Britain’s favourite sociopath returns with his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, which was released last October. Can you tell it’s January?

Rather than stretch one case out thinly over an entire game, as was the way with Frogwares previous Sherlock Holmes games, Crimes & Punishments includes six smaller and more manageable cases. The result is a more colourful and varied experience that has Holmes snooping around botanical gardens in the search of stolen plants, investigating a murder at a Roman bathhouse and even infiltrating a gang of robbers at a dodgy circus.

Obviously, each case is based on stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, but what is interesting about Crimes & Punishments is that one can clearly see the influence of the BBC series as well, creating something in-between the original works and its most popular interpretation.

In terms of the original stories, Frogwares pitch each of the cases perfectly, celebrating all the quirks we’ve come to expect from Mr Holmes. The game begins with the genius detective firing a gun in his living room whilst blindfolded.

From the BBC series, we have the ability to create ‘character portraits’ when first meeting somebody involved with a case. When Sherlock comes face to face with a suspect, time freezes and the player has to analyse the person’s appearance to see what deductions can be made. For example, a man with a dirty collar leads to the deduction that he is poor.

These deductions appear as floating white words which flit in and out of existence in accordance with Sherlock’s mental processing in exactly the same way they do in the BBC series.

Being influenced by the BBC series is no bad thing. It makes perfect sense to see something that has so clearly worked and try to integrate it. Also, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Sherlock Holmes of Crimes & Punishments looks a little like Benedict Cumberbatch if he were twenty years older and not quite as handsome.

The game blends typical adventure gameplay, i.e. combing environments for objects that lead to progress, with L.A. Noire style interrogation. Each case follows the same format. Arrive at the scene of the crime. Search for clues. Interrogate suspects. Make deductions. Follow up leads. Solve the case.

There are a host of different methods and abilities at the player’s disposal when investigating a case. The player can utilise Sherlock’s attention to detail to see evidence others might have missed, as well as his imagination to envisage what might have happened based on the evidence he’s collected.

Sherlock and Watson also have the tools of Baker Street at their disposal, including a small chemistry lab to analyse evidence and perform minor experiments, an archive of newspapers and encyclopedias to help gain an insight on an investigation, and a wardrobe and make-up table from which to conjure disguises.

The game provides a wide range of exciting tools, and then disappoints because it assumes the player is too stupid to know when to use them. Sherlock will be prowling around a murder scene when the big ‘L1 (Use your imagination now dummy!)’ prompt will come on screen. It might have been more engaging if the player was given the chance to use their own imagination.

The other abilities, such as performing experiments and wearing disguises, are enjoyable but too infrequent. It’s as if the game has too many tricks it wants to show the player and not enough time. My favourite parts of the game were when Sherlock disguised himself and integrated with undesirables, manipulating them expertly, which only happened twice.

The entire game feels slightly insubstantial and a little too easy. For example, the L.A. Noire style interrogation sequences are far easier than they were in Rockstar’s epic. In Crimes & Punishments, the player asks the suspect questions, and if they try to lie the player has to overcome a QTE and then choose a piece of evidence from a condensed list that proves the suspect is fibbing. If you get it wrong, the game says “don’t worry little baby, just have another go”.

What’s odd about Crimes & Punishments is that whilst the meat of the game is too easy, it’s littered with stupid, inconsequential mini-games that can be, on occasion, frustratingly difficult and unintuitive.

To be fair, most of the time they’re inoffensive enough, but every now and then the player is faced with some pointless task that requires far more effort that its worth. The lock-picking mini-game (which is the worst lock-picking I’ve seen in a video game) is probably the worst offender, and it almost ruins the last case when there’s three to solve in about five minutes of gameplay.

The player is given the option to skip each of the mini-games if they so wish, but it raises the question of why they were put in the game in the first place. Clearly, somewhere at Frogwares suspected that they were not fun, and if they are not fun then what’s the point. Probably just to extend the games’ runtime.

One rather interesting aspect of Crimes & Punishments is the way the cases are solved. Once all the evidence has been gathered, the player is left to form their own conclusions. The result is that the player can get the cases wrong, condemning the wrong suspect in the process, and the game will gleefully continue.

Some of the later cases are so obvious that I can’t imagine anybody came to the wrong conclusion, but in the first case in particular, there’s potential for errors. This is emphasised by forcing the player to choose which punishment each of the perpetrators will face.

It adds an intriguing layer of moral complexity to what would otherwise be a straight-forward detective sim. It would have been nice to see the consequences of my conclusions (despite the fact I got them all right *smug), but maybe that’ll be saved for the sequel.

Crimes & Punishments offers something vastly different than most games, especially on consoles. It offers patient puzzle solving and the opportunity for the player to use their brain instead of just their thumbs.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the guts to truly test the player, probably out of fear of alienating those sated only by instant gratification. Still, as far as Sherlock Holmes games go, Crimes & Punishments is the best yet and definitely worth your time.

7/10

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