Sherlock Holmes (video game series)

Originally developed for Microsoft Windows, the series first began in September 2002 with Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy. The debut is in the first-person perspective and follows Sherlock Holmes' investigation of a British archaeologist's mansion. The game was resurrected and expanded for the Nintendo DS[2] allowing puzzles to be solved with the stylus and touchscreen.

The second game in the series, Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring, followed in October 2004, and introduced the third-person perspective. In it, Holmes and Watson investigate the murder of a construction tycoon, Sir Melvyn Bromsby; with his daughter, Lavinia, among the suspects.

The third game in the series, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, was released in February 2007. It is the first game to feature first-person perspective in real-time 3D. The game follows an original plotline as Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate a series of strange disappearances related to the Cthulhu Mythos. Among the more positive reviews for the game, GameSpot gave it a rating of 8.3 out of 10, praising the storyline and stating that it was told "brilliantly", calling it a "Cthulhu-infused Victoriana".[3] A remastered version was released in 2008 offering a third-person perspective in addition to the first-person perspective. This game won GameSpot's Best Use of a License Award.

The fourth game in the series, Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin (also known as Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis), was released in the third quarter of 2007. The game's antagonist is Arsène Lupin, a fictional gentleman thief created by French writer Maurice Leblanc. It begins at Holmes' residence at 221B Baker Street in London, where Holmes and Dr. Watson find a letter from Lupin. The thief states in the letter he will steal five items of great value to England.

A fifth installment, Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper, was released in March 2009 and had Sherlock Holmes against the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper. This is the first game in the series to be released on console, specifically Xbox 360. The game consists of poems, puzzles and tasks that take Holmes from one clue to the next.

A sixth installment, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, was released for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3[4][5] in September 2012.[6]

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is set in the London of 1895, with Holmes presented as the main suspect in a case in which he is unable to prove his innocence. It was developed primarily for consoles, and features a new graphic engine and gameplay mechanics.[7]

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is the seventh game in the series.[8] The game was released on in September 2014 for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4.[9]

The eighth game, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, was released in June 2016.[10] It is the first game since 2007 not to be published by Focus Home Interactive; instead it was published by Bigben Interactive. No reasons were given for the change of publisher.[11] It was released on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.[12]

Kerry Shale was originally expected to reprise his role as Sherlock,[13] but was later confirmed by Frogwares that the game would focus on a different incarnation of Sherlock Holmes and features a new actor Alex Jordan in the role.[14]

The ninth game, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, was released in November 2021 for PC and PS4, as well as Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

The game is set as an origin story with Sherlock Holmes, being aged twenty-one, returning to the island of Cordona, where he spent a part of his childhood. The main plot revolves around Holmes slowly regaining memories of his mother's death, while also solving different cases on the island.

It is the first game in the series self-published by Frogwares and mechanically takes heavy inspiration from their previous title The Sinking City (for example, being set in an open-world environment).[15]

The tenth game in the series, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, was released in April 2023. It is a remake of the original version of The Awakened released in 2007 and was released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.

Throughout several games, Holmes uses his magnifying glass when he inspects things such as crime scenes, mutilated bodies, fingerprints, gashes and scratches—and uses it mostly for finding evidence. It is the only item to appear in most of the series.

He also uses his microscope in checking clues unseen by the naked eye. He has a chemistry set in his flat which he uses to dissolve solute, dissect clues, and find evidence. Each game also provides exploration to find items that Holmes can use later in the game to help solve the case.

Much of the gameplay throughout the whole series consists of themes and gameplay found in a classic adventure game. Players are encouraged to explore the games' sandbox landscapes, where clues are hidden in them. Point-and-click game-play is also prevalent. The series also lets the players interrogate certain people to gather evidence for the investigation. There are also instances where Holmes disguises himself in order to infiltrate a hostile location to get more evidence. The series lets the player play both Holmes and Watson in either first-person or third-person perspective. Holmes' game-play mostly consists of investigations and finding evidence to come to a conclusion. Watson's game-play mostly consists of him running errands for Holmes and assisting in the investigation, but there are sometimes instances where he takes control of the investigation.

Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy was the first to use the first-person perspective in the series. The Case of the Silver Earring is a point-and-click (mouse-controlled) third-person adventure, and the first one to use this perspective in the series. Clicking in the general direction will usually cause the character to move in that direction. As Holmes, the players spend time searching for important clues, most of which the bumbling police force have missed. Items are at least partly visible, though some are not interactive until an action in the game triggers them. The players can also analyze various clues using Holmes' desktop laboratory.

The Awakened was the first Frogwares title to allow gameplay to take place in an entirely real-time 3D landscape and from a first-person perspective, losing the pre-rendered backgrounds of its predecessors. Like other Sherlock Holmes games by Frogwares, it has an open world environment in every location that can have hidden clues and interactions with NPCs. The inventory system saves all objects, documents, and map locations for later use and can also be used to combine objects. The game can be viewed from a first or third person perspective. It provides the players with icons to indicate what actions Holmes can take within his world, like pick up something or talk to someone.

The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the game series are modeled using the characters from the ITV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the portrayals by Jeremy Brett and David Burke, respectively.[16]

The Awakened uses fully real-time graphics.

Early games in the series use pre-rendered backgrounds, using them to hide clues in the scene and provide accessible open world landscapes. It features a combination of 2D and 3D styles of view in the background.[17]

The Awakened was the first Frogwares title to allow gameplay to take place in an entirely real-time 3D landscape and from a first-person perspective. Frogwares made a well rendered 3D environment without the normal excessive pixilation that haunted many adventure games.[18] This is mixed with a lush presentation of 19th century London, depicting its characteristic dimly-lit lonely alleyways. The graphics quality was an improvement from all the previous games in the series. Animation in particular became more smoother and much more natural-looking. The third-person camera can also be moved around the character independently, which helps both to find an angle that is comfortable for the players and to take in the surroundings while standing still.[19]

Holmes' face showing a leap in the series' graphics and the use of motion capture.

These upgrades are part of a broader move to attract more console players. After the last game, Frogwares got feedback, from Xbox players in particular, that they wanted more adventure games with 3D graphics and also production values to match what other genres are offering. Frogwares was eager to deliver, though the developer did not forget PC platform, as some speculated.[20]

Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper used drawings to depict its murder victims, hiding the full horror of the scenes out of respect for the real historical victims. The new games in the series differ from this (especially The Testament of Sherlock Holmes); holding no restraint in displaying the grisly murders, the characters depicted are purely fictional.[19]

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is the first in the series to have a great leap in graphics. Designers used motion capture to get realism in characterization. The game also benefits from a new light and shadow system, various post-treatment image effects, and high quality voice-over and cinematographic direction.[21]

Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet was released in mid-2008. Unlike the preceding games, The Mystery of the Persian Carpet is primarily an object hunt game. The game was rated poorly and was generally considered a disappointing follow-up to Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper. GameSpot's review of the game found it "not all that appropriate as a sequel to the other adventures that Sherlock and Watson have been starring in during the past few years".[22]

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House is the first in the series to be made and published for the Nintendo DS. In this game, Holmes investigates a robbery and a deep conspiracy in Buckingham Palace.

Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles, released in 2011 for PC and Nintendo DS and loosely based on the novel of the same name, is a hidden object game that features heavy supernatural themes. While the titular hound in the original story is a legend used to cover up a murder, the hound in the game is a supernatural monster associated with a curse, and the player is assisted by magical items and the ghosts of deceased members of the Baskerville family.

Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Frozen City was released in October 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS.[23] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received mixed to negative reviews.[24]

A few titles of the series have also garnered awards from various gaming websites and communities. Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened earned GameSpot's "Best Use of a License" award in 2007.[45] It was also nominated for GameSpot's and IGN's "Best PC Adventure Game of 2007" awards.[46][47] In 2011, Adventure Gamers named The Awakened the 80th-best adventure game ever released.[48]

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes was awarded "Best of the Rest" in the Honorary Aggie Award category by the website Adventure Gamers, saying that "the surprising story of Sherlock's apparent fall from grace was thoroughly engaging right from the start and kept the momentum up through well-crafted characters and plenty of twists and turns. Topped off with stunning visuals and an impressive orchestral soundtrack, this was Frogwares at their finest".[49]