Sherlock Holmes – The Awakened is the third in the narrative-driven adventure game series. It was developed and published by Ukrainian development studio Frogwares. While the licensing rights are held by Focus Home Interactive.

Previously the story drew inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels. But this time the direction is more in the direction of H.P.Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulu series. Rather peculiar is the fact the game was remastered not soon after its original 2007 release, in 2008 for PC Featuring a new third-person camera perspective and enhanced graphics. The in-game hint/help system has also been modified.

Gameplay:

The Awakened switches from the pre-rendered backgrounds of the previous entries, to fully 3D ones. Though it controls like a first-person shooter with WASD keys, it retains several elements of its point-and-click heritage. These include pop-up icons that indicate certain actions Sherlock can perform like ‘pick up’ or ‘talk’. Also, when moving to a new location the icon changes to a set of footprints.

The environments are semi-open world. Clues can be uncovered by hovering the mouse over the item and allowing Sherlock Holmes to draw his conclusions. Several NPC interactions occur. But they’re limited to linear cutscenes with no dialogue options for the players. There is an inventory system that can be used to browse items of interest, dialogues, a map screen, reports and documents like novels or newspaper clippings.

Sherlock makes his deductions by inspecting the crime scene. These can then be carried back to his iconic ‘221 B Baker Street‘ address. There are combination lock and clock puzzles. Alongside inscrutable messages which need to be deciphered.

Remake:

Now a remake has been announced. Rebuilt from the ground up using Unreal Engine 4. Frogwares has a wealth of experience to draw from, as they would go on to release a further 6 titles moo in the Sherlock Holmes series; 9 in all. As for Lovecraft, the developers have already dabbled in it via 2019’s The Sinking City.

The game will not be a mere cosmetic facelift however. As the entire story will be re-written. You can think of it as an origin story. As young Sherlock Holmes takes on his first big case and teams up with longstanding associate/sidekick John Watson. Locations span Victorian London, the Scottish Highlands, A Swiss psychiatric ward and the Bayous of New Orleans. Along with the remaster’s new perspective and spruced-up graphics, the remake will introduce new side quests, novel investigation mechanics, entirely refashioned art assets, animations, cutscenes and re-recorded voice-over.

Conflict:

Ukraine is in the midst of a war with Russia. So there is comfort and predictability in repurposing a previously made game. Since factors such as the scope of the game, and other content are not miasmic shifting boundaries. But sure-fire guarantees all already in place.

Frogwares are looking to Kickstarter to complete the funding of the project. Money that could have gone into the production of the game, is instead being siphoned into legal battles, regroupings and adaptions. Owing to the uncertainty of war. For once then, a remake is well justified. This is a dire situation. Not another cash grab.