Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2008)

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3.7/5

( 38 Reviews )

3.7

38 Reviews

English & 5 more

Overall most helpful review

Posted on: May 8, 2016

ekj7

Verified owner

Games: 1115 Reviews: 4

Decent beginner adventure

The Awakened is a fairly standard entry in the adventure genre. Inventory items can be combined and used on objects in the game world and there are a handful of single-screen puzzles such as the lock-picking game. Typically played in first-person perspective with WASD/mouse controls, you can switch between a 3rd person view at any time. I found the 3rd person view to be cumbersome, since the view angle was fixed and the screen would switch frequently as you moved around, sometimes making it confusing to figure out which direction you were now facing. The GOG version didn't come with any manual or instructions whatsoever, and it took me until near the half-way point in the game to realize that the space bar would highlight all of the objects on the screen that could be interacted with. This might seem like a bit of a cheat, but in a few cases it's nearly mandatory since the game demands precision on where you use certain objects. Also, you can't perform certain actions before the story line expects it. You will encounter some puzzles, the objects for the solution within your reach, but due to the game's linearity, don't become usable until you've completed other tasks first, which is confusing. No-win positions seem absent. You can't leave an area until you've investigated it completely. The puzzles are almost all logical and straightforward, though I got stuck a few times because I missed seeing a usable item (use the space bar!). Only once did I encounter a point where you could "lose" and have to reload a saved game immediately prior. The graphics are dated, but acceptable, with characters moving a bit stiffly. The voice acting for Holmes is decent, and okay-ish for Watson. Everyone else is fairly amateurish. Music is minimal, but atmospheric. Story line is interesting, and Holmes does his usual display of insightful deduction from mundane facts. Expert adventure gamers might not find much of interest here, but for the rest of us, it's worth a look.

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Posted on: February 23, 2018

GunthySalvus

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 85

The good, the bad and the ugly

This is my first Sherlock Holmes game experience an i must tell you, what a ride... Both themes represented in this one , Sherlock and Cthulhu, are giants in their fields of storytelling but... Hey at least they try and practice makes perfect. The Good: Game and theme, it shows the developers did it with the possible love&respect for the titles. The first half of the game although flawed is adictive and keeps you gripped to the story. Sound does enough, its there but not memorable. The puzzles go from "head scratching" difficult to "How on Earth am i suposed to solve that". The Bad: Nerve racking mechanics just because the graphics are not polished enough, you'll be wanting that padded cell after looking for clues like a madman. The story for the second half get foggy and looses some interest but still gives you the drive to see it through. This is strange...this game doesn't hold your and but and the same time there is all the help you'll need as a option...so this needed a middle term. For the 104568923 time you hear "What do you make of this HOLMES?" you'll want to kill Dr. Watson(for god's sake man at least make some of those wrong conclusions you used to make). The Ugly: A game like this deserves a open, detailed, polished, complex, beatifully soundtracked and faithfull to its roots world. This ones does none of the above, saddly. It looks like they did just enough for the first half and then the second half of the game has some unforgivable bugs that break the scarse immersion you'll have , so yes its a rushed game. It becomes difficult just because its badly polished and tries too hard to look like Sherlock smart when the truth is that the lack of detail and content leaves you lost trying to make sense of this rumble of not good enough take on both worlds. Don't get me wrong, i'm patient enough to try and solve it out but by the end of the game i just wanted to end it and leave this one to sleep eternally in the depts of the sea. So conclusions: Play it once so you can grasp the greatness that both Sherlock and Cthulhu represent together.

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Posted on: May 20, 2016

samoan

Verified owner

Games: 2052 Reviews: 6

Great game but not perfect

Overall this is a really good adventure game from the late 90s. It is worth buying if you are a fan of Cthulhu and Sherlock Holmes. The game has 2 modes, first person and 3d person views. Swapping between them is pretty easy. The controls are pretty standard for a 3D adventure game, you use a mouse and keyboard to move around. As the previous reviewer mentioned the controls in 3rd person are bit frustrating due to camera angles but the controls are pretty easy to get use to and in first person perspective you can almost play the whole game with just the mouse. I would recommend remapping keyboard controls from the arrows to WASD instead, as it is much more comfortable. The graphics for the remastered edition are very nice, the game has aged well because of this. The game looks much smoother than before. The story is a bit slow paced but never boring. Like many adventure games of it's kind the puzzles are pretty straight forward they range from finding clues to mixing chemicals to lock picking . The inventory is simple and you can combined some items you find. If you have played any of the other Sherlock Holmes games then you will feel right at home, if not you will within a few minutes of playing. The acting and dialog is well done and the puzzles aren't too challenging. The only downside to the game is that unlike old sierra adventure games you can't die or lose, you simply progress through the game like an interactive Sherlock Holmes movie or book. But that is not to say there aren't areas to explore or you can't get stuck. Sometimes you can get stuck because the game won't let you move on until you have found or completed everything in the area you are in and you might easily miss a clue or an item. Thankfully they added the ability to highlight interactable items with the space bar (default). So if you are looking for a creepy story and fun game in the world of Sherlock Holmes, I recommend picking this game up. It is a short but fun game.

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Posted on: January 31, 2018

tommish911

Verified owner

Games: 23 Reviews: 8

Decent adventure game

I decided to play this opus of SH despite a few bad critics I had read here and there about this game. Actually I was well surprised by the game being much better than some player reviews presaged. I precise than I am a fan of the SH franchise, this one was the only one missing, that I had not played, only excepted Nemesis that is considered too difficult even for purists. In this one, the remaster "space bar" function helps a lot for highliting the items and points of interets and eases the progression of the game. The intrigue and plot of the game is well written and interesting, the dialogs are good and conform to the quality of the other SH games. There is less action than in the latest SH games (Devil's Daughter, Crime and Punishment, Vs Jack the Ripper, The Testament) but also it is not an episode games, it is a full story, so action is carefully placed and fits the story. The graphics are a bit outdated but do not hinder the game experience. I play in First person mode, it is much easier this way I think. Life duration is pretty good for the genre. Many hours of adventure even with a walkthrough (yes, there is some difficulty in some passages). I think that for a fan of SH universe and adventure games, I would have missed something by not having played this game. The game is not perfect but still is a good SH adventure game in my opinion.

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Posted on: July 20, 2021

sep4258

Verified owner

Games: 251 Reviews: 63

Better than expected

I have played some of the SH games in the past - namingly Testament and Jack Ripper. And I have to say, this game is better than what I expected based on the reviews and my experience from the previous games (from my point of view). The game shares similar features I disliked in others in the series. It is very linear and doesn't allow you to progress however you want. You need to perform actions in particular order, which can be tedious. Sometimes it isn't clear what the game wants from you. There is no highlighted objective and characters don't give you any feedback. They just stare at you and expect you to guess what developers had in mind. The case usually is you missed some tiny object to click on (thank god for spacebar). I'm not saying other people might view these things similarly negatively. It's just what I personally didn't like. However, I enjoyed the story more than in other entries to the series. Paradoxically, this doesn't feel like SH story. You sneak through an asylum, explore swamps, chase the thief on the streets, look for pirate treasure... It's more like going on an adventure than solving a murder mystery with one of the most famous detectives. It might put other people off, I didn't have problem with it. The puzzles were okay. Overall, this game was simpler than other in the series. It's also not typical SH murder mystery. And the graphics is quite dated. If you don't mind those things, you might enjoy it. But I would wait on sale.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2008)

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