Sherlock Holmes and the Curious Case of the Hand-Holding Adventure.
I fancy myself as a fairly capable gamer, with regards to figuring out solutions and overcoming in-game obstacles placed in my path. Back in the days of the PS2, before the ease of access to online walkthroughs and collective knowledge of a game’s secrets, I would persist on my own in completing a game. Even if it meant retracing my steps over and over, or failing at the same part until I succeeded, I would grit my teeth and think to myself, there has to be a solution somewhere. This is likely the same for many gamers, who were brought up on a diet of single-player games, the dark days before Xbox Live and online gaming really took off. For these reasons, approaching a game like Sherlock Holmes: Crime and Punishment made me believe I would be taking a nostalgic trip back to those times. A game that would force me to think, and almost revel in my failure, forcing my try again or, god forbid, actually stop to ponder on the evidence and arrive at the correct solution. I thought wrong.
Sherlock Holmes: Crime and Punishment is the first foray of the world’s most famous detective to Xbox One. As in previous Sherlock titles (The Testament of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper, both released on the 360), the latest game in the series is a third-person, point-and-click adventure. Over the course of six cases, you take control of Sherlock – and at select occasions Dr. Watson, and even their dog, Toby – collecting evidence, examining crime scenes, interrogating witnesses and conducting experiments. There certainly is a lot to get through; each case is itself a couple of hours, and by the time you are ready to deliver a guilty verdict, there is a mountain of evidence to sift through to uncover the true culprit, and their exact method of committing the crime.
Each case begins in a familiar fashion. In true detective style, Holmes is always late to the bloodbath, and must use his extraordinary skills to work his way back through the evidence at hand to find out what happened. Talking to suspects and sleuthing your way through the crime scene are the first port of calls. You can collect objects which appear relevant, removing evidence from the scene in such a blasé manner that would make the cast of CSI faint. Persons of interest are transported to Scotland Yard for further questions. There may also be a body in the morgue, for a more thorough examination, along with any other evidence found. From here it’s necessary to slowly build a case; many times, initial clues only serve to lead to something larger, and new locations open up for you to explore, widening the investigation beyond the initial crime scene. While travelling from one area to the next you can check your casebook or examine your deductions. These involve using the clues you have found to connect two together. Creating enough deductions will allow you to make links between them and eventually solve the case. However, these are really just to mask the long loading times while travelling, as most times I had reviewed everything in the casebook and made all possible deductions before leaving. And sadly, all these actions you can perform that give the idea of stepping into the shoes of Sherlock Holmes, are really just a mask too.
Unlike my initial belief that the game would give you the freedom to explore and, most importantly, to fail, the reality is that Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments has a vice-like grip on your hand as it guides you through each case and eagerly tells you what to do at every point. Take, for instance, questioning and interrogating witnesses and suspects. First, you can create a character profile by scanning the person and hovering your cursor over them to pick out something notable, such as their style of dress or an item protruding from a pocket. Many of these follow such a similar pattern that I knew to always check their hands or what kind of buttons they wore. Even worse, the clues on screen, blurred out yet, at times, readable, meaning I knew part to check. Then you can question them, except there is no multiple choice option a la L.A. Noire, meaning there is no real sense of pressing a suspect to reveal a vital piece of information, or asking the wrong question resulting in the clamming up and refusing to speak. The handful of times there are multiple choices they are related to clues you have found: pick the wrong one for this situation, and the game kindly requests you pick the correct one and resets.
This is also a common occurrence, where the game is so determined to prevent you from failing that it removes any challenge. At the end of one case you are treated to an ‘action’ scene, where your suspects draws a gun. You are then given the option to kill him or shoot the gun out of his hand. However, on my first attempt I failed to do either. Instead of a cutscene where the suspects gets his shot off and then is restrained, a message popped up, effectively stating ‘well, that wouldn’t do now, would it? Why not have another go?’ Instances such as this happened routinely throughout my playing time. If you’re stuck on one of the few genuine puzzles, you can simply skip it, with the only punishment being missing out on an achievement. Form the wrong conclusion to the case and you have the chance to go back and keep changing your final decision until you get it correct.
Unfortunately, this persists in each case. Tapping the shoulder buttons makes use of two of Sherlock’s skills, giving him a Batman style detective mode, or the ability to ‘use his imagination’ which shows how things may have occurred during the crime. In a recurring theme, these abilities only become available when the game prompts you to use them. And even then it’s nothing more than approaching the obvious clues, or watching misty versions of past events unfold before your eyes. The game has you cotton-wrapped against anything even approaching a ‘Game Over’ screen or potentially failing a case due to overlooking a clue or picking the wrong subject. On my first case, I checked my conclusion and discovered it was wrong. Yet when I declared my guilty verdict, in a world where Sherlock’s word is law, there was no scenario where I was reprimanded for my mistake. Later on in the game, you may receive a message from one of those you condemned or absolved, though this is more of an afterthought than anything that will impact on your play through.
Sherlock Holmes: Crime and Punishment isn’t poor for want of trying. Holmes fans might find much that appeals to them, with familiar characters such as Inspector Lestrade or Mycroft Holmes popping up. The entire game is well voice-acted, though there are moments when the Cockney accents and calls of “‘Ello, Mista ‘Olmes” descend into caricature. There are nods to the books littered throughout the game, many of which I’m sure I missed. The game is hampered by its unwillingness to present you with a mystery and have you solve it on your own. Instead, each case feels like a training mission and you wait for all the hints to stop popping up. It is hard to appreciate the attempts at authenticity when put in control of such a great mind as Holmes’ and not be allowed to use your own.
