Gamers enter into a battle of wits between Sherlock Holmes - accompanied of course by assistant Dr. Watson - and notorious master thief Arsene Lupin, who is attempting a daring series of cheeky robberies in London, England.
It's up to you - in the role of Holmes and often Dr. Watson - in the PC adventure game "Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis" to unravel his plans.
Set in London during the summer of 1895, "Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis" (rated Everyone 10+) does a fine job surrounding you with various British landmarks including Buckingham Palace, the National Gallery and the British Museum.
"Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis," published by Toronto's The Adventure Company and developed by Frogwares studio, is a 3D-based point-and-click adventure game title inspired by the marvellous works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Anyone who's read "The Hound of the Baskervilles" or short stories such as "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" will immediately recognize the insightful humour of Holmes and the forever helpful Watson. Both characters are recreated in the game with a fairly accurate flair.
The story itself is classic Sherlock Holmes - a daring thief has announced he'll steal five priceless objects and it's up to you to stop him. In gaming terms this means solving many puzzles and searching for clues through various London-themed scenarios.
The many minor and major puzzles you're faced with are presented in forms most adventure gamers are used to - using a magnifying glass to examine footprints, measuring those footprints with tape, calculating numbers used for combination locks, combining materials to unlock new areas.
Beyond some of the head-scratching puzzles, what makes "Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis" memorable is the smooth movement.
The interface is similar to a first-person shooter - you see the game world in 3D from the perspective of the character you're playing - sometimes Holmes, sometimes Watson. It makes running around the museums and London streets much easier than, say, having to always click where you want your character to move.
The game also features a map system that enables you move around quickly to various locations - at least it helps - but you still end up spending many hours wandering around scanning for clues.
Regular progression puzzles tend to be on the difficult side - even gamers used to a challenge will likely experience more than a few head-scratching moments.
Expect to get frequently stumped.
The beautiful violin and piano pieces create a pleasant mood, conducive to long riddle-solving sessions, and the detailed characters, beautiful galleries and cobblestoned streets are a notch above most adventure games. It all comes with a price of course - the required 128MB video card hardly taxes hardcore gaming systems but is higher than most games in the genre.
While not exactly elementary, "Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis" is tailor-made for hardcore PC adventure gamers and the legions of Sherlock Holmes fans.
News from �The Canadian Press, 2008
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