Holmes and Watson are on the crime trail again, this time after French master thief Arsène Lupin. In “Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis,” the new sequel in the Sherlock Holmes adventure series by Frogwares set in the 19th century, darkness has fallen upon the city of London. Lupin is on the loose and is threatening to steal five of the most priceless objects in the city, but Homes isn’t going to stand by and let it happen. Nemesis is a solid game in the adventure genre that has a few downsides but overall, delivers a compelling storyline and challenging puzzles that should be a welcomed addition to fans of the genre.
Lupin is very much aware of the city’s great detective and delivers a personal challenge to Holmes in the form of a letter that arrives in the mail at the beginning of the game. The string of crimes begins at the National Gallery, and clues are left behind at each crime scene specifically for Holmes. Lupin knows that Holmes is the only investigator that will have a chance at preventing the planned scheme and is amused by the “chess game” that he has laid out. The objects he is planning to steal are not only invaluable but are also great symbols of England, displayed with great national pride.
"I find this element of realism in games to be a great feature..."
In Nemesis, you take on the role of both Holmes and Watson, depending on the situation at hand, and immediately begin the investigation after the strange letter arrives. The game is played in the first-person perspective and brings you to some of the most famous locations in London including the National Gallery, The British Museum, the Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace. These locations seemed to be well represented in-game and appeared to be very accurate after taking a look at a few real pictures. I find this element of realism in games to be a great feature that can add excitement, especially to people like me who haven’t had the opportunity to travel to Europe.
Thankfully, Nemesis is a free-roaming (somewhat – there are barriers) adventure game that allows you to interact with the 3D world. This is the first game that I’ve played in the series, but I read that this wasn’t the case before The Awakened. I’ve come to the conclusion that point-and-click games are putting a damper on the commonly bashed adventure genre, and that it’s time to move on from that form of gameplay, as many developers have. The gameplay consists mainly of puzzle solving, but Watson is assigned to some more basic tasks once in a while. For me, frustration in this genre comes when I get really stuck and can’t figure out what to do next or how to solve something. I was able to move through Nemesis without too many stalling points, but there were definitely a few. There are many puzzles where basic mathematics is used to move on while it’s not immediately clear that math is to be used. For example, in one puzzle you have to find a year of a painting, subtract it from another year, multiply it by the painter’s age, and then subtract that number from another year. You usually figure out how to comprehend the puzzles with the riddles that Lupin leaves behind, but if you are stuck, be sure to consult forums for hints, or, if you don’t mind cheating a bit, there are always walkthroughs. There are things that are easy to miss in Nemesis, having to basically search each location very thoroughly, and one of my complaints about this game is that you have to get too close to objects in order for the interact icon to appear.
Another problem with Nemesis is that there is quite a lot of back-and-forth. Repetitiveness, in my opinion, is where an adventure game starts to become boring. For example, in the British Museum, you basically find a clue by Lupin, look up information in the reading room or interact with one of the characters, locate an object and possibly solve a puzzle, and find a new clue. This series of interactions is, more or less, repeated around thirteen times if I’m counting correctly. This was definitely a point in Nemesis where the onset of boredom was affecting me. This back-and-forth didn’t seem nearly as bad in the other locations but was still present throughout most of the game.
The graphics in Nemesis are definitely better than your average adventure title. As I stated earlier, all of the locations seem to be well represented, and all of the buildings and characters fit well into the 19th century setting. Besides the accurate locations, I also enjoyed seeing all of the paintings in the gallery. One thing that was immediately apparent to me when starting the game was that the first-person view felt much too zoomed in. It might have just been me, but this is something I noticed throughout the entire game, and this, combined with the fact that you have to get very close to objects and people in order for the interact icons to appear, was something that I didn’t enjoy; I actually felt somewhat dizzy and had eye strain at times. I would really like to see this fixed with a patch. It’s also obvious that character models are reused in the game, appearing in different locations with different clothes and hair. It’s somewhat of a minor issue, but I found it somewhat amusing and annoying. The character models are decent, not great, but their mouths do not mach up with the dialog, which seems to be a common issue with games across many genres.
Sound is good for the most part in Nemesis, but some of the voice acting is sub-par. The main character dialog is better than the dialog of the more minor characters. Orchestral music plays throughout the game as background music, fitting the setting well. The one and only issue I had with the audio were popping and clicking noises that occurred, especially after I would jump from one area of the map to another. This could have been caused by me minimizing the game to take a break or to glance at a walkthrough, but it seemed to get worse in certain areas – specifically the reading room at The British Museum.
"...this adventure game is a great value."
Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis has its share of faults, but overall it’s a solid game in the adventure genre. The characters and setting are very believable, the story of the hunt for Lupin is compelling, and the puzzles are challenging. The conclusion to the game was somewhat unexpected, but after the explanation by Holmes, it made sense. At a current price of only around $20 and a good length that will last many hours, this adventure game is a great value.
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