The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

"The testament of Sherlock Holmes" is one of the most annoting game experiences I've encountered the past ten years or so. The puzzles are either stupidly simple or insanely diffuclt, scenes are seemingly stitched together in a most unnatural way. Worst of all is the dialog which is laughable. Especially annoying is Watson who is supposed to be a sidekick that can give you valuable advice. But with this incompetent implementation he is nothing more than a dummy, and possible the most annoying character in a game ever. He constantly annoy the hell out of this player with stupid, nonsense dialogue. There are some very good production values here, for sure (graphics are nice, good voice representing for Holmes), but the overall execution cheapens everything with horrible cuts between camera angles and scenes, untimed conversations and bad animation. All this hurts the immersion for the player. Even though the controls are said to be an improvement over previous games they are still lacking. All things added, this game makes for a slow, painful and enervating experience. When the adventure genre went downhill a bit during the late 90's/early 00's europen developers kept it alive. However, even though some were fairly successful they didn't improve on anything. In most cases the opposite were true. I'm going as far as stating that "The Testament of Sherlock Holmes" wouldn't have been released during the golden era of the genre. It's different today though. Since the big AAA developers don't put pressure on the smaller developer's it's much harder today to get hold of a really well crafted adventure games. That's why Frogware can release such a horrible excuse for an adventure game and still continue on. If you value story and immersion this is not a game for you.

This game series from Frogwares has been close to the heart from the beginning and I must say that this one stands tallest so far. Review: This game is all about you being Sherlock Holmes, while occasionally playing as Watson too. It doesn't hold a single tale like the other games have so far as it makes you play multiple cases which are not connected to each other. These cases will make you feel like you're playing the Sherlock from the TV series as it is very episodic. All your judgements and choices will influence how the ending of each case goes, right or wrong. And that is the beauty of this game, it doesn't hold your hand as you are able to free roam the large areas and come to your own conclusions as well as moral choices. Pros: - freedom (all tho' there is always a right ending to each case you are able to come to your own conclusions and see how it changes the endings) - story (if you can call it that as there is really no main objective to the game other than being Holmes. But all the cases are well constructed story-wise and keep you hooked) - voice acting (IMO very good and stays true to the series) - Immersive puzzles (challenges are not made impossible and there is also an option to skip them) - not repetitive (game is divided to cases/episodes. Each "chapter" is different and holds a new fresh mystery) - graphics (very appealing to the eye) - runs well (might be demanding for lower end PCs, played on: gtx 780 3gb, intel i5 4690k 3.9ghz) Cons: - <minor issue> Controls/mouse movement (even when you turn off vsync the feeling of floating or smoothed mouse stays, not unbearable as I can already tell that some may not notice it at all) - <depends> Length (this game for me was a long one as I wanted to fine every clue, but if you are a pro problem solver there might not be enough content for you) Final verdict aka TL;DR: Play it, it's good and entertaning

The game has a great story and really great graphics, and the riddles are challenging, but by far not as difficult and ridiculous to solve as in "Nemesis". Although this game is tagged as "point&click", and can be played using keyboard and mouse, it is much better played using a game pad, giving you more control over the movements, especially when the game changes the camera angle. The only annoyance in this game to me was Dr. Watson, because he is always standing in your way. As soon as you stop walking and try to look at something or to use an item, he will walk into front of your face, and the default action will be set to talking to him. Many, many times he positions himself so badly, that Holmes can't move at all, neither forward, nor backward. Whoever programmed that part of the AI, should reconsider their doings.

I am not really into the adventures. I am also not a diehard fan of Sherlock Holmes. Still I pretty enjoyed the game. Controls may be a little non intuitive, but you can always check the options and do not lose the momentum since this is not an action game. The level of the puzzles is quite variable - some of them are easy and you only need to click long enough, some of them are very hard. The story is in some places a bit far-fetched but still acceptable for me. Still it has the nice visuals, catchy story, and challenging puzzles. Maybe not worth the full price, but very decent game.

So happy that I got to play this game again after so many years... and it is STILL A JAM Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a masterpiece alongside SH:The Awakened, followed a little behind by Chapter one and Crimes and Punishments. The story is awesome, complex. I love the take on the beloved character. His downfall and losing the trust of those close to him. The characters are, of course, lovely. The music is so on point. I loved it. The gameplay is cool. Apart from a little bug at the disguise puzzle where I couldn't progress further and I had to load another save file to get throught that part, no problems. The game ran smoothly. Frogwares, I love your Sherlock Holmes games. I am big fan of Sherlock Holmes and your games do him justice. I hope you are safe during these difficult times. We are with you. I want to end this review by saying : Elementary, my dear Frogwares ! Thank you !