Support NeoGAF

[Tizoc]

Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 & PC
Release date: Sep. 30th, 2014 (listed for all platforms)
Genre: Adventure Game
Developer: Frogwares
Graphics Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Price: $39.99 (Game is REGION LOCKED on Steam so don't consider getting it from traders)
Digital availability:

• Steam Store page
• Gamersgate page
• Greenmangaming page

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is the latest entry in Frogwares Sherlock Holmes Adventure game. Like it's predecessor, Testament of Sherlock Holmes, this game has both a First Person and Third Person view option letting players experience the game with their preferred view point.

With the game releasing soon on next gen consoles and PC, I've opted for a Discussion Thread mainly as I avoided as much footage of the game personally (media blackout) so as to go in fresh and was too lazy to make a competent OT :V

Feel free to discuss the game here but please use spoiler tags where appropriate.

Reviews
SlasherJPC's review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-gjTcbTqVo&feature=youtu.be
Savingcontent.com's review: http://www.savingcontent.com/2014/09/30/sherlock-holmes-crimes-punishments-review/

 

[Fady K]

Thanks for making this thread. The Sherlock Holmes adventure series by Frogwares are fantastic. For those console owners who missed out on recent releases, Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper (Xbox360) and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes especially seem like must plays (PS3+Xbox360). I myself can't wait to start Testament and then play this one <3

 

[Currygan]

always found the serie to be completely underwhelming. not many hopes for this, but will follow reviews and impressions closely

 

[UnrealEck]

That looks like Max Payne on the box.

 

[Calmine]

Inside Gaming seems to be looking forward to it. They've been doing a count down to this on their daily xD

 

[Nemesis_]

I've played both the Jack The Ripper and Testament games.

They're kind of okay, but they're also very rough. But they've got a weird atmosphere to them that is, IMO, like no other game I've played.

I'm keen to see how this one turns out, regardless.

 

[Card Boy]

Testament of Sherlock Holmes was hilarious, Holmes was like a psychopath for most of the game.

 

[gugeifer]

I actually thought that Testament was a very decent game and love how Crimes look so far, trailers look good and the game promises more in term of choices and direction your investigation will take.
So, day 1 for me.

 

[Tizoc]

Thanks for making this thread. The Sherlock Holmes adventure series by Frogwares are fantastic. For those console owners who missed out on recent releases, Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper (Xbox360) and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes especially seem like must plays (PS3+Xbox360). I myself can't wait to start Testament and then play this one <3

Be forwarned that the PS3 ver. has some severe framerate issues, brrrrrr.
Do-able Platinum though.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Expect reviews out on the 30th. I'm playing through it currently.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I play all of these dumb games even though they're often deeply flawed.

The Ripper one was best.

 

[Memento Mori]

The best bits about the Ripper game were the crime scene deduction boards. Testament only had like two of those scenes at most.

 

[Fady K]

Be forwarned that the PS3 ver. has some severe framerate issues, brrrrrr.
Do-able Platinum though.

So I heard Tizoc! I hope C&P fares better on the PS4 ;D

Expect reviews out on the 30th. I'm playing through it currently.

I know you can't say anything, but I really hope you're enjoying it as I so want this game to be good. Heck, if it is as good as the older Sherlock adventure games I'm more than happy.

I play all of these dumb games even though they're often deeply flawed.

The Ripper one was best.

Shake Appeal, never knew you played such games, awesome. Loved the Ripper one

 

[Rymuth]

They broke the street date here so I got my hands on a copy. Can I stream to twitch without getting into trouble? I remember doing the same thing for Thief.

Edit: yeah, you're right! And I'll do in a few hours.

 

[Tizoc]

They broke the street date here so I got my hands on a copy. Can I stream to twitch without getting into trouble? I remember doing the same thing for Thief.

Be on the safe side and wait til the 30th
At the very least tell us your impressions of the game?

 

[Karak]

They broke the street date here so I got my hands on a copy. Can I stream to twitch without getting into trouble? I remember doing the same thing for Thief.

Edit: yeah, you're right! And I'll do in a few hours.

I got an official copy for ACG and one thing they made clear is they are aggressively going after any early stuff. They have been hit before by that stuff and it seems like they let it slide. Doesn't sound like they are going to with this game as they are hinging a lot on it.

 

[Rich!]

Testament of Sherlock Holmes was hilarious, Holmes was like a psychopath for most of the game.

but holmes isn't a psychopath, he's a high functioning sociopath

Spoiler

well, cumberbatch's one

 

[Ceebs]

Yeah I will pick this up first chance I see with a good sale on it. I enjoy them for the B-tier adventure games that they are.

 

[jackissocool]

Price?

 

[masteratt]

Any indication how the PS4 version runs?

 

[AkuMifune]

Love the series and have had this pre-ordered (PC) for awhile. Still available at Nuuvem for $25.

Curious about all of the new gameplay elements, but worried about the apparent lack of coverage. Was assuming this would be the breakthrough in the series for them, but with 4 days to go and little buzz...

Still looking forward to it though!

 

[Insane Metal]

I am soooo going to get this. This will make me distracted while I wait for DRIVECLUB.

 

[Tizoc]

For those getting the PC ver., be forwarned that it is Region Locked so i's not recommended to get it via traders.

 

[wouwie]

I'm really hoping this turns out to be a good adventure game on PS4. I never played the previous games but the various trailers got me excited. I'll wait for some reviews though.

 

[Aces&Eights]

This and Shadow of Mordor will be the perfect games to hold me over till AC Unity comes out. Getting kind of burnt out on Destiny.

Testament was flawed but a very good story. Loved the deduction boards and overall ambiance of the world.

 

[Tunahead]

The best part of Testament was Holmes and Watson's mentally unbalanced Lethal Weapon 1 dynamic, particularly at that bit where Watson got too old for this shit and verbally dismantled that one doctor guy. The rest of the game couldn't live up to that scene, but it was good enough all by itself to give me at least moderate hopes for the writing in Crimes & Punishments.

 

[Rymuth]

Okay, so I finished the third case and I think I&#8217;ve far enough to give an at least somewhat informed opinion on this game. I'll spoiler tag the gameplay mechanics because, even though I did my best to completely avoid story details, I'd like to stay on the safe side.

My favorite Sherlock Holmes game remains The Serrated Scalpel and while I agree with everyone here that vs. Jack the Ripper was very nice, I thought Testament was cancer in videogame form. With that in mind, I came into this game with some trepidation.
I&#8217;m playing the PS4 version. Immediately you can see a stark contrast between this and Testament. Textures look cleaner, the environment is almost vibrant at times. There is, unfortunately, the ugly specter of poor optimization. Screen tearing rears its ugly head at times. It&#8217;s not noticeable if you look for it but if you rotate the right analogue stick to move the camera about, you&#8217;ll see it. There is one particularly large area in the third case where screen tearing becomes rather prominent.

Gameplay-wise:

Spoiler

You control Holmes in third person and he runs if you hold down the R2 button. He moves at a good pace, so it&#8217;s almost tight and not floaty like he felt in Testament. Just like the previous games, you&#8217;ll find your usual assortment of jigsaw assembly, alchemy and pixel hunting puzzles.

Let&#8217;s discuss the new mechanics: Before you talk to any witness/suspect, you are given the option to press the Square button to profile them/draw a character portrait. It&#8217;s basically just entering a state where you move a magnifying glass around their body and click on anything suspicious. It&#8217;s rather simplistic, most of the details rather jump out in front of and the magnifying glass even lights up whenever you happen to come across a detail, so there&#8217;s no chance of failure. Nine out of ten times, only one of those details will be relevant during interrogation.

EXAMPLE (fictional one)

HOLMES: Why were you at the gift shop? Were you planning to buy a present for your wife?

SUSPECT: My&#8230;wife? But I&#8217;m not married.

*Present evidence: Clown nose, scar on eyes, wedding ring*

HOLMES: Then why are you wearing a wedding ring?

SUSPECT: D&#8217;oh!

The second new mechanic is the newly improved deduction board, only this time it&#8217;s a collection of brain cells that end up forming a pathway depending on what you choose. Here&#8217;s what it gets interesting: You can actually make the wrong deduction. You can name the wrong suspect as well as the wrong murder weapon. While I&#8217;m sure most of you won&#8217;t have trouble, the possibility of actually clearing the game by getting every single case wrong is just too good. If that scares you, you&#8217;re in luck, before you continue on to the next case, the game gives you three options
a) Move on to the next case
b) Highlight if your solution had been correct
c) Return to moments before the ending and try again

Ergo, you can theoretically watch all other solutions within minutes. This leads to some unintentionally hilarious endings where you make Holmes lay out an extremely flimsy solution to a flabbergasted suspect who could barely get a word in edgewise as Holmes basically goes &#8220;Lalala, I can&#8217;t hear you, lalala!&#8221;

Finally, we come to the much touted morality system. To put it simply: it&#8217;s shyte. Right after you pick what suspect you&#8217;re going to name, the game gives the option of either absolving them or sending them to jail. The difference between the two is minimal at best, with the first option just having Holmes adding an extra bit of dialogue essentially &#8220;winkwink, nudgenudge&#8230;it&#8217;ll be our little secret.&#8221; (Made even more hilarious if the suspect was already innocent. Believe me, I&#8217;ve tried) &#8211; It&#8217;s all just so shoehorned and since everyone is two dimensional, I&#8217;m not even sure why we&#8217;d be emotionally invested to absolve them.

All in all, my impressions are positive. If you hated Testament, there&#8217;s a good chance you&#8217;ll like this. If you loved Testament, well there&#8217;s no way you won&#8217;t like it.

 

[Dsyndrome]

Best one I've played thus far was The Awakened, though Ripper and Nemesis were ok. Best part of Nemesis was Creepy Watson:
Cracked Article With Creepy Watson
This thread reminded me that I still needed to beat Testament on PS3, jankiness aside. Have to juggle that with beating MGR: Revengeance.

 

[Stumpokapow]

The morality system in testament sucked so no surprise it sucked here too, but glad to hear in other respects the game lives up to the series, which I'm a big fan of.

 

[Tizoc]

I don't remember anything about a morality system in Testament :V
There was one trophy though that required you to do some dickish actions though.

 

[lighthouse777]

getting it for the One and 360 might add the ps4 version as well
yeah I love this type of game

 

[Fady K]

How are you guys finding this game? I'll be playing Testament and then C&P, can't wait

 

[Tizoc]

How are you guys finding this game? I'll be playing Testament and then C&P, can't wait

Street date broken for retail in some regions/countries?

Come on Gamersgate GIVE ME MAH CODE!

 

[Autofokus]

2 small questions:

1) I assume it's $60 for PS4/XO? I would give it a try at $40.
2) Is it like Testament full of logic puzzles, you know the Layton-kinda stuff? I totally suck at them, couldn't finish Testament without a guide for some of them.

 

[Rymuth]

2 small questions:

1) I assume it's $60 for PS4/XO? I would give it a try at $40.
2) Is it like Testament full of logic puzzles, you know the Layton-kinda stuff? I totally suck at them, couldn't finish Testament without a guide for some of them.

1) Not sure how the pricing works, different countries and all

2) Game gives you the option to skip any and every puzzle you come across with no penalty (save for not getting trophy/achievement if you choose to do so)

Edit: OMG!! I'm a member!

 

[Tizoc]

1) Not sure how the pricing works, different countries and all

2) Game gives you the option to skip any and every puzzle you come across with no penalty (save for not getting trophy/achievement if you choose to do so)

I think Testament had a similar option, course this being a PnC style game why would you wanna skip them

Edit: OMG!! I'm a member!

 

[Fady K]

1) Not sure how the pricing works, different countries and all

2) Game gives you the option to skip any and every puzzle you come across with no penalty (save for not getting trophy/achievement if you choose to do so)

Edit: OMG!! I'm a member!

Congrats on your member status bro! Btw how is the game so far? Can you share your latest spoiler-free impressions?

 

[Mideon]

Puzzles sucked on Testament so hopefully this one is much improved.

 

[Tizoc]

Launch trailer
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014...aunch-trailer-shows-detectives-famous-skills/

 

[Rymuth]

<3
I specifically picked this avatar for the purpose of being avatar-quoted, hehe!

Congrats on your member status bro! Btw how is the game so far? Can you share your latest spoiler-free impressions?

Okay, I finally finished the game. Took me four sittings, although I could have realistically done it in two.

- I need to correct that impression about controlling Holmes in 3rd person. Pressing the circle button switches you to 1st person mode. So sorry for not picking up on that. I'm sure there are fans for both control schemes
- Holmes is less of a dick than he was in Testament (still a dick, tho')
- Watson, unfortunately, still suffers from a botched lobotomy
- Bit too many lock-picking puzzles for my liking
- Wikipedia says there are seven cases. I've only played six...coincidentally, the Steam page also mentions six cases. Hmm.
- Easy platinum if you're a trophy hunter

That's all I can think of. I give the game a solid 7. It was an enjoyable snack that did not overstay its welcome.

One more thing, I'll be happy to help if any of you get stuck in the game. I doubt you fine folks will be stumped by the puzzles/deductions but some of the pixel hunting might annoy you, as it did for me.

 

[Fady K]

<3
I specifically picked this avatar for the purpose of being avatar-quoted, hehe!


Okay, I finally finished the game. Took me four sittings, although I could have realistically done it in two.

- I need to correct that impression about controlling Holmes in 3rd person. Pressing the circle button switches you to 1st person mode. So sorry for not picking up on that. I'm sure there are fans for both control schemes
- Holmes is less of a dick than he was in Testament (still a dick, tho')
- Watson, unfortunately, still suffers from a botched lobotomy
- Bit too many lock-picking puzzles for my liking
- Wikipedia says there are seven cases. I've only played six...coincidentally, the Steam page also mentions six cases. Hmm.
- Easy platinum if you're a trophy hunter

That's all I can think of. I give the game a solid 7. It was an enjoyable snack that did not overstay its welcome.

One more thing, I'll be happy to help if any of you get stuck in the game. I doubt you fine folks will be stumped by the puzzles/deductions but some of the pixel hunting might annoy you, as it did for me.

Awesome, many thanks for all the impressions friend! Question: Did you enjoy it better than Testament? Was it an improvement over it?

 

[Trin]

This game is absolutely fantastic. I completely love almost everything about it. That said, it's a tad buggy. This isn't the first bug I've encountered, but it's my favorite.

 

[Karak]

Having beat it twice through now. I can say its a fairly enjoyable game. Still has issues with Watson attempting to see if he can impregnate you in every doorway and one or two of the cases revolved around a bit of backtracking that could have been cleaned up but it ran very well and only had 1 bug.
Walkthroughs 1-10 if anyone are interested. Link
Review if interested Link


If anyone is interested in the bug it revolved around Vsynch on the PC and just wouldn't always engage.

 

[Fady K]

This game is absolutely fantastic. I completely love almost everything about it. That said, it's a tad buggy. This isn't the first bug I've encountered, but it's my favorite.

Having beat it twice through now. I can say its a fairly enjoyable game. Still has issues with Watson attempting to see if he can impregnate you in every doorway and one or two of the cases revolved around a bit of backtracking that could have been cleaned up but it ran very well and only had 1 bug.
Walkthroughs 1-10 if anyone are interested. Link
Review if interested Link


If anyone is interested in the bug it revolved around Vsynch on the PC and just wouldn't always engage.

Great impressions guys! How does it compare to the Testament of Sherlock Holmes (if you've played it)?

 

[JayEH]

I'm still playing through the Testament of Sherlock Holmes but this game looks good so I'll definitely pick it up later.

 

[Karak]

Great impressions guys! How does it compare to the Testament of Sherlock Holmes (if you've played it)?

I liked it better. Overall it has made a fairly big jump not only graphically but just how everything comes together smoothly. I still dinged the game for not giving Watson his due like the shows and movies have. He is a character that could be interesting and if used well, a great sidekick.

I think this is my favorite. I haven't played them all but I did play the most recent ones and this one is by far better.

Also as I said in my review he looks like Abraham Lincoln private investigator and you can't ignore the awesomeness of that

 

[SlasherJPC]

Heres my review http://youtu.be/K-gjTcbTqVo Best Sherlock game in my opinion and not super hard as well.

 

[Doctor Hades]

I've just cancelled my PS4 pre-order after noticing screen tearing in several YouTube walkthrough videos of that version of the game and ordered it for my PC instead. I find screen tearing unacceptable in current gen games not to mention very distracting to the point where it diminishes my enjoyment of a game.

I do enjoy these kinds of games though and very much enjoyed the last one, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, on PC. Guess it makes more sense for me to buy the sequel on the same format too plus it was £12 cheaper!

*EDIT*
Good to know that the screen tearing in the PS4 has been confirmed by someone in this thread who has played it. Seriously, why don't developers optimise their games for smooth image quality? You don't see screen tearing in Wii U games and that system is way less powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One...

 

[Rymuth]

This game is absolutely fantastic. I completely love almost everything about it. That said, it's a tad buggy. This isn't the first bug I've encountered, but it's my favorite.

Haha, that's awesome. Worst bug I've encountered had been Holmes standing atop Watson.

 

[Nerix]

What about the load times? In one review they mentioned that they are horrible (PS4). The areas are quite small but despite that, loading screens between 10 and 20 seconds with every room change.

Would be a deal breaker. And that price... 55-60 EUR in the EU