Sherlock Holmes The Awakened Remastered Edition KaOs[~PMK~]

Sherlock Holmes meets Cthulhu? It’s not the first time that the famous detective has investigated a supernatural legend. Nor is it the first time that he’s confronted a force so formidable that no one should face it alone. In Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, the intrepid detective encounters the power of pure evil. Will he survive the experience?

The Awakened opens with Dr. Watson in the throes of a nightmare. As Watson awakens, the gamer is swept into an extended flashback -- Victorian London with well tended streets, luxurious interiors, and 221b Baker Street. Here Sherlock Holmes laments the impoverishment of the criminal mind, which eliminates Scotland Yard’s need for his help. Yet Holmes will soon face a crime certain to challenge his talents, and perhaps even his sanity.

This game succeeds in several ways. It places the gamer in authentic, believable, late nineteenth century environments -- three locations in Europe and one in North America. It stretches the abilities of Sherlock Holmes to reveal a less frequently explored aspect of his character. It tells a shocking tale of murder, fiendish cruelty and horror that will keep you at the computer, transfixed, heart in mouth.

Remastered Perspectives

The Awakened Remastered encompasses a large 3D gameworld. You can choose to play from the original first person perspective or from the newly added third person perspective. Third person perspective is a welcome addition, particularly if you are the type of gamer who tends to experience “motion sickness” when moving through 3D first person environments. Watching Holmes and Watson move through the game’s environments eliminates a lot of the panning, and gives the eye something to focus on during movement. You can switch between first and third person perspectives anytime you wish by hitting the Escape key – the only exceptions are during animation sequences and cut scenes.

Third person perspective, however, does somewhat limit your ability to explore. You don’t see as much intimate detail and your movement isn’t as free as in first person perspective. In fact, movement in third person perspective is occasionally frustrating because the footsteps icon that serves as a guide doesn’t always appear, so you have to click around a bit to find the next set of footsteps. Also the camera angle shifts sometimes so that you may not recognize where you are after clicking on the footsteps. When this happens, continue clicking in the direction Holmes or Watson is facing, not the direction that seems logical when moving along from the previous screen.

Since the game offers the flexibility of both perspectives, you can explore in first person and switch to third person for actual puzzle solving, or vice versa. Playing in third person perspective may make the game a bit easier, as the footsteps icon usually shows you the important places to visit.

The only place where it was clearly easier to navigate in first person perspective was the New Orleans swamp, where Watson rows a small boat. I recommend playing the swamp section in first person perspective because it is easier to see where you are going, and Holmes remains ahead of you in the boat the whole time, reducing the panning effect even though the perspective is first person.