Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels

Altogether, this is a mystery that conveys just about the right atmosphere for the place, time, and subject, with a good helping of general historical interest thrown in as well. I take my hat off to it. Now that is something I could recommend you to do before you get very far into the game, too!

»Sherlock« ist ein weiteres Text-Adventure von Infocom. Es hat einen exzellenten Parser, eine clevere Handlung und viele logische Rätsel. Die Atmosphäre reicht nicht ganz an Spitzentitel wie < moby game="Stationfall">»Stationfall«< /moby> oder < moby game="Guild of Thieves">»Guild of Thieves«< /moby> von Magnetic Scrolls heran. Wer aber gerne in Holmes-Manier Rätsel löst, wird an »Sherlock« Spaß haben.

Having read all the Conan Doyle Holmes stories, I found Sherlock a positive delight to play. Both Doyle's writing style, and the atmosphere of 19th century London are approximated extremely well. Unlike Infocom's earlier mysteries which took place in one house, Sherlock's action takes you all over London. Numerous little bits of Holmesian minutiae flesh out the game. The humour is appropriately wry without resorting to the usual Infocom style of silliness that would not work nearly as well here as in other games.

Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels is not the typical interactive fiction mystery title such as Deadline, Witness, or Suspect. In this game, timing is everything. Making the right move at the right time is the key. To succeed in this game, it is necessary to follow closely the suspects’ trails. If you arrive too late, the game goes on but the solution departs. While it is clear from the very beginning of the game that the culprit is Professor Moriarty, this rendition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work differs significantly from its novel counterpart—there is now a deadline in reaching your goals, and the delivery now resembles more of a treasure hunt than a mystery.