User Reviews (11 - 15 of 15)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Nice surprise - Jumped a Few Times Too!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game being very skeptical; however the graphics, storyline, & dark atmosphere kept the attention span. Know that I like to watch people play point and clicks just as though I'm watching a movie unfold. Note to anyone who's frustrated with back-tracking, you'll be doing a lot as well as go over material that's not very obvious to find; which is why I knocked off a star from my rating. I'm `very' experienced with point and clicks and truly enjoy the dark image that they `can' provide if well written and the right mood is set. When both my wife and I nearly jumped out of our skins with a few scenes, I was hooked! Here's how I conducted my start rating:
1) Pretty good scripting & dialog, the voice acting was well done
2) Graphics performed well and for sure conveyed a `lights out' feel to the game - well done!
3) Overall performance of the game to include installation was solid
4) Storyline was good and keeps the viewers attention (not too confusing)
5) Clues, hints, and adaptability to continue game play was harsh (for sure requires a walkthrough; nixed this star due to many clues being too obscure.

Note that my wife and I love to get a good scare out of our games and we look forward to the next installment of this point-n-click. Before buying, I'm sure we'll be researching walkthroughs for those next to impossible clues that we'll inevitably overlook.

It was basically fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The voice acting was pretty decent. The settings were detailed and looked good. The gameplay was very linear which is either good or bad depending on how you like your games. The story was fine though the ultimate bad guy kind of came out of nowhere and it left me feeling a bit disconnected. It wasn't all that scary though. The only real problem I had was with the graphics. After I'd been playing for a while the textures would go wonky and I'd have to save and restart the game. On the plus side one of the bad guys does an interpretive dance and Watson shoots an unarmed man so... I'm glad I got it fairly cheap. I'd suggest it if you can do the same and you're looking for a few hours to kill.

Sherlock Holmes Puzzler with Great Atmosphere

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened and recommend it to adventure/puzzle game fans, particularly if you enjoy the Sherlock Holmes world, and moreso if you enjoy the Call of Cthulhu mythos of HP Lovecraft.

The atmosphere of the game blends these two themes very well, though ultimately it is a Holmesian quest and not a race against madness that takes you across London, Switzerland, New Orleans, and up the Scottish coast for the finale.

The puzzles range from easy to very difficult, sometimes the latter because of the arcane nature of Holmes and Watson uncovering all the clues at your feet with the magnifying glass so that they can continue, even if you've already figured things out. In this case, I had to refer to a walkthrough online to get unstuck. Otherwise, the most challenging puzzles did a good job of keep me engaged and trying everything I could think of to solve the next move.

The game world is 1st person 3-D with inventory management, in which you pick up items to use later, often combining them to new items in MacGyver-esque innovation.

The voice acting is not Shakespearean but I did like the feel of the Holmes and Watson personas and you meet a diversity of other characters along the way.

I'll be picking up the next adventure, Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis because the feel of the game and a majority of puzzles were well done.

Favorite Mystery Adventure Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love this game! I loved the face-off combination of Sherlock Holmes and the supernatural forces of Cthulu, it's very original. Also, I personally enjoyed the dark subject matter, the gore, and the scenery...it emphasized the pure evil of the enemy and made the story that much spookier. The voice acting was great, the adventure was fun to unravel, and I think the graphics were awesome; the use of an all 3D landscape makes it even more engaging.

There are a few cons, but not enough to turn me off to playing the game again in the future. The background music isn't too great...it's just a bit of ambiance between chapters and during dialog scenes, and nothing much other than that. Also, if you don't really pay attention to all the clues, it's hard to figure out exactly what to do next, especially when you are asked a question by one of the characters and you need to type an answer. I had to use walkthrough websites just to figure out the answers, and it doesn't allow you to opt out and answer later. If you don't answer it at the moment, you're SOL. Another problem is that the controls are a bit hard to figure out -- the best idea would be to customize them as you see fit and really try to get a feel for everything before heading out on the adventure. Lastly, if you don't play it on a computer with 1 gig of ram, it is SLOOOOOOWWW. But most if not all computers come standard with 1 gig of ram now, so it's all good.

Anyway, I highly recommend this game, especially if you're into period games (as this is set in the late 19th c.) and are morbidly curious about the occult. Most gaming website have given it an 8 out of 10 and I would give this a 9. It's a great game for adults and definitely worth the money.

Good Story with abysmal delivery

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you like Doyle and Lovecraft, than this nice mix will definitely suit you, assuming you don't put an ax through your computer first. The story starts out simply enough, with the servant of a nearby neighbor disappearing. This sets Holmes off on a quest that takes him from London to Switzerland to the US, on the trail of a sect of Cthulu worshippers.

The gameplay is where this nice startoff falls flat on its face. While the mystery parts of it are tolerable, the mini puzzles and mix-n-match inventory is where it truly enrages a player. You can pick locks, but only some, the guards can see through walls and doors, and finding the right piece of inventory to advance the story is a familiar hated enemy for any adventure game fan.

Simply put, you'll need a walkthrough, no if ands or buts, to spot the one piece of data or overlooked interactive piece of environment. either that, or you'll need microscopic eyes and an ability to see the spirites you can actaully interface with.

Enough soapboxing for one review. The voices are great, though some of the extras were awful. When you hear groaning thats more pornographic than painful, you'll know what I mean. The atmoshpere is just right, a median between too creepy and too cartoonish. The graphics are barely passable, but the group, being fairly new, can be forgiven for some start off stumbles. Assuming they learn from their mistakes, their next release could be a 4-5 star.

Review Page: 1 2 

Actions