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I fell asleep at the end...seriously!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: February 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It took me about a week to get through this and there were two defining moments in this time that can sum up this game.

1. I almost threw my laptop across the room during the last timed scene because the mouse pointer wouldn't register where to go.

2. When I finally got to the end, I started to watch the movie and he talked and talked and talked and then I felt my eyes get heavy and I FELL ASLEEP! I woke up about 2 minutes later and what was he doing... STILL TALKING!! I hit the escape key and quit the game.

If you have trouble sleeping - THIS GAMES FOR YOU! If you have anger management issues, STAY AWAY!

Amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have always loved Sherlock Holmes games and have played them on crappy days. I got Silver Earring -- and I couldn't stop playing it. Some parts are very challenging but it is all rewarding in the end.

The graphics are absolutely amazing and the dialogue is also just awesome. I reccomend this game to anybody who enjoys a challenge and most of all, Loves Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Frustrating and boring in many places

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: October 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I really looked forward to this game. Boy, was I disappointed. The look of the game is beautiful and very detailed, but the character movement is poor. The characters' voices were above average, considering some of the awful voices in lots of games out there. The game is divided into parts, with a quiz at the end of each part. You have to get all the answers correct and show why with documentation and witnesses to proceed to the next part of the story. These quizzes were very tedious to me. If just one part of one question is wrong, you are stuck until you correct it. And all Holmes will tell you is something is incorrect, not which answer(s). The last half of the story has several timed puzzles, which I hate. A couple of them take place in very dark places with very tiny characters to move around at precisely the right time and place or the game ends and you lose. So save your game often. There is a lot of reading of documents and that really slows things down. By the time the inevitable gathering of the suspects and naming of the culprit(s) comes around I was bored out of my mind. The last scene goes on so long that I started straightening my desk and going through some paperwork I had. What a shame. I love Conan Doyle's Holmes so much. This should have been exciting and thought-provoking, but instead it was just a waste of time.

A great game if mysteries interest you!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The world of Sherlock Holmes pulls you in as you uncover clue after clue in this fascinating and ever-unfolding adventure game!

Secret of the Silver Earring was a truly enjoyable game. The graphics were amazing (looking VERY realistic at times!) and the storyline was intriguing. The puzzles were cleverly done and fun to figure out. But I have to say, my favorite aspects of the game were being able to "examine evidence," and having all your notes with you throughout the game, so you can go back and reference them. There were many features to this game such as playing as Watson, dressing in disguise, and taking little quizzes that I also enjoyed and that set the game apart from the rest.

The reason I gave it four stars instead of 5 was the gameplay is a bit difficult at times. For example, when you're navigating Holmes around an area where you're trying to not be detected by a guard and a dog, I found it quite complicated. Although I wouldn't let this stop you from buying the game.

Overall, I recommend Secret of the Silver Earring if you like mystery/adventure games that take patience and time. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

For Fans...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I can only recommend this game for true Sherlock Holmes fans. The story itself is well done, and the adventures cover everything one would find in an original Sherlock Holmes story. Everything is there from Dr. Watson to Inspector Lesterade. Holmes goes through everything from simple deduction to the study of cigarette ashes, to his chemistry laboratory and even a disguise.

However, there are some problems with this game. For one, the overall idea of being Sherlock Holmes is a tough one to put into a game. The average player simply does not have the deductive powers of Sherlock Holmes. As a result, it is very difficult to put someone into Sherlock's shoes.

The game is a pixel hunt and as such almost a parody of the adventure game genre. Of course, for a Sherlock Holmes game, this is more adequate than for other games. Still I found it somewhat difficult to follow the story. In the novels, this happens as well at times, but that's OK, because the reader isn't Sherlock Holmes. The reader just follows along. In a game on the other hand, it is pretty important to become Holmes.

The game tries to make the player pay a lot of attention by making the player answer a short quiz on several occasions. I found it difficult at times to answer some questions. I understood things well enough to answer the questions, but sometimes the answers were not 100% clear. After a few tries I managed to answer all of them though, at times without really altering the meaning of my answers.

The game also has 2 "action" segments. I do not have a problem with action segments in these games as long as they are done well. This is not the case here. It is hard to figure out what to do and what the criteria is. Controls are bad. On one occasion, Holmes states that "we must be quick", yet as you try to make him move around, he stops at the edge of one screen even though you already gave him the command to move on. Things like that. Also, the action sequences can not be completed at first try. You have to find out how to complete them by failing and learning from your failure. This is a game play mechanic I truly do not like.

Some of the animations are very good. Others not so much. Especially when it comes to moving characters around the screen, things turn south. Watching a character turn around very slowly to line up with an object you told him to run to can be agonizing at times. Also, the way the world is rendered as basically still images (for the most part) that switch over to the next few when the character walks "out of the picture" really is a bad deal especially in areas where you have to find out where you had to go. I have a farily good sense of direction, but had to pay a lot of attention not to get lost.

Very nice story, up there with Serrated Scalpel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great improvement over Frogwares' first Sherlock Holmes game, its about time game developers started outsourcing specialied creative elements to the people who know them best. In this case the story actually came from a Sherlock Holmes fanfiction writer, regarded as one of the best fan written stories ever written that was adapted for the game.

A word of warning though, early previews/reviews mention a free movie with the game, this bonus is UK only. I was a bit disappointed after picking up the game, but nonetheless I'll try not to reiterate points that you can find in other reviews online and just say that this is a very solid game, no tedious or annoying elements.

With this and Law and Order Justice is Served, this looks like a resurgence for adventure games, and hopefully a move away from the many myst clones that the market has become saturated with.

Interesting story and gameplay, but had some issues

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is one of those games where you spend most of your time either walking around talking to people about a million things, or staring at the screen trying to figure out what little blemish you missed on the floor that needs to be examined in order to continue. Overall, I thought it was well executed for this type of game. However, the most annoying aspect of it was the character movement--it was very clumsy and sluggish, and there were times I wished for a "warp" feature to speed things up. If you like hunt and search games with an excellent story and lots of conversations to pay attention to, then this is for you.

Poor Character Movement

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Most of the puzzles are fairly easy...However, the attempt to enter the office at the Cement Works displays the lack of control
one has over Sherlock's movements resulting in a very tedious
and time consuming snag in a relatively interesting game....

Not the funnest game I imagined!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I guess if all you are looking for is to find clues and solve the mystery, this game is definitely for you but it does lack imagination. I would love to see a whodunit game that involves some fantacy and some creative problem solving as well as clue finding and mystery solving. The best game I have ever played thus far and have yet to find a game to match it is "The Longest Journey". If anyone knows this game and a game that comes close, please email me at kborba@comcast.net.

One of the best ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Wow! Just finished Silver Earring, and it was fantastic! It's a great mystery like the Nancy Drew games, beautiful scenes reminiscent of Syberia (gotta be the same design crew). Wonderful, complex story, great acting, beautiful music. The game play is not too hard...Sherlock gives you hints if you need to look around more or move on to the next place...but the puzzles (only about 3 or 4 of 'em) are quite difficult. I had to use the walkthrough for them, but the rest of the time it was easy enough to figure out what to do next. There's also a quiz section at the end of each level, where you have to answer the questions correctly to go to the next level. Nice long gameplay time, too, and many places to explore. One of the best ever! More, please, you talented Ubi Soft people!

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