The Testament of Sherlock Holmes – VGBlogger.com

E3 2014: Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments E3 Trailer and Steam Pre-Order Deal

Matt Litten — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 00:50:36 +0000

If you’re eager to play the next Sherlock Holmes game, Crimes & Punishments, but have not yet played the previous adventure, hurry on over to Steam and put down cash for a pre-purchase to receive a free instant copy of The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. If you already played Testament but still want to pre-order, you’ll receive a giftable copy to pass along to a friend or trade with someone for another game. Not a bad deal either way.

Of course, Crimes & Punishments is also coming to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. If you plan to get it on a console you won’t get the same pre-order deal. But buck up old chum, at least there’s a new E3 trailer to hype you up for the September 4th launch.

Review: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

Tim Mack — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:30:53 +0000

The world’s greatest consulting detective has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last few years with the Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey, Jr. movies, the modern BBC series, and the most recent NBC Elementary series. But movies and TV shows aren’t the only mediums where the keenly observant, violin playing genius has an established presence. I’m of course referring to Frogwares’ series of adventure games.

I admit that when it comes to Sherlock Holmes, I’ve only read a handful of his adventures, but I find that the dynamic balance of Holmes’ observations and Watson’s narrative flair make for a ripping good yarn. Typically with visual adaptations of Holmes a certain amount of mystery is removed by simply showing and not needing to tell, as opposed to when reading one of Holmes’ stories, the narrative point of view tends to highlight my own personal amazed incredulity–reflected through Watson’s own astonishment. Quick camera sweeps and pans may intentionally focus on a subject long enough to allow a viewer to observe the same details that Holmes does. Whereas in the written works, there are moments when the observations are only revealed through a detailed explanation. Again the idea of show don’t tell works best in a visual medium.

But how do you create a game that offers plenty of visual and narrative twists without simply holding a gamer’s hand throughout the entire adventure? I’d love to think that I’m an observant person, but by no means could I ever possibly tie together some of the divinations that Holmes is able to pull off through his mastery of observations. To that end, Frogwares manages to strike a good balance of building an open world brimming with clues to observe, puzzles to solve, conversation trees to investigate, and logical deductions to make, which when combined make for a very enjoyable game.

While all of these various ingredients work together in the overall recipe, there is also an almost unfortunate side effect. The game is almost too easy. What I mean by that is all objects worth investigating are highlighted by either a magnifying glass or a hand. If the magnifying glass or hand are outlined in blue, then the object hasn’t been observed yet. If the objects are outlined in green, then the object has been observed and no additional time needs to be spent looking at that particular clue. Once an area has been swept of all observations the scene will either automatically move on, or Holmes or Watson will chime in indicating with a somewhat vague but pointed next step to take.

A classic problem with adventure games is what is also known as the pixel hunt. This is when the stumped player’s only chance at proceeding is to move the mouse over every object until the cursor changes. In a third-person (or in this particular game, the ability to switch to first-person–a very handy touch) fully realized 3D game world, pixel hunting is not especially easy to do. Objects aren’t necessarily on a fixed plane, and thus highlighting an object with a magnifying glass or hand helps to keep the game from feeling bogged down because a clue isn’t overlooked. Yet at the same time this also makes investigating clues a bit too easy. On the other hand, I found several clues to be difficult to locate simply due to the field of view that the camera allows even when switching between first- and third-person.

Even though clue hunting almost becomes too simple at times, that doesn’t take away from the events that can unfold once every clue is discovered. Throughout the game, clues and puzzles change often enough that nothing feels overly repetitive. Some clues are objects that can be picked up and stored in Holmes and Watson’s inventory, others are simply notes written in a diary style log. Puzzles range from traditional adventure game fodder where clues in the inventory combine to become either a makeshift ladder or an anesthetic (just two examples). Other puzzles are more complex and reference clues found in another part of a given area. The point I’m trying to make though, is that all of the puzzles feel organic to the game and environment. Nothing feels completely out of place or arbitrary.

While there are a few puzzles that take a bit of dexterity to solve, and others require a little bit of extreme logic in needing to combine clues that seemingly have no relation, the game also offers an opportunity to skip a puzzle if the challenge becomes too daunting. I for one am all for this. I admit that I skipped one puzzle that on the outset looked like a Zuma type gem matching game, but required getting all three color types separated into their own locations (I could get two of the three perfectly divided but not the last). When a game offers a strong story with great puzzles, the last thing I want to have to battle is not being able to solve one tricky puzzle to be able to move on. The ability to skip a puzzle is a brilliant inclusion in my opinion and something that is completely optional.

Of all the puzzle types created in this game, the one that Frogwares created specifically for this last installment is the deduction board. Clues gathered either through environmental observation or through direct interviews with suspects are laid out on a chart. As more clues are collected, more pathways are presented to help tie each clue together and help Holmes deduce a motive for a given crime. The deduction board starts off basic, but as more clues are tied together each clue offers two or three pathways of deduction to select from. While some pathways are obviously offered as filler, others are red herrings. Once a correct deduction pathway is selected, that particular card turns green to indicate that the correct path was chosen.

When environmental objects are examined they switch from blue to green (indicating no additional time needs to be spent examining them). When clues are correctly deduced on the deduction board they also turn green. You see a pattern? The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, while at times seems to be a bit obvious with its handling of clues, does everything possible to keep players motivated to move forward to the next step in the story. I enjoyed spending time walking through every space, examining clues to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The world is amazingly detailed, even for scenes that aren’t utilized for a particularly great length of time. If I felt like I was stuck or the progression of the story was obviously moving forward, I knew that I simply needed to spend a little more time walking about looking for a blue highlighted clue which indicated that I had missed something. To me this design choice is smart. I didn’t have to waste my time re-examining objects to find a clue I had somehow overlooked.

As was discussed in ourinterview with Frogwares back in August, the game was designed with console controller use in mind, but is also perfectly playable for the existing PC audience as the controls accommodate a player’s preferred input method very well. I played the PC version and chose to use an Xbox 360 controller, and finding clues, navigating the inventory, solving puzzles and the overall feel of the game works naturally with a controller. The game doesn’t feel like a port of a game where the stick control acts like a poor excuse for a mouse. The only time movement felt awkward was if I managed to move Holmes or Watson into a corner or ran up against an invisible wall and the camera would almost fight against my attempts at trying to turn the characters around to back away from where ever I had managed to get them cornered in.

As I mentioned before, the open world has an amazing level of detail added to props, as well as the various characters you can encounter. Character animations (particularly Holmes and Watson) are top notch and the voice acting adds another layer of depth and authenticity to the overall atmosphere of game. One exception to this is with the three children who discover Watson’s journal in Holmes’ attic. There is something just a bit off with the design or detail attended to these three. Fortunately they play such a minor part in the game that their look can be forgiven.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a wonderful adventure game. The story deftly switches back and forth from humorous to dark and brooding and has plenty of smart, organic puzzles that never feel completely out of place. Everything in the game is designed to help progress the story along and keep players moving toward solving a mystery that becomes more twisted and interesting as it unfolds, culminating in a satisfying resolution. If you like a good detective adventure thriller and are intrigued by solving mysteries, then you absolutely should not miss this title.

Pros:
+ Smart, organic puzzles
+ Dark, twisting story
+ Great voice acting
+ Puzzles can be skipped if they are too difficult
+ Right detailed environments to explore
+ Game pad controls work naturally with the game

Cons:
– Camera controls at times are fidgety
– No branching story to offer replay
– Discovering clues is made a bit too easy

Game Info:
Platform: Reviewed on PC, also available for PS3 and Xbox 360
Publisher: Atlus USA/Focus Home Interactive
Developer: Frogwares
Release Date: 9/25/2012
Genre: Adventure/Mystery
ESRB Rating: Mature
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by publisher

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VGB Feature: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes Q&A With Frogwares Business Development Manager Olga Ryzhko

Matt Litten — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:22:13 +0000

Good news: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes has been given a launch date today! You can pick it up on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 on September 20th in Europe or September 25th in North America.

Double good news: We just wrapped up our Q&A interrogation with developer Frogwares. Read along for the results of our investigation.

VGBlogger: Testament of Sherlock Holmes appears to be portraying a much darker side to the famous detective than we’ve seen in previous games and stories, going as far as making him the prime suspect. What inspired this change in tone and direction?

Olga Ryzhko: The Guinness World Records has just recently honored Sherlock Holmes as the most portrayed literary human character in both film and television. It’s amazing, but more than 75 actors have played Sherlock over 250 times on screen!

All of them have brought something of their own to this iconic character. The same can be said of Frogwares’ games. All of our stories are inspired by and based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock, but we bring our own vision to them. With our previous games, players had the opportunity to take on the role of the world’s most famous consulting detective, whether it was the case versus Jack the Ripper or a Cthulhu idol. This time we’re going to find out who Sherlock Holmes really is. Is he the nice guy that we are used to thinking of…or is he really someone darker?

We have always wanted to make a game like this, and now that we have evolved through these other games, we can have Sherlock as the main suspect in a murder investigation as a kind of turning point.

VGB: How faithful is this game’s storyline to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s canon works? Would you say this is the most original and creative Frogwares has been with exploring different aspects of Holmes’ character?

OR: With The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, we made a huge effort to stay loyal and faithful to the short stories and novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlockians will see and recognize some canonical characters, hints, references etc. in the game. Of course it is difficult to make it all the way through the true canon, through The Sherlock Holmes Bible if you wish.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is our re-imagining of Doyle’s 60 stories. The game has its own plot. Some standards and rules still apply to certain elements of the canon but we have eliminated others.

VGB: From afar, it seems that The Testament of Sherlock Holmes draws some ideas from L.A. Noire? Was Team Bondi’s crime-solving adventure a source of inspiration, and if so, in what ways?

OR: L.A. Noire is a brilliant game and Team Bondi did an impressive job with it, adding a new trend to the genre. We have been very excited to play and discuss it here internally within Frogwares studio. Even so, I cannot say that The Testament of Sherlock Holmes was inspired by it. We started actively working on our game back in March 2010, and the first thoughts and ideas appeared even before we released Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper. By the time L.A. Noire was published, we simply couldn’t make any changes inside of the game while we were still polishing it.

VGB: How does the new deduction system function exactly?

OR: With the deduction board, players are going to draw the so-called large conclusions from the smallest observations they make while collecting the clues and questioning witnesses. We will see all the clues concentrated in one place. Then we will analyze and link them together to see where they can lead us.

For example, when the player finishes searching the first scene, collecting all the clues and completing the deduction board, he or she will come to the first leads in the entire investigation. He/she is then free to choose which lead to follow. The investigation will then continue in different locations, with different characters and suspects, with Holmes being the main suspect here.

VGB: When questioning witnesses and interrogating suspects, what dialogue choices does the player have in determining what to ask? Are certain questions only available when specific clues have been gathered?

OR: Yes! To gather detailed information and comprehensive answers from the witnesses, the player will have to find the clues first. Apart from that, we also introduce “strategic dialogues” in the game: players will have to find the right approach and ask the right questions in order to gain the needed info.

VGB: Does the game’s new graphics engine, as it relates to the increased detail in character and facial animations, have any influence on gameplay? Is there an element of reading character reactions to your questions to figure out if they are lying or withholding information?

OR: The new graphics engine, lightning, technology and the level of graphic detail will immerse players in the story, surroundings, and environment and into the game itself. Players will live out this adventure in Victorian London, visiting both the sophisticated and more glamorous side of the city, juxtaposed against the seedier, dark Whitechappel streets.

VGB: Are there multiple outcomes/solutions to mysteries based on how a player questions NPCs, assigns guilt/innocence, and discovers clues or does each investigation have specific objectives that must be met in order to be completed?

OR: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a classic adventure game; there are no different endings here. It’s all about investigation, deduction and puzzle solving. Players will have to do all three to progress throughout the game.

Getting back to the “strategic dialogues,” players will obtain different info based on which approach he/she chooses. They won’t be able to replay the dialogue, and with the details that they receive, they will have to move forward with the investigation.

VGB: How does the game transition playability between Holmes and Watson? Does the story alternate between the two from one level to the next or is there a set point in the story when player control shifts to the next character? Are the two characters playable in equal proportions or is Holmes still the focal point?

OR: With The Testament of Sherlock Holmes we are going to present and follow two investigations: the first one will start with the case of a stolen necklace and the death of the Bishop of Knightsbridge, led by the detective. While the second investigation concerns Sherlock himself, it is Dr. Watson leading the investigation.

Are they equal? Probably not. Holmes is still the main suspect and the main character in the game. Although when Sherlock dies, Watson continues the investigation himself.

VGB: When going through a crime scene or solving a puzzle, how much freedom does the player have in scouring the environment and how does the player interact with objects and clues?

OR: The player decides which leads to follow and which to ignore, what clues are important and which ones won’t add anything to the investigation. Some of the objects we can only examine, while we can take others. The ones that we take go directly to the inventory. We can then use them later in the game, we can combine them to invent something new or we can examine them more precisely in the laboratory at Baker Street.

VGB: The E3 trailer indicates that players will freely roam Victorian London. How open is the world to exploration? Is it an open world setting or is it a more linear progression of solving an investigation and then moving to the next?

OR: It is not an open world game; The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a traditional adventure game with a thorough investigation resulting in the linear progression. The player will browse an authentic London both indoors and outdoors in order to get the clues to find the witnesses or suspects, and then deciding whether they are important or not.

VGB: Does the game offer hint or guide mechanics of any kind? If so, how are these balanced out so players can’t abuse them? Will there be multiple difficulty options that dictate the level of help a player has available to them?

OR: If they get stuck in the game, players can use the help system, or the sixth sense ability. It takes 15 sec to reload so you can’t constantly use it. This should help the wider audience of console players not familiar with adventure games, as our previous Sherlock Holmes games were at times incredibly challenging, and players quit the game to find a walkthrough on the Internet or at least some advice at the forums. They can also skip puzzles but the Skip button appears only after 5 minutes.

Difficulty options depends entirely on you: whether you use hints or not. It will be reflected in the achievements tab, as you won’t get all of them by using help and hints.

VGB: With The Testament of Sherlock Holmes being the first game developed with consoles in mind, how have you adapted adventure game controls most commonly associated with mouse and keyboard to feel comfortable and intuitive with a PS3 or Xbox 360 gamepad?

OR: We kept the classical keyboard and mouse controls for PC gamers presenting the traditional 2.5D game. We did this especially for the players who like this control scheme. The game is also playable with a gamepad on PC, as well.

As for the consoles, we did a lot of research on how to implement and introduce everything that we wanted; we have made a lot of changes to adapt controls and make it really intuitive. Our humble experience with Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper that was ported to Xbox 360 and PS3 helped a lot. This was probably the most significant part of the work.

VGB: What led the team at Frogwares to focus development on consoles this time around?

OR: The Testament of Sherlock Holmes was specifically designed for consoles. It is our first experience in this field. In short, it was rather difficult to work with different hardware, as well as following all the guidelines and rules of both PS3 and Xbox 360.

In the end, though, we made it and the game arrives this September simultaneously for three platforms, different countries, and in different languages.

VGB: Games like Heavy Rain and Datura have shown great potential for motion control in adventure gaming. Will the game support PlayStation Move and/or Kinect? Were motion control options ever considered during development?

OR: We would love to implement OnLive, PlayStation Move, and Kinect, as well as any other features favored by the players. We would be able to reach a wider audience, although it will increase the time and resources needed to develop the game. Unfortunately we are a little bit short on time on this. We prefer to release something new rather than focusing on the same game for ages.

VGB: Thanks for your time!

Of Orcs and Men and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes Get North American Publishers

Matt Litten — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 08:58:45 +0000

Two Focus Home titles have been picked up for North American distribution this morning, both still on for fall launches.

Of Orcs and Men, a grand role-playing game with orcs and goblins as the heroes for a change, will be distributed by Warner Bros. for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Atlus USA, on the other hand, has acquired the rights to publish the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Frogwares’ crime solving adventure game, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. There’s a PC version as well, but I’m assuming in the U.S. that one will be direct-distroed through digital channels.

Hey, didn’t I just finish posting about these two games? Yep, here’s the Of Orcs and Men E3 2012 trailer; and here’s one for The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.

Is The Testament of Sherlock Holmes L.A. Noire in Victorian London?

Matt Litten — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 02:00:29 +0000

While watching the new E3 2012 trailer for The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, the first thing that popped into my head was: “Hey, this looks a lot like L.A. Noire. I like it!”

On the surface, the similarities are vaguely apparent but not outright blatant. The PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 adventure game will have you, playing as both Holmes and Watson, investigating crimes and searching for clues in a free-roam Victorian London. A lot of crime/mystery adventure games have done similar things before. No big deal. Then I read the description from the game’s website, and it become crystal clear that L.A. Noire must have been the main source of inspiration for Frogwares’ latest Sherlock Holmes detective thriller. Here, read it for yourself:

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is an investigation game that puts you at the core of a thrilling and complex plot. It has all of the ingredients to make a great investigation: examination of crimes scenes, collection of clues and evidence, pursuing of leads, questioning of witnesses and suspects, reasoning and deduction work…that’s what the heart of the game is made of. The game is easily played with a gamepad on console, yet keeps the classic mouse gameplay on PC. While playing as the famous detective, you will have to solve the trickiest case of his entire career since Sherlock Holmes himself is the main suspect!

Use all of your skills to sort out the numerous twists and mysteries of this investigation. You will need to be a keen observer on the different crime scenes in order to examine every single clue. Your logic and the game’s ingenious deduction system will be of great help to link the facts together and draw the right conclusions. During the questioning, you will choose your approach to put your interlocutor off guard to find out as much information as possible! In the end, you will lead a head-on open investigation, sometimes playing as Sherlock Holmes, sometimes as Doctor Watson. You alone will decide which leads to follow.

Crime scene examination. Evidence gathering. Questioning suspects and witnesses. Using the clues to draw your own conclusions and solve cases. That sure sounds like a certain Team Bondi game I played last year.

Again, I’m not judging here at all. When it wasn’t attempting to be a GTA knock-off, L.A. Noire pushed crime adventure game concepts forward with some incredible innovations, so I’m all for other developers pulling ideas from it. There have been a bunch of Sherlock Holmes games over recent years; this is the first I’ve been truly eager to play.

Check it out this September on your favorite console or a PC. I know I will.

Screenshot Saturday: God of War: Ascension, Black Ops II & Dueling Mascot Racers Dishonored by an Unfinished Swan

Matt Litten — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:57:27 +0000

Multiplayer in God of War? I know, it still doesn’t sound quite right. But Sony Santa Monica has revealed its competitive ambitions for the next PlayStation 3 mythological adventure, and here you’ll find the first screenshots showing teams of Kratos wannabes fighting for the right to slay a giant cyclops.

Not to be outdone, Activision came through with the completely expected news that Call of Duty: Black Ops II is exploding onto the gaming scene this fall. The near-future Cold War premise with horseback riding and unmanned drones turned into an army of robot invaders? Now that stuff wasn’t so predictable.

For mascot kart racing fans, new screenshots for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and LittleBigPlanet Karting crossed the finish line this week. Bethesda also dropped off a screen-grab six-pack for awesome-looking first-person action game Dishonored and, proving once again that games are art, Giant Sparrow presented its beautifully abstract first-person painting adventure game, The Unfinished Swan. Just one more artsy PlayStation Network exclusive to watch out for, folks.

Other new screenshot galleries to check out this week include: Persona 4 Golden, Orgarhythm, Ragnarok Odyssey, Mario Tennis Open, GT Academy 2012, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, The Last Story, Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles, Hitman: Absolution, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Vita, Ys Origin, Pokémon Conquest, Ms. Splosion Man, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, Unchained Blades, Warlock: Master of the Arcane, Starvoid, Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition, Salem: The Crafting MMO, Enclave: Shadows of Twilight and Free Realms third birthday celebration.

God of War: Ascension (PS3):
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Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita):
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LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3):
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Dishonored (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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The Unfinished Swan (PS3/PSN/PS Move):
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Persona 4 Golden (PlayStation Vita):
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Orgarhythm (PlayStation Vita):
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Ragnarok Odyssey (PlayStation Vita):
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Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo 3DS):
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GT Academy 2012 (PSN/PS3):
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Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy (Nintendo 3DS):
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The Last Story (Nintendo Wii):
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Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles – The Avengers Table (XBLA, PSN for PS3 and Vita):
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Hitman: Absolution (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PlayStation Vita):
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Ys Origin (PC):
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Pokémon Conquest (Nintendo DS):
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Ms. Splosion Man – Splokour Challenge Event (XBLA):
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The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Unchained Blades (PSP, Nintendo 3DS):
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Warlock: Master of the Arcane (PC):
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Starvoid (PC):
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Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition (PC):
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Salem: The Crafting MMO (PC, Mac, Linux):
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Enclave: Shadows of Twilight (Nintendo Wii):
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Free Realms – Third Birthday Event (PC, Mac, PSN):
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