fun (I also really liked how you can go back and change your decision and see all the different outcomes) -You can replay separate cases after you've solved them -There's still an overall ending (but you won't understand it unless you pay attention to dialogue from the beginning) -Mycroft makes an appearance, which is pretty cool There were a few things I didn't like: -Way too short, could have used more cases! -You can't change your appearance very much besides specific situations, before you beat the game once In summary, of all the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games, this is easily the best one, and my absolute favorite. In fact, I'd say it's easily one of my favorite adaptations of Sherlock Holmes overall, if you're a fan of the classic Holmes novels, you'll probably feel right at home in this game.

Good game when it works, but be warned that the game will sometimes crash during the deduction process. I'd recommend saving before going into the deduction menu, as it seems to crash quite a lot while in that menu.

Crimes and Punishments is the best Sherlock Holmes game I played, but that's not saying much. Especially since this game feels like it'd benefit from a sequel, which will fix the flaws of the first, and remove what didn't work. Problems both technical – such as the slowdowns and freezes, and the occasional crash, but more importantly problems with the plot, the mechanics and the voice over work. Overall, this game is very good, especially its graphics, which get enhanced with very good lighting effects. The mysteries chosen are also a decent fit for Holmes, but partly because 3 of them are from the Sherlock Holmes stories. One doesn't mention Holmes by name, another is completely forgettable, and the third is often adapted to screen, making it very familiar. But even with more unique mysteries, the feeling of actually solving a mystery would still be missing. Levels are small and filled with invisible walls, so you're constantly herded in the right direction. You're told where to search for clues, when to use Holmes special vision - vision that helps him spot hard to find clues, and when to move on from the crime scene. In fact, you're given quests to fill, called tasks, so whatever mystery you're trying to solve, you'll do it in a paint by numbers way. You're not forced to collect all the clues, but without every clue, it's a game of guesswork. You can complete the game by reaching the wrong conclusions, but what's the fun in that? It's bad enough that the correct conclusions don't always make sense, and sometimes seem to ignore previous clues. You also can't fully investigate a crime scene, or ask relevant questions, because those actions are only unlocked once you receive an obvious clue telling you to search that place, or ask that question. There's also a nice variety of mini-games, but they get repeated far too often, and ultimately feel like padding. Watson is decent now, but mostly because the bulk of his dialog is in the opening, parody-esque, scene.