REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
11-10-99, 06:59 PM
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This disc is pretty damned cool, despite quite a few glitches.
Gaming on the DVD format has been pretty limited of late. We've seen Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, which just look for keypresses and branch at certain points. The only "scorekeeping" is in the form of the number of lives remaining. We've seen quite a few menu-driven trivia games - e.g., The Matrix, Lost in Space, and Dark City (can you tell I like scifi?) - but these don't involve much more than menu navigation.
Sherlock Holmes surprised me quite a bit - it plays much more like a game than anything else released yet. The technical aspects aren't as complex as Dragon's Lair, but this type of murder-mystery game doesn't demand it. Instead, we have dozens of video clips, hundreds of voice clips, and lots of photos strung together into a great sleuth game.
The disc includes three mysteries. Once you select one (hopefully after you've gone through some of the instructions), you'll see an introductory clip describing the general premise of the mystery.
Then you're presented with a desk which contains a stack of newspapers, a notepad, a phone book, and a gavel. The newspapers - four total - present a lot of stories, with, of course, some clues woven throughout. The notepad leads you to several people who can provide further information, such as a Scotland Yard investigator, the head of the newspaper, and a mortician. The phone book presents lots - and I mean LOTS - of names of people you can visit. Unlike most such games, you can't just hit every single one - you have to know who you want to visit!
All of these things can open up other areas and lead to different encounters with the same people. Eventually, careful sleuthing will turn up an answer - not only whodunit, but why.
And this is where the cool part comes in. Once you know, you select the gavel, where a judge asks you questions about the murder. If you've seen all the relevant information and you answer all the questions properly, you win; if you've missed any clues or answer questions incorrectly, you start over. (Fortunately, there's a save option, which provides you with a code you can use to resume the search at a particular point.)
Even better, the game keeps track of how many people you visit and how long it took you to solve the mystery, and compares your performance to that of "the real Sherlock Holmes!"
Acting ranges from good to mediocre, as do video and sound quality - but none of these are the disc's appeal.
If you're into murder mysteries, this is a must-have.
- David Stein
P.S.: The disc also includes a preview for a similar disc called Dracula Unleashed. I'll preorder in a heartbeat!
Gaming on the DVD format has been pretty limited of late. We've seen Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, which just look for keypresses and branch at certain points. The only "scorekeeping" is in the form of the number of lives remaining. We've seen quite a few menu-driven trivia games - e.g., The Matrix, Lost in Space, and Dark City (can you tell I like scifi?) - but these don't involve much more than menu navigation.
Sherlock Holmes surprised me quite a bit - it plays much more like a game than anything else released yet. The technical aspects aren't as complex as Dragon's Lair, but this type of murder-mystery game doesn't demand it. Instead, we have dozens of video clips, hundreds of voice clips, and lots of photos strung together into a great sleuth game.
The disc includes three mysteries. Once you select one (hopefully after you've gone through some of the instructions), you'll see an introductory clip describing the general premise of the mystery.
Then you're presented with a desk which contains a stack of newspapers, a notepad, a phone book, and a gavel. The newspapers - four total - present a lot of stories, with, of course, some clues woven throughout. The notepad leads you to several people who can provide further information, such as a Scotland Yard investigator, the head of the newspaper, and a mortician. The phone book presents lots - and I mean LOTS - of names of people you can visit. Unlike most such games, you can't just hit every single one - you have to know who you want to visit!
All of these things can open up other areas and lead to different encounters with the same people. Eventually, careful sleuthing will turn up an answer - not only whodunit, but why.
And this is where the cool part comes in. Once you know, you select the gavel, where a judge asks you questions about the murder. If you've seen all the relevant information and you answer all the questions properly, you win; if you've missed any clues or answer questions incorrectly, you start over. (Fortunately, there's a save option, which provides you with a code you can use to resume the search at a particular point.)
Even better, the game keeps track of how many people you visit and how long it took you to solve the mystery, and compares your performance to that of "the real Sherlock Holmes!"
Acting ranges from good to mediocre, as do video and sound quality - but none of these are the disc's appeal.
If you're into murder mysteries, this is a must-have.
- David Stein
P.S.: The disc also includes a preview for a similar disc called Dracula Unleashed. I'll preorder in a heartbeat!
11-10-99, 08:18 PM
#2
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These "new" DVD releases are games I've played on my computer over five years ago. Sherlock Holmes and Dracula Unleashed were/are CD games (decent, but by no stretch great if you're into PC gaming. I've been at it for close to 20 years.)
Looking at the package, the DVD has the same game shots as the old CD had, and from your description the game play is exactly the same. The only problem with the games being is once you solve the mystery, there's really no replay value. Still, 20 bucks for three games isn't too bad. How is the video quality? I can't imagine they remastered it. And the sound quality? Is it Dolby 5.1 or DTS? (Just kidding on that last question.)
Looking at the package, the DVD has the same game shots as the old CD had, and from your description the game play is exactly the same. The only problem with the games being is once you solve the mystery, there's really no replay value. Still, 20 bucks for three games isn't too bad. How is the video quality? I can't imagine they remastered it. And the sound quality? Is it Dolby 5.1 or DTS? (Just kidding on that last question.)
11-14-99, 03:36 PM
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Franchot: I'm a long-time gamer myself (since I was 5, back in '79 - went through The Dungeons of Daggorath on Tandy's CoCo, the great Infocom games and such on the C64, and then the wonderful world of PCs.) By video gaming standards, this disc is lousy; it's got the interactivity of Rebel Assault. But by "DVD game" standards, it's a leap beyond anything else. Pretty good for a spec with virtually no logic processor or memory!
I do remember a Sherlock Holmes game coming out for PC many moons ago, but I thought it was something else. The video quality here is actually pretty good (but the acting's not great.)
Replay value? You're right - for $20 (that's $8, by today's DVD Talk bargain-hunter prices), it's definitely worth a play-through, but no more. However, the disc is labeled "Vol. 1" and I think the studio is threatening to release four more...
- David Stein
I do remember a Sherlock Holmes game coming out for PC many moons ago, but I thought it was something else. The video quality here is actually pretty good (but the acting's not great.)
Replay value? You're right - for $20 (that's $8, by today's DVD Talk bargain-hunter prices), it's definitely worth a play-through, but no more. However, the disc is labeled "Vol. 1" and I think the studio is threatening to release four more...
- David Stein
11-14-99, 06:27 PM
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These are the same fmv games that came out for pc's back in, I can't quite remember. Way back, though--'93 or '94. I had volumes 1 and 2, and played them on my 486 with 4 megs of ram. I thought they were really cool when I was in 6th grade--don't know what I'd think now.
If you want to play games, play PC games. Use your dvd player to watch movies.
If you want to play games, play PC games. Use your dvd player to watch movies.
11-15-99, 12:27 AM
#5
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Well, sfsdfd, glad to see a fellow gamer here! I started on the old Magnavox Odyessy sytem and switched to an Intellivision. From there it was on to the Atari 400 to the 800 to the Atari ST to the Amiga to the IBM 386 up to the current Pentium III.
Anyway, I have the other Sherlock Holmes games (Vol. 2 and 3) and Dracula Unleashed in computer CD format. An enjoyable diversion from watching DVDs.
Games on DVD are fine with me. Anything to help sell the format. (I'm just surprised there aren't more games incorporating the strengths of DVDs available for PCs. Every Christmas that comes by these game companies boast how they're going to support the format big time, but nothing ever comes of it. This has been going on for three years now. Other then Myst, Encylopedia Britannica, National Geographic, and Baldur's Gate, I don't see much new stuff coming out on DVD.
I bought the massive MAD magazine box set a couple of months ago. Now, that is one collection I'd like to see on ONE DVD instead of 7 CDs!)
[This message has been edited by Franchot (edited 11-14-1999).]
Anyway, I have the other Sherlock Holmes games (Vol. 2 and 3) and Dracula Unleashed in computer CD format. An enjoyable diversion from watching DVDs.
Games on DVD are fine with me. Anything to help sell the format. (I'm just surprised there aren't more games incorporating the strengths of DVDs available for PCs. Every Christmas that comes by these game companies boast how they're going to support the format big time, but nothing ever comes of it. This has been going on for three years now. Other then Myst, Encylopedia Britannica, National Geographic, and Baldur's Gate, I don't see much new stuff coming out on DVD.
I bought the massive MAD magazine box set a couple of months ago. Now, that is one collection I'd like to see on ONE DVD instead of 7 CDs!)
[This message has been edited by Franchot (edited 11-14-1999).]
11-15-99, 01:05 AM
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Franchot: Heh... the old Odyssey... a friend had one. Brings back memories.
I read an excellent article on Gamespot about why people aren't coding for DVD-ROM yet. Developers cite 1) competing DVD-ROM standards and drive incompatibilities, 2) obvious hesitance to write for hardware which only a small percentage of PC owners have, and 3) the substantial pressure to find something to fill up the entire DVD-ROM drive dataspace. No one wants to be the first Rebel Assault.
DVD-ROM needs a killer app. Seventh Guest and Myst did that for CD-ROM. The only DVD-ROM on the horizon which might take advantage of the format is Reah, but it retails at like $70!
- David Stein
I read an excellent article on Gamespot about why people aren't coding for DVD-ROM yet. Developers cite 1) competing DVD-ROM standards and drive incompatibilities, 2) obvious hesitance to write for hardware which only a small percentage of PC owners have, and 3) the substantial pressure to find something to fill up the entire DVD-ROM drive dataspace. No one wants to be the first Rebel Assault.
DVD-ROM needs a killer app. Seventh Guest and Myst did that for CD-ROM. The only DVD-ROM on the horizon which might take advantage of the format is Reah, but it retails at like $70!
- David Stein
