Review – Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper

Publisher: The Adventure Company, Focus Home Interactive
Developers: Spiders/Frogwares
Platform: Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Adventure
Rating: T
ESRB Content Descriptors: Mild Blood, Mild Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence

The Scoop: The fifth installment in the Sherlock Holmes adventure series pits the famous detective against one of history’s most notorious serial killers. (The obvious punch line is to point out “Round 1: Fight!” is never uttered in this game, but since every gaming journalist out there will make a similar sarcastic observation, I’ll steer clear.)

The Setup: It’s August 31, 1888, and Sherlock Holmes is bored because there’s nothing to do. Enter Jack the Ripper, who commits his first murder on Buck’s Row. Dr. Watson, having read about the murder in the newspaper, sees this as the perfect opportunity to cure Holmes of his boredom. Despite Watson’s best efforts, Holmes wants nothing to do with the murder investigations yet continues to, well, investigate them. (I guess he can’t help himself.)

Despite my degree in English from a reputable university, my entire Sherlock Holmes knowledge base is comprised of pop culture references and the Robert Downey, Jr. movie. (My concentration was Communications, not Literature.) Jack the Ripper, however, I know a lot about thanks to my obsession with A&E documentaries and the History Channel. I was really excited for Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper for that aspect alone, and was especially curious whether Holmes would “crack the case” and actually put a name to the Whitechapel Killer. It was that curiosity that kept me hooked despite any downsides.

What’s Hot: Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper knows its history. The correct locations, dates, and times of the murders as well as the victims’ names and murder suspects are given; even actual people who lived in the Whitechapel district during the 1888 murders play a role in the game. At the very least, players get a quick-and-dirty history lesson disguised as a point-and-click adventure, leaving them with the sense that if Holmes wasn’t a  fictional character, Jack the Ripper would have never become one of the world’s most famous cold cases.

The story follows the historical events closely, with a slew of mini-games thrown in, turning him from Sherlock Holmes: Famous Detective into Sherlock Holmes: Locksmith (“I’ll answer your question after you figure out the combination lock on my briefcase.”) or Sherlock Holmes: Errand Boy (“I’ll answer your question after you give this to my brother.”). Even examining crime scenes involve mini-games, especially when it comes time to putting all the clues together. This was fun—if you like mysteries—yet sometimes too simple and frustrating.

I had originally thought that years spent watching Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, Perry Mason (I was sick a lot as a child and watched a lot of daytime TV) and two seasons of Castle would properly prepare me for the role of Sherlockette. I analyzed the crimes scenes closely, and when the time came to give Holmes my conclusions, I quickly discovered that if I selected the wrong deduction from the three given options, the game continued to allow me to guess until I got it right—usually rewarded with an achievement point or Holmes informing me I was correct. A couple times after feeling frustrated, I began randomly guessing and changing my deductions until the correct combination of answers was reached. In all fairness, there’s really no other way to approach this facet of the game than what was done, but it kind of felt like I could shut my brain off and continue selecting random answers until the game told me I was right. It’s kinda like copying your neighbor’s test answers because you can’t remember the correct answer. I consider this a good thing. (Just don’t tell my reputable university.)

Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper primarily takes place in the Whitechapel district, which is a fairly big game map. It can get a little confusing in spots, trying to remember exactly which alley certain key characters or locations are. But the game figured its players might get a little confused and planned ahead. If there’s a specific location Holmes needs to visit, players can pull up the map, select the location, and BAM! You’re there. Quick Travel Button FTW!

What’s Not: STATIC CAMERA ANGLES! BAD! It’s 2010! Haven’t we evolved passed this?

Case in point: I had to go find a young kid to reach my next plot goal. The game showed me an image of a boy standing on a street corner, then back to Holmes. I tried wandering around in hopes of finding the kid, but the game decided to have a mini-seizure instead. The camera went crazy every time I moved, switching to every possible angle with each step Holmes took. I couldn’t make heads or tails of where I was in conjunction to where the last camera angle showed me at. I eventually found the little brat due to sheer dumb luck. There were multiple situations like this, and a few times I had to hit the net for a game walk-through so I could figure out where I needed to go because the camera angles prevented me from getting a clear picture.

This leads to my first question: Why isn’t there an achievement for not rage-quitting over the freaking camera? That alone should be worth 150 gamerpoints!

“There’s a first-person mode, you know,” a friend of mine told me. “Just play the game in first-person and you won’t pull your hair out.” While I was well aware of the existence of first-person mode in Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper, I can’t play it. First-person games, especially shooters, give me horrible motion sickness and migraines. I’m good for a round, maybe two on Halo 3, then I have to pop two Excedrin and go take a nap. After spending five minutes playing Portal, I nearly threw up. So playing Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper in first-person wasn’t exactly something I wanted to voluntarily do. But since I was reviewing the game, I tapped “X” and gave it a spin, figuring the worst that would happen was this game would lose review points for making me violently ill.

I was instantly greeted with smooth scrolling and a full 360 view of my environment. I went down side-streets and alleys without having to wait for the game to load. I could view things close-up, change my perspective, spin around in circles, and not once did I get lost. When I started to feel dizzy, I tapped “X” again and was back to camera angles worthy of an early 90s PlayStation game.

This leads to my second question: Why is the first-person mode so much cleaner and smoother than the third-person? Why, why, why? Didn’t Resident Evil teach us anything about how bad camera angles lead to nothing but frustration and confusion? Why couldn’t what first-person offered be incorporated into third-person?

Final Verdict: Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper is fun. If you’re into point-and-click mysteries, or looking for a good historical fiction game, give this one a shot. Just remember to play the game in first-person to save yourself from pre-maturing baldness.

Side Note: Playing Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper in third-person mode reminded me ever-so-much of this 2003 X-Play skit pinning host Adam Sessler against the horrible reality of pre-rendered graphics and horrific camera angles. Adam attempting to navigate the men’s washroom gives you a good idea of what third-person mode in this game is like: