Sherlock Holmes vs Jack The Ripper

Sherlock Holmes versus Jack The Ripper is the newest addition to the mystery series. It follows the same principal as its predecessors using conversation and unraveling puzzles to solve the case. There are some new additions to this release that I enjoyed, but a bit later about that…

Your adventure starts with a couple of brutal murders that took place in the White Chapel area.

First Glance

I found the menu neatly done and it pulls you right into the game, so to speak. At first, the menu seemed to have a lot of buttons, but I really came to appreciate the fact that it was so easy to use. There is no second guessing as to where to find the option you need. I had to sometimes search deep and hard for a feature, apparently lost in the menu options, in some titles. Once found, chances are you’ll be looking for it the second time around! The first thing I do with any game, is to click on the “Options” menu and then “controls” to see what keyboard key is bound to what function. In this case, it proved to be unnecessary; since you are presented with a keyboard and mouse diagram with the whole game control layout when starting a new game. It is so much better to see it visually and to remember the key bounds are so much easier. It used to be a common thing to do back in the day, but it seemed to have phased out. I, for one, am glad to see it once more.
So we start a new game…

Graphics and detail

I like to keep this part short and sweet: It is either excellent, very good, good, bad or terrible. I usually cut it down to good or bad.
The graphics did surprise me somewhat: While standing next to the window, I have noticed the wall looks so textured and real that I could almost feel it. It is not true; however, for all parts of the game, but there certainly is some good usage of texture and lighting in areas. Mostly the game has a sketchy feel to it. When first walking the streets, it reminded me of the classic game, Thief. I appreciated the fact that the map did not lack detail: It did not feel empty. There are people roaming the streets and you can pretty much interact with each and everyone – even if it is just a one liner they give back at you.

Sound

It is not like I played the game on surround sound speakers, but it sounded pretty decent to me. I liked the background noises in the streets.

Gameplay

Here I will elaborate on some of the extra features: You are able to switch between 3rd person view or first person view with the press of a button. In 3rd person view, it is point and click and in 1st person view you use WASD to control your character. I preferred the 1st person view; since I struggled with the 3rd person view – but that could just be me. You get a map of London that you use to travel to different locations on the map. In the beginning you are sent on errands before getting to the point where you start solving the case. I found these very unchallenging and made my mind up that this game will be a breeze to play. To top it off, you can press the space bar to see all the “hot spots” (areas that you can click on or interact with) I soon realized it was only to get you accustomed to the mechanics of the game. There are a number of puzzles that are quite difficult to solve. I like a challenge, but it presents a small problem only because the game is linear and you have no choice but to solve the puzzle before you can carry on with the game. Some of the puzzles have got nothing to do with solving the case either: Like helping someone to open their briefcase. It can be a bit frustrating, but fun all the same. My favorite feature in the game is the detection board: This is where all the clues are written down and you get to choose some options of how the crime went down. These assumptions then links to one another that has to make the final statements true.
I found the interface easy to use and picking up the mechanics of the game was no problem at all. The game kept me interested with the odd frustration of not being able to solve a puzzle. I would like to think that a movie is only as good as the dialogue and the same goes for me when it comes to a mystery game like this one. The dialogue, in this case, was nicely done.

All in all, I had a good gaming experience and I would recommend this game to anyone that likes a bit of mystery solving.

I rate this game 3 and ½ stars out of 5.
1- Not worth the time
1 and ½ – Playable, but you might want to give it a miss
2 – Not Bad. There are games more worthwhile to play though.
3 – Good. You may consider buying this game.
3 and ½- This is worth a shot and your money’s worth.
4- A very cool game. Don’t miss out on this one!
4 and ½ – You’d miss out if not playing this!
5- Awesome game. Forget about the rest. You should play only this game!

See for yourself: