Sherlock Holmes VS Arsène Lupin

Posted June 7, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

After an average ‘The Awakened’ we see Sherlock Holmes back in ‘Sherlock Holmes VS Arsène Lupin’.

This time Sherlock Holmes doesn’t have to solve a murder case, but catch a thief. Arsène Lupin, the French gentleman annex thief has left France for a while to ‘teach those arrogant Englishmen a lesson’ by stealing the most valuable possessions of the United Kingdom. To make it more exciting, Lupin sends a letter to Holmes in which he announces his actions and challenges the detective to catch him in time.

The further progression of this story is quite predictable (except for a few unbelievable sideways) and is all but exciting, especially in comparison with Sherlock’s last adventure, The Awakened, in which we were at least a bit interested because of the horror-like story. Storyline and characters are all shallow.

When Sherlock (and trusty sidekick Watson) arrive before the theft has happened, there will always be somebody with a problem you will have to solve. After the theft the search for clues that Lupin did it begin and then the tips that Lupin himself left, have to be deciphered to find out what will be the next target.

Those tips come in the form of some rhymes, varying in difficulty level. It can come in handy to have a good knowledge of the English language and English-French history to understand all double meanings and hidden clues. Just like last time, detective tools like a loupe are available to use, but not that many times unfortunately.

Puzzles and riddles luckily come in abundance and although it can be challenging to solve them at times, they are not that difficult. Another advantage is that you don’t have to run around from area to area to find all the things you need to solve puzzles. Sherlock’s maps allow jumping from one place to another with one mouse click.

The bad graphics and bugs spoil the game some more. Often Sherlock or Watson ends up in a black hole and there is absolutely no way out but to reload the last savegame. If you have recently saved the game, that is.

The overall graphics quality dates from a few game centuries ago, but of course the advantage is that you don’t need a high-end PC to play this stuff. The music consists of an annoying violin tune that is repeated too often and makes the dialogues less audible. Life in Sherlock’s London is better without it. Not that the dialogues are that interesting, most of the time they are just way too long-winded.

Conclusion: just let Sherlock solve this case on his own.

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