The Testament of Sherlock Holmes Review

Why is her nameplate facing towards her? Dun-dun-DUUUUNNNN

• Reviewed by: Mark Goninon
• Developer: Frogwares
• Publisher: Frogwares
• Release Date: 21 Sep 2012
• Time played: 4.6 hours (INCOMPLETE)

What is it

Ukrainian game studio Frogwares has become synonymous with Sherlock Holmes games in recent times having developed eight of them since 2002 (the first one being Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy). The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is the 6th Sherlock Holmes game developed by Frogwares and it was released in 2012 on PC as well as console. The game has a Metacritic score of 73 and a "Very Positive" rating on Steam (84% of the 1,278 reviews being positive).

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes works like many point 'n' click adventure games of old although it does allow you to play in first-person view if you so wish. You'll get to control Sherlock Holmes during the game (of course) but also other characters such as Watson and even non-human characters such as a bloodhound.

How I got it

After hearing good things about the Sherlock Holmes games by Frogwares, I wanted to give this one a go: it also happens to be a 2015 birthday present from my brother, so there was extra incentive for me to complete it (although in retrospect, I'm wondering if completing it when I first received the game would've altered my final verdict). I'm also a fan of the works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and generally enjoy any films or games that feature the characters from his books.

If you're a fan of puzzles, you'll probably like this game

What I like:

Banter between Holmes and Watson

It wouldn't be a proper Sherlock Holmes game without some banter between Holmes and Watson, and there's plenty of it in this game.

Puzzles

I've noticed that the game has a lot of puzzles, so much so that it feels like a whole bunch of mini-games/puzzles stringed together by the occasional dialogue between Holmes and Watson – the game might actually appeal more to pure puzzle game fans or old school point 'n' click adventure gamers. There are also some mini-games that seem similar to Hidden Object Adventures too.

Toby

You get to play as a dog at one point in the game. That is all.

Steam Achievements and Trading Cards

The game has 32 Steam Achievements you can earn and 8 Trading Cards to collect.

And you know, if it weren't for Watson, he probably wouldn't have

What I dislike:

Gullible Watson

Look, I know Watson isn't meant to be as great at solving mysteries as Holmes, that's a given, but he is almost portrayed as a complete idiot in this game or at least very gullible: during one part of the game he happens to mistake a German (with a very thick accent mind you) as an English prison guard… I mean wouldn't you be a tiny bit suspicious as to why?

Poor animations

The game was released 6 years ago now and it shows with wooden animations, low quality textures and lip-synching issues.

Voice acting

The voice acting can be poor sometimes, such as the emphasis being placed on the wrong words.

Can't save the game

Unfortunately, since arriving at the Whitechapel part of the game, the game keeps on crashing to desktop every time there's an autosave or even a manual save, meaning I keep losing progress, meaning I can't actually finish the game, which is a pity. Searching the Steam forums and Steam reviews, I am not the only person experiencing this issue and it's interesting that a lot of the top rated positive reviews were done a few years ago, when the game was relatively new.

Score – 3/10 (Can't finish it)

I can't help but think that if I played this game a few years ago, my impression of the game would be slightly different. The game would still have the poor animations, occasionally poor voice acting and some unbelievable character traits, but it may have been working enough for me to finish the game, and the gameplay I did manage to experience, isn't half-bad. Pity that continual crashes to desktop means I will never be able to experience the entire game and it looks like I'm not the only one.

Is the game worth $19.99 USD?: No, because if you have a setup like me, you won't be able to finish the game.

If you like this game, you might like…

• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992)
• Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Collection (2015)
• The Slaughter: Act One (2016)

[ LINK: Frogwares Website ]