The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
Review
Oh my lord, I\'m a doggie
by Matt Porter
reviewed on PC
Mind benders (cntd.)
Of course, all of these excellent puzzles would be for nothing if there wasn’t a good mystery to back it up. Thankfully, the story in The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is every bit as gripping as you would expect from a tale about the great detective. The story begins with a simple theft, but from there it escalates to torture, murder, conspiracy and beyond, and at the heart of everything are Holmes and Watson. In true Sherlock style, Holmes often knows more than he lets on and Watson is continually left in the dark as to Holmes’ true intentions, but this only adds to the intrigue.
Niggles
Some of the same niggling frustrations we have seen in previous iterations of the series have returned though. If a person requires that you give them an item, it is not enough to just have it in your inventory, you must have it selected. It leads to situations where you activate a dialogue with someone who says something like “Don’t come back without my pen”. Then a second later you actually equip the pen from your inventory, and suddenly the conversation springs into life.
Small things like that break up the atmosphere slightly, which is a shame since it is generally built up so well. The voice actors from previous games return to breathe life into two main characters. Holmes is every bit as suave, calm and calculating as you would expect him to be. Watson on the other hand is often portrayed as a bumbling sidekick rather than as someone integral to the investigations. He often misses glaringly obvious clues, but at other times he is able to deduce things that leave even Sherlock impressed. The acting from the main cast is pretty good across the board, with some good shows coming from a few of the minor characters as well. The story itself is being told through three children, who stumble across a book in while playing in the attic. When the action cuts back to them reading the story, it served as more of a frustration for me rather than as a plot point. I just wanted to get back to finding clues and solving puzzles.
The game certainly looks superior to its predecessors, but it is not quite at the high end of graphical quality. Certain textures look a bit dodgy and the animations are rather stiff. It would be nice to have some extra facial animation so conversations look a bit more believable. That said, when you need to look at something more closely, Testament does a good job of giving you high resolution textures which can be zoomed in on using the magnifying glass. Objects that you can interact with in the environment are usually fairly obvious, but if you miss anything, tapping the spacebar reveals everything in your sight that can be inspected.
Mystery abounds
The Testament of Sherlock Holmes kept drawing me back in. The story is a good length to keep you intrigued and it is delivered excellently. There may be better adventure games around, but if you want the full package of adventure, mystery, and Sherlock Holmes himself, this is the best way to achieve all of that.
8.0
fun score
Pros
Well-designed puzzles. The story is well written and delivered superbly.
Cons
Small frustrating flaws sometimes break up the flow. Animations are not of the highest quality.
