Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series is a series of adventure game
s, developed by the independent game development studio Frogwares
, based on Arthur Conan Doyle
's famous work The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
, featuring the famous detective
and his companion Dr. John H. Watson. To date, five games of the series have been released since 2002. While the series is based on and "inspired by" The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, each of its games follows an original storyline. The series was a commercial success, and critically acclaimed by many. It won awards and dubbed my critics as "The Best License of an Adventure Game."
series mainly consists of puzzles to solve during the course of the game, including a couple of combination door locks, a devilish clock conundrum that must be solved to open a safe, a few extraordinarily tough ciphers, and even one challenge to draw the bloody pentagram that serves as the sign of Lovecraft's Great Old Ones. Holmes must also take evidence back to labs (both in his famous flat at 221 B Baker St. and elsewhere) and examine it under a microscope or cook it up with other solvents in a mechanical contraption to separate the elements. You can also use a scalpel or tweezers just right on a piece of evidence slabbed under the microscope.
It's also an open world
game with a Victorian-era sandbox setting. The series takes Holmes to other places like New Orleans, Switzerland
, Scotland
and others. Although some games are not considered in the action genre, games like Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
provides slow step stealth, and based on the new screenshots, The Testament Of Sherlock Holme
s is too.
, the series first began in September 2002 with Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy, which featured a first-person perspective and followed Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigating the mansion of a British archaeologist. The game was resurrected and expanded for the Nintendo DS and for the Wii
all using DS's stylus and the Wii-mote in solving puzzles.
, was released on November 24, 2006, and features a new, first-person perspective. The game follows an original plotline as Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate a series of strange disappearances related to the Cthulhu Mythos
. The first among the series to feature supernatural elements such as the Mythos, the game was critically acclaimed in reviews by numerous sources, including Gamespot
, which gave the game a rating of 8.3 out of 10, praising the game for its storyline and stating that it was told "brilliantly" and calling it "Cthulhu-infused Victoriana". A remastered version was released in 2008 that offers a third-person perspective playing mode in addition to the first-person perspective. This game won Gamespot's
Best Use Of A License and has been critically acclaimed and a great impact on Frogwares.
, 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
. The game begins at Holmes' residence at 221b Baker Street
in London
, where Holmes is playing his violin while Dr. Watson asks him what is troubling him. Among the mail scattered on the table, they find a letter from Lupin challenging Holmes to save England
from shame by stopping him from stealing five things of great value to the country. The game consists of poems, puzzles and tasks that takes Holmes from one clue to another.
.
. Where Holmes finds a deep robbery and conspiracy in the Buckingham Palace
.
and announced in April 2010, will be the first in the series to be specifically designed for the PlayStation 3
, Xbox 360
, and Microsoft Windows
, and is set for release in the end of 2011.
. Civilians (mostly gentlemen and aristocrats) also plead help from Holmes.
Games in the series also pits Holmes against other works, fictional character and a real-life madman. Chthulhu in The Awakened, Arsene Lupin
in Nemesis, and Jack the Ripper
in the fifth installment.
In the game Testament of Sherlock Holmes we see Holmes as losing London's trust, and implies city-survival skills themes seen in Splinter Cell Conviction and The Bourne Identity. Holmes now relies heavily on rumors, and must take any clues while evading enemies's eyes. He also uses blackmail, interrogation, and infiltration of other investigations.
. Useful when he inspects crime scenes, mutilated bodies, fingerprints, gashes and scratches, and mostly for finding evidence. It is the only item used and appeared mostly in the series.
He also uses his 1850 microscope
in checking clues unseen by the naked eye
. He has a wide arrange of chemistry set
in his flat
which he uses to dissolve solute, dissect clues and find evidence.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s, developed by the independent game development studio Frogwares
Frogwares
Frogwares is an independent adventure game development studio, having branches in Ukraine, Ireland and France. Its president is Waël Amr.It is best known for its ongoing Sherlock Holmes series of adventure computer games starring Sherlock Holmes and Dr...
, based on Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's famous work The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective and illustrated by Sidney Paget....
, featuring the famous detective
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and his companion Dr. John H. Watson. To date, five games of the series have been released since 2002. While the series is based on and "inspired by" The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, each of its games follows an original storyline. The series was a commercial success, and critically acclaimed by many. It won awards and dubbed my critics as "The Best License of an Adventure Game."
Overview
Each game in the series lets you control Holmes or Doctor Watson in either first-person or third-person perspective. This adventure gameAdventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
series mainly consists of puzzles to solve during the course of the game, including a couple of combination door locks, a devilish clock conundrum that must be solved to open a safe, a few extraordinarily tough ciphers, and even one challenge to draw the bloody pentagram that serves as the sign of Lovecraft's Great Old Ones. Holmes must also take evidence back to labs (both in his famous flat at 221 B Baker St. and elsewhere) and examine it under a microscope or cook it up with other solvents in a mechanical contraption to separate the elements. You can also use a scalpel or tweezers just right on a piece of evidence slabbed under the microscope.
It's also an open world
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
game with a Victorian-era sandbox setting. The series takes Holmes to other places like New Orleans, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and others. Although some games are not considered in the action genre, games like Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is an adventure game developed by Frogwares and published in 2006 for Microsoft Windows. The game follows an original plotline as Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. John H...
provides slow step stealth, and based on the new screenshots, The Testament Of Sherlock Holme
The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is an upcoming adventure game in the Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes series developed by Frogwares and published by Focus Home Interactive. It will be the first Holmes game specially made for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and will be the first game in the series to...
s is too.
Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy
Originally developed for the Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, the series first began in September 2002 with Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy, which featured a first-person perspective and followed Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigating the mansion of a British archaeologist. The game was resurrected and expanded for the Nintendo DS and for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
all using DS's stylus and the Wii-mote in solving puzzles.
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring
The second game in the series, Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring, followed in October 2004, which featured a third-person perspective. The plotline features Holmes and Watson investigating the murder of a construction tycoon, Sir Melvyn Bromsby, with his daughter, Lavinia, among the suspects.Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
The third game in the series, Sherlock Holmes: The AwakenedSherlock Holmes: The Awakened
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is an adventure game developed by Frogwares and published in 2006 for Microsoft Windows. The game follows an original plotline as Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. John H...
, was released on November 24, 2006, and features a new, first-person perspective. The game follows an original plotline as Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate a series of strange disappearances related to the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
. The first among the series to feature supernatural elements such as the Mythos, the game was critically acclaimed in reviews by numerous sources, including Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, which gave the game a rating of 8.3 out of 10, praising the game for its storyline and stating that it was told "brilliantly" and calling it "Cthulhu-infused Victoriana". A remastered version was released in 2008 that offers a third-person perspective playing mode in addition to the first-person perspective. This game won Gamespot's
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
Best Use Of A License and has been critically acclaimed and a great impact on Frogwares.
Sherlock Holmes versus Arsène Lupin
The fourth game in the series, Sherlock Holmes versus Arsène LupinSherlock Holmes versus Arsène Lupin
Sherlock Holmes versus Arsène Lupin is an adventure game, developed by the game development studio Frogwares. The fourth game in the Adventure of Sherlock Holmes series of adventure games developed by Frogwares, it was released in the October of 2007 and is published by Focus Home Interactive...
, was released in the third quarter of 2007. The game's antagonist is Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television such as Night Hood, stage play and comic book adaptations.- Overview :A...
, a fictional gentleman thief created by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
writer Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French counterpart to Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes.- Biography :Leblanc was born in...
. The game begins at Holmes' residence at 221b Baker Street
221B Baker Street
221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where Holmes is playing his violin while Dr. Watson asks him what is troubling him. Among the mail scattered on the table, they find a letter from Lupin challenging Holmes to save England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from shame by stopping him from stealing five things of great value to the country. The game consists of poems, puzzles and tasks that takes Holmes from one clue to another.
Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper
In late 2008, a fifth installment was announced; Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper was released in March 2009 and had Sherlock Holmes against the infamous serial killer Jack the RipperJack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
.
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osbourne House
The game is the first in the series to be made and published for the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. Where Holmes finds a deep robbery and conspiracy in the Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
In September 2009 there were rumors for the sixth instalment. The game, titled The Testament Of Sherlock HolmesThe Testament of Sherlock Holmes
The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is an upcoming adventure game in the Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes series developed by Frogwares and published by Focus Home Interactive. It will be the first Holmes game specially made for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and will be the first game in the series to...
and announced in April 2010, will be the first in the series to be specifically designed for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and is set for release in the end of 2011.
Themes
The game sees Holmes as a consulting detective. Where local police force and Scotland Yard seeks Holmes's help in solving their cold case filesCold Case Files
Cold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...
. Civilians (mostly gentlemen and aristocrats) also plead help from Holmes.
Games in the series also pits Holmes against other works, fictional character and a real-life madman. Chthulhu in The Awakened, Arsene Lupin
Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television such as Night Hood, stage play and comic book adaptations.- Overview :A...
in Nemesis, and Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
in the fifth installment.
In the game Testament of Sherlock Holmes we see Holmes as losing London's trust, and implies city-survival skills themes seen in Splinter Cell Conviction and The Bourne Identity. Holmes now relies heavily on rumors, and must take any clues while evading enemies's eyes. He also uses blackmail, interrogation, and infiltration of other investigations.
Items and tools
Throughout the game Holmes uses his magnifying glassMagnifying glass
A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle ....
. Useful when he inspects crime scenes, mutilated bodies, fingerprints, gashes and scratches, and mostly for finding evidence. It is the only item used and appeared mostly in the series.
He also uses his 1850 microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
in checking clues unseen by the naked eye
Naked eye
The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception unaided by a magnifying or light-collecting optical device, such as a telescope or microscope. Vision corrected to normal acuity using corrective lenses is considered "naked"...
. He has a wide arrange of chemistry set
Chemistry set
A chemistry set is an educational toy allowing the user to perform simple chemistry experiments. The best known such sets were produced by the A. C. Gilbert Company, an early and middle 20th century American manufacturer of educational toys...
in his flat
221B Baker Street
221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building...
which he uses to dissolve solute, dissect clues and find evidence.