REVIEW : Sherlock Holmes Chapter One (XBOX Series X)
The long-running Sherlock Holmes saga of the Ukrainian studio Frogwares returns to the starting line: Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One reinvents the famous character of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, narrating his origins and revolutionizing the gameplay of the series. Let’s find out together!
THE GAME
Sherlock Holmes has been written, said and made of everything. The original stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, unofficial books, films of all kinds, vintage TV series or set in the present day, and finally also the long videogame saga of Frogwares, which over almost twenty years has put the famous investigator in the face of all kinds of cases, challenging Jack the Ripper and Arsène Lupine among others. The Ukrainian studio, therefore, decided that, after a long time, it was time for a revolution, a leap towards more modern gameplay but without abandoning the investigative and intuitive side that has characterized the saga so far. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One puts us in the shoes of a young twenty-one-year-old Sherlock Holmes, also different in physiognomy from the previously known character, in a period of his life when he was not yet a detective but only a consultant. And we don’t even find him in his rainy England, but in his native island, the fictitious and Mediterranean Cordona. The occasion is not pleasant: the death of his mother, which leads him to rediscover a place he had left for a long time, meeting family members, old friends and this time rediscovering the corruption that reigns on the island with adult eyes.
On the evening of his arrival on the island, the young Sherlock goes to the family villa for the ritual meetings between all the people who have been close to his mother Violet and immediately put his deductive mind to work to solve small squabbles, micro-crimes. up to then come to murder. It is on these occasions that we begin to notice the novelties of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One gameplay, aim to make it a much larger and more ambitious game. The focus of the game remains the investigation: with his intuition, Sherlock can notice visual elements about people – a wound on his hand, a wrinkled dress, apparent anxiety. These are all elements that can help you get a clearer idea of what happened, but it’s also true that Sherlock is young and can come to hasty conclusions. We should therefore not blindly trust the investigator’s intuitions. Naturally, the diary also returns where we can collect the clues, so we can again evoke the iconic mental palace to recreate, in stylized form, memories or stories in visual form.
The story unfolds through a series of related cases, during which many secrets and crimes are revealed on this seemingly peaceful Mediterranean island. And the island, in an absolute novelty for the Sherlock Holmes series, is entirely and freely explorable. The playing area is not that huge and the interactive elements are not many, but it is an island full of charm and history where you can meet the locals and accept side quests to solve small problems. The amount of content is very large, with dozens of hours of gameplay required to complete everything 100%.
In the course of all these cases, Sherlock will sometimes have to show off his physicality, because not all criminals or accused will gladly accept our presence. In these cases you access a combat system that looks like a simplified version of Gears of War: in one-on-one battles we usually have to use firearms or fists to beat the enemy on duty, complete with somersaults and covers. A surprisingly adrenaline-pumping system, albeit with very simple gameplay where usually you just need to find the enemy’s weak point and hit it at the right time.
The story is quite intriguing and made more memorable by some thick characters, like Sherlock himself and his old friend Jon. The primary missions can be completed in about a dozen hours, but as mentioned there are dozens of hours of optional content for those who want to finish everything at 100%, an excellent content offer given the launch price of $50. Finally, the new Sherlock Holmes adventure has been well translated into Italian as regards texts and subtitles.
LOVE
The young Holmes
Changing “the actor” in the course of a saga is never easy, but despite some initial discontent from the community about the look of the new Sherlock Holmes, having played his new adventure I feel I am promoting this sudden rejuvenation. The young man, not yet officially a detective, still has several character defects and weaknesses, but now we can see a strong and magnetic character, capable of giving charm even to parts of the plot that are a little less impactful. And friend Jon is also an intriguing character, with more than one skeleton in the closet.
Deeper investigation
The investigative mechanics of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One allow us to get to the truth about a case in many ways. It is possible to observe the physical traits of the suspects, to reconstruct in one’s mind memories or stories of people, to find objects or characteristics of the world around to arrive at intuitions but not everything we notice is necessarily relevant, and certain things can also mislead us. leading us to false accusations. So be careful to point your finger!
Freedom of approach
In addition to being able to make inferences and accusations that are not necessarily correct, for the first time the Frogwares saga offers a surprising personalization of our gaming experience. First of all, it is possible to choose whether to have help in the search for clues, indications on the screen and so on, thus adapting the experience from a title where every detail must be observed to one that is fairly linear and guided. We also find full-bodied customization of our Sherlock, which can show off many different looks. And the open world which, while not too memorable, allows you to choose which missions to face and in many cases even if you want to solve a mystery or conflict with intuition or violence, or whether in certain scenarios a painful truth is better. comforting lie. It is interesting, therefore,
HATE
Fights too simple
– Of course, it would not be correct to compare Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One’s shootings and fistfights to action-oriented games, but when you aim to insert certain elements it is automatic to relate them to other titles on the market. And here we find shootings, slow motion, dodges, hand-to-hand fights and so on, but everything is quite approximate and trivial, with the AI of the enemies insufficient. The action sequences let themselves be played, but they are not the strong point of the title.
A bit bare world
The world of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One reminds me a lot of LA Noire, now a cult of the Rockstar investigative genre of two generations ago, obviously without the vehicular component. Similarly to that title, the settings seem to be created exclusively for the atmosphere and to distribute the game objectives, without however offering a variety of interactivity comparable to the best open worlds of our days. This too is therefore an aspect that can be improved, if the developers decide to continue on this line for the Sherlock Holmes saga.
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