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Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments

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So, written off . . . or good for what it is?
 

Dexter

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I liked Testament so I'll likely get this when it is cheaper (50-75% Off).
 

Infinitron

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Release date - September 30th: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...imes-and-punishments-pinpoints-a-release-date

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments pinpoints a release date
And get a new trailer.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is due out on 30th September in all territories on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC, publisher Focus Home has announced.

This is something of a reboot of Frogwares' long-running licensed series. Sherlock's been given a new look, the graphics engine has been upgraded to Unreal Engine 3, and the design has drastically changed.

There are now nine different conclusions to each of the game's six cases, and it's up to players how to deal with each culprit once they've caught them. Do you turn them in to Lestrad, or let them off with a warning? Holmes was always a bit of a rogue with his own sense of moral justice.

 

Gord

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The different possible outcomes sound interesting, if done well.
I'm still a bit sceptical about the whole re-imagination thing, though, as we all know how that usually turns out...
The skill progression thing sounds unnecessary gamey, too, and QTEs are potentially concerning.

Anyway, the case presented in the gameplay-trailer is a case from the books, isn't it?
Is this just a showcase or will the other cases be original cases, too? I suspect that this would interfere quite a bit with the enjoyment if you find that you already know them...
 

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RPS review: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/09/30/wot-i-think-sherlock-holmes-crimes-punishments/

There is clearly an enormous amount of work here. Not only is it interminably long, but huge effort has gone into getting the tone of the writing (if not the actual content) right, the locations lavishly crafted, and the murders possible to solve in myriad ways (to no overall effect – I’ll dispose you of that hope). Sadly, I thoroughly did not enjoy playing it. The excruciating pace, the meandering drivel that makes up most of the conversations, and its dreadful mess of load times within load times, would try patience even if the stories being told were worth it. As it is, they’re provincial affairs of no great genius or surprise, deduced by inevitability and guesswork, rather than deductive reasoning or inspiration. So, so much effort has gone into this. But sadly, to little entertaining result.
 

Volrath

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So that faggot John Waker doesn't like it, that means the game is good right?
 

Drakron

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So that faggot John Waker doesn't like it, that means the game is good right?

Well ... doesnt seem that way because apparently we back in 2005 and minigames are all the rage, sure we can skip them but controlling a fucking dog? ddid they thought Testament was better that the previous games?
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Eurogamer review: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-30-sherlock-holmes-crimes-and-punishments-review

It's the lack of contradiction or challenge from anyone else involved in the case that is the game's biggest failing. Despite a number of incidental instances of humour that prove Frogwares isn't taking itself too seriously, the dialogue is staid and interaction with other characters stilted. Holmes is a smug bore and, aside from a scene or two with his brother Mycroft, there's nobody willing to play foil to his incessant assertions of his superiority.

Nor are there any private moments of self-doubt or internal debate to mirror what you are feeling as you attempt to piece together some of the better-crafted mysteries. This last, at least, can be rectified by playing with a sofa-buddy helping to make the decisions - and, like Telltale's The Walking Dead, Crimes and Punishments acquits itself well as a multiplayer single-player game, albeit one with some irritatingly frequent pauses for loading.

Evidently, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments isn't about rights and wrongs so much as it is about interpretation and judgement. Being right all the time is a fitting tribute to Homes' monstrous ego, and it's also an interesting premise for a detective game - a more effective one than it might initially seem. However, the lack of character development and some lacklustre supporting players result in a feeling of detachment from a game that only excels if you are invested in it. That's a shame, because there was potential for Crimes and Punishments to be a truly great detective game, instead of just a mechanically sound one.

7 / 10
 

Zed

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well the first case didn't require any dog sequence, although it did use a few other minigames. nothing excruciating, however.

what I like the most about this game so far is the extraordinary amount of unnecessary detail. the scenes, objects, characters. only a few things are interactive yet there's so much junk all over the place.
I also like the cheap-ish sound and the voice acting, but that's a staple of the game.
 
Self-Ejected

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"interminably long" = 12 hours for 100% completion

It's a good game, just way too easy (apart from the final two lockpicking minigames). The Kew Gardens case was the only one with a "twist", but it was a decent one. I was happy that there wasn't any overarching storyline like in the previous games, that stuff doesn't really fit the Holmes story format for me.
They really didn't make the slightest effort to make the game creepy or scary though - perhaps my biggest disappointment overall.

The amount of visual detail is definitely the highlight here - I hope they managed to code this cheaply, so that poor sales numbers won't sink the entire company. Perhaps J_C should interview them for his youtube series.

I still consider JtR to be a more polished and slightly more difficult game than this, but it takes a solid second place among Frogware's SH games.
 
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Darth Roxor

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They really didn't make the slightest effort to make the game ceepy or scary though - perhaps my biggest disappointment overall.

It's not like Arsene Lupin was anything like that already, though, and it certainly didn't suffer because of it.
 
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They really didn't make the slightest effort to make the game creepy or scary though - perhaps my biggest disappointment overall.

It's not like Arsene Lupin was anything like that already, though, and it certainly didn't suffer because of it.

I agree with AL being good, but with the six completely disconnected cases in this installment, I would have expected a bit more variety in tone. The original short stories had their fair bit of horror to them, while the worst this game has to offer is a man with an eye wound lying in a hazy steam room (built by "G. Newell and Sons, pioneers in Steam techonology"). It's probably caused by the fact that every possible suspect needs to offer an "He had a good reason for this crime, therefore I absolve him" option by design.
 

Gord

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Does the new game use cases taken from the original books, or are they new cases devised by Frogware, as with their other games?

Just asking because the old preview trailers showed cases from the books.
 

Andhaira

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Guys, is Crime and Punishment any good? I haven't played a single one of these games as I loathe pure adventure games, but what I read about the deductive method minigame in Crime and Punishment sounds interesting, especially the part where you can actually make wrong conclusions and fuck up the investigation.
 

Redlands

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Guys, is Crime and Punishment any good? I haven't played a single one of these games as I loathe pure adventure games, but what I read about the deductive method minigame in Crime and Punishment sounds interesting, especially the part where you can actually make wrong conclusions and fuck up the investigation.

The-Sultan-of-Agrabah.jpg


Allah forbid you should have any daughters minigames.
 

Zombra

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For anyone still interested who hasn't tried it, I think Crimes & Punishments is super incline.

I'm generally sour on adventure games, because the "I'm stumped" moments are always linked to having to guess some nonsensical way to proceed. C&P doesn't hide any of the process from you; it's a slow accumulation of clues, associated by deduction to arrive at conclusions. To me this is the pure essence of what a detective game should be.

The puzzle sections, and yes, even the dog sequences, are lightly sprinkled throughout and give a nice sense of pacing. None of them are very hard, but they are good speed bumps to break up what would otherwise be monolithic walls of text. These sections are always at least marginally sensible, and make me feel like I'm doing something to earn my clues ... even when it's a straightforward series of operations like "pick up eyedropper, drop acid onto metal, observe results". Some of them are bona fide puzzles requiring crunchy brain work, but if you are looking for hardcore gameplay challenges, this may not be for you.

The really wonderful thing about the game is that the deduction system lets you be wrong. There's no mechanical penalty whatsoever to screwing up - you can finish the whole game and never get a right answer. The game provides numerous red herrings and false conclusions to pursue, and if you're simply bashing through like an action gamer, trying to "win" as quickly as possible, you probably will ... and you'll probably be wrong. As you collect the clues, though, you are given a great deal of "soft" information that will lead you to the correct solution. It's demanding my attention in a way no game has before. This makes RPS's accusation of "inevitability" completely backwards and dumb. It's inevitable that you will find enough evidence to reach a conclusion; that's it. It is probable, though not guaranteed, that you'll accumulate all available clues, and by testing deductive permutations, unlock all available solutions ... but even then, arriving at the correct one requires thoughtful consideration.

If they keep this system for future games, they've earned a new regular customer.
 
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Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Yeah, Crimes & Punishments is surprisingly one of my favorite adventure games. It actually feels like you get to be a detective. Performance was shit on PS3, but it was well worth it just to beat the game.
 

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