Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
The Lovercraft myth of Cthuluh has this ancient extraterrestrial deity asleep submerged
under the sea but able to be controlled by Azathoth, a truly nasty demon-god with no
fondness for our world. And so the story begins.
You may wonder with this introduction what jewels, an insane asylum, drugs and New
Orleans have to do with the above. – patience, patience. There is enough story here for at
least four games.
The adventure begins in London, with Holmes, assisted by Watson investigating a
strange disappearances of a servant and then bodyguard from completely different
locations. What originally starts out as a possible runaway becomes more ominous with
what appears to be kidnappings. You get a good taste of Holmes investigative techniques
- what he notices, how he cleverly comes up with solutions – actually puzzle solving. The
story leads the duo down to the dark docks, to pubs and pub inhabitants and finally to a
warehouse and a hidden temple. It is here that they come to the goriest scene in the game
– a sacrifice upon an alter. There is a reason that this game gets a Mature rating. There is
plenty of blood throughout the game – pools of blood, trails of blood, buckets of blood,
bloody walls, bloody clothing, bloody writing – you get the idea.
Finding a black box with an edelweiss containing heroine, Holmes sends Watson travel to the
Black Edelweiss sanatorium in Switzerland. Naturally we have Holmes in a disguise
making an appearance. There are many rooms, many trapped and crazy patients, torture,
and an incessant wailing that is the most unnerving part of the game. It is here that jewels
come into the story. Eventually the pair make their escape and now the trail leads to
New Orleans.
New Orleans, compete with river boat – more searching, more bodies, more puzzles,
secret rooms, magical numbers. Then back to London. Are we there yet? Nooo. Onto
Scotland – lighthouse, more blood, lights – finis.
While the sets are realistic and the mood is dark and threatening, and you feel that you
are part of the adventure, there is just too much story. The plot is all over the place and
much of the length seem to be to make more room for the gratuitous gore.
Reviewed by: Editor - 11/07
Ages: Mature
Fun Factor: If you find scary bloody games fun.
Female Factor: Holmes always had a problem with women. Only victims here.