The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 173 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 120 out of 173
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 173
  3. Negative: 15 out of 173

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  1. JimCorbett
    Oct 16, 2013
    6
    Testament is a fine adventure game. It has an "investigation" flare to it to help it fit with the Sherlock Holmes name. The story is better than I expected but it still isn't all that good. There are many holes in it and it doesn't offer a very climatic ending, the most exciting part of the story seemed to be 3/4 of the way through. The controls are unintuitive and the optimization is notTestament is a fine adventure game. It has an "investigation" flare to it to help it fit with the Sherlock Holmes name. The story is better than I expected but it still isn't all that good. There are many holes in it and it doesn't offer a very climatic ending, the most exciting part of the story seemed to be 3/4 of the way through. The controls are unintuitive and the optimization is not good. Voices often become desynchronized with the characters lips, the engine seems to chug at times, slowing down the framerate. The puzzles are either very easy or so confusing that you'll be searching for help online. There is a serious lack of pacing not only in the gameplay but in the story as well. It's these elementary issues that prevent Testament from becoming a top-of-the-line adventure game.… Expand
  2. strav
    Jan 31, 2013
    8
    Being somewhat a seasoned adventure gamer and having enjoyed Conan Doyle's works in my youth, I must say that I had great expectations for this game and fortunately, it met and sometimes exceeded them. Considering the numerous and most of the time awful adaptations of Sherlock Holmes out there, I must say that this is one that truly nailed the original stories character and ambiance; theyBeing somewhat a seasoned adventure gamer and having enjoyed Conan Doyle's works in my youth, I must say that I had great expectations for this game and fortunately, it met and sometimes exceeded them. Considering the numerous and most of the time awful adaptations of Sherlock Holmes out there, I must say that this is one that truly nailed the original stories character and ambiance; they got their details right. Aside from the details, something that really sets this game apart from other adventure games, is the attention given to the deduction process. In most adventure games, once you found the appropriate clues the conclusion is outright given to you while in this game, you must put these clues together and logically deduce the right conclusion. While somewhat limited, this process really gives you some sense of actually solving the case. Another good design decision is the general absence of pixel hunting: most of the relevant items will become highlighted when you pass next to them. As for the puzzles, I must say that this is one aspect of the game that truly shines: they are realistic, logical, not too easy nor too hard or tedious. It's really been a long time since I appreciated that much a game for the consistence of it's puzzles (I guess the last one I had so much fun was Braid). As for the story, it is a really enjoyable, credible Sherlock Holmes case perhaps not as subtle as the original stories but enjoyable in it's own merit. Technically, the graphics are superb are I would place The Testament of Sherlock Holmes amongst the few games that achieved a 3D adventure game without it being awkward in some way. The voice acting is flawless and the music, while being a little bland, still manages to create the right atmosphere.

    As for the bad points, it is to notice that the character animations (lip sync and such) is often a little off and you have to compensate with your imagination. As for the controls, if I remember correctly, the game offers 3 different ways to control the characters but unfortunately, they all get a little tedious at some point (although, I really don't know how they could have done better than offering those 3 different ways (FPS, Third person, and point and click).

    In all, if you're sick of toy games such as Botanicula (where clicking at random can lead you to finish the game in approximately 4 hours), if you appreciate the Sherlock Holmes novels/stories, and happen to enjoy puzzles, then The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a game you'll surely like.    … Expand
  3. Ndi
    Nov 11, 2013
    2
    I used to be a fan of the franchise. I really did, it was all about mind puzzles, giving out pieces of information, in any order, and then, at the end, Sherlock would explain how they all fit together. This is the ESSENCE of a good book, adventure, game, whatever. You have all the pieces, can you put it together?

    Used to be true. Now, every game is worse and worse. All the puzzles are    I used to be a fan of the franchise. I really did, it was all about mind puzzles, giving out pieces of information, in any order, and then, at the end, Sherlock would explain how they all fit together. This is the ESSENCE of a good book, adventure, game, whatever. You have all the pieces, can you put it together?

    Used to be true. Now, every game is worse and worse. All the puzzles are either chess puzzles (f*** hell, people, chess is not the game of the gods) or stupid combinations. Clues are only revealed once other clues have been found, so you are always hunting for one or two. For the most attention to detail person who ever lived, Sherlock sure misses a LOT of clues. When I notice a shovel and a fresh grave, SH should too.

    And finally, the franchise has been going slowly towards shock and horror. Starting with the Silver Earring, a great game, it has descended into dark pits and snakes in cadavers (Awakened), to point and click games where you have to look at mutilated faces (Jack the Ripper) to f*** horror in this game. Torn flesh, degraded, gashed skin, torture victims, dead meat, anything to stand out.

    Well, this is a review, so let's review:

    a) Games went from talking to people (investigating) and looking for clues to search and discover games you can get in Flash form anywhere, free.

    b) Games went from fun puzzles to boxed puzzles, from ingenious to tedious. There is no puzzle solving involved in the bishop problem. it's either a canned response (if you memorized it) or tedious trial and error.

    c) Games went from high society, high stakes murders where Sherlock would investigate to unimportant events in tasteless graphic detail, shock value alone and nothing else. Dialogue is gone, nobody lies or covers, nobody even tries to be difficult unless the "plot" (I use the term loosely) requires them.

    d) Graphics are slightly better, but controls still suck big time, Sherlock "runs" on double click but doesn't just skip to the next scene, like DOTT did 25 years ago. And all other SCUMM games.

    e) Story is mediocre at best. It would be mediocre if it were a puzzle game, but it's not, is it? This is Sherlock Holmes himself, the master of deduction, attention to detail, a visionary. High expectation creates deep disappointment.

    So there you have it. The height of not caring even a little bit about making a GOOD game, just pumping out another SH game. And FFS, leave the horror to the horror genre. Sherlock Holmes is the hero of the intelligent. Stop trying to make him appeal to 12 year olds.

    This game is incredibly cheap.

    Who the hell makes a combination box with the combination STAMPED ON IT, the only obstacle being how to move the pieces around, but only 2 at a time. Why, a bank, of course, they keep money in them.

    The level of stupid in this game is staggering, and it is aimed, assumingly, at intelligent people.

    There is no way this game is, in 2012, up to par in
    * graphics with any other fresh game
    * story with any other Sherlock game
    * taste with any other Sherlock game
    * sound works with any other decent game. You can barely hear the soup guy because of the street.
    * more ingenious with puzzles than Flash games. Combo lock? Bishop problem? Queen problem? Did you just open a book on recreational mathematics and started copying?    … Expand
  4. DreamBreaker
    Feb 18, 2013
    9
    Good point It has brilliant puzzles, Excellent Deduction board system, Good voice act attractive character making. I feel detective's emotion. It was cool experience to me. Bad point Funny Motion ((like a Sherlock's running motion), Not comfortable controller input lack in Menu deduction board. some puzzles are very hard without no clue or too search hard.

    "The Testament of    Good point It has brilliant puzzles, Excellent Deduction board system, Good voice act attractive character making. I feel detective's emotion. It was cool experience to me. Bad point Funny Motion ((like a Sherlock's running motion), Not comfortable controller input lack in Menu deduction board. some puzzles are very hard without no clue or too search hard.

    "The Testament of Sherlock Holmes" is well made adventure game for Sherlockian adv game fan.

    Do you want to play the detective thing? purchase solve it.

    If you korean then visit this review article http://goo.gl/epJ7p This is my formal review and written by korean language.    … Expand
  5. Bmane
    May 22, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Testament of Sherlock Holmes: no denying that this is the best title of the series so far. But Focus Home Interactive have a long, long way to go to get the series potential to its fullest.

    This is one of those games that is neither terrible nor great, rather it's somewhere in between. Sherlock Holmes still suffers from a few flaws that were present in the earlier games, that FHI seem to be missing each and every time, and failing to correct it.

    Lets start with flaw number 1 that has been present since the series began: The voice cast for the role of Sherlock Holmes has always suffered. Either they've got a hammy actor doing the role, or a rather dull Holmes that gives the impression that the voice actor would rather be somewhere else than in the studio reading lines. The latter is the case for this game, in which there is no emotional connection between the player and Sherlock Holmes. Have the creators ever watched any tv series? Have they watched Jeremy Brett's portrayal at all, who is renowned for being the best Sherlock of them all?

    It's a puzzle because the voice acting for Dr.Watson has, while not been spot on, certainly a better choice than the main lead! I do feel however that Watson was a bit overzealous in his excitement this time around and the writing was quite poor for him.

    Flaw 2: Plot. Yes, the plot. The plot has been improved and is quite impressive starting off, but it quicly goes downhill. Here's a lesson Folks; if a game asks you to control a dog, whose primary responsibility is to 'sniff' for clues, then yes, you know (or should know) that the general writing/plot has gone downhill at this point. Seriously Focus? Nice idea on paper, poor implementation for a Sherlock Holmes game. I don't want to play as a hound, nor do I want to sniff around for visible cues. This was perhaps the most serious flaw in the game and there's more throughout, but this was a serious distraction and one that made me shake my head in disgust.

    I've yet to come across a Sherlock Holmes game from FHI that I could say I enjoyed. Some may call that 'bitterness', I call it having standards when it comes to a series. Others take the Sherlock Holmes series with a grain of salt and accept that despite the lack in quality at times, they are more than happy to have a game that is set within the realm of Sherlock Holmes. That's fair enough, but I take the different approach that I would rather have a game that is true to Sherlock Holmes and gets the joy of solving a case across to the player.

    Dog sniffing aside, this isn't the enjoyment and I truly hope that the new upcoming Sherlock Holmes game will deliver on quality and enjoyment.

    I mean, surely they have to make a good game at some point? Right?....    … Expand
  6. TheAlgerian
    Nov 2, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The trailer was very misleading, the game was far from being as dark as it was suggested, especially since the characters (especially Watson) went out of their way to seem as enthusiast as possible throughout the game.

    Speaking of which, the voice acting wasn't bad but the writing didn't make it sound authentic and tried to much to hold your hand. One example among a few hundreds is when you get into the journalist's office in the lobby, you take a look at a coffee pot and Watson blatantly yells "it's still hot!" so you know someone was here not long ago.
    A more subtle approach of this would have been welcome, such as a discrete whispering "ouch, it's hot" like he wasn't really trying to make a point at all.
    Plus, the game went also out of its way to make it look like it wasn't so much that Sherlock Holmes was intelligent, but rather everyone else including Watson was dumb as a bag of rocks, completely incapable of figuring out the simplest things.

    That said, comes the gameplay, the trailer again and the beginning of the game offered a lot of promises they didn't really deliver in the end, you start by investigating a burglary and then a murder right after, with all deduction boards and other cool Sherlock Holmes stuff.

    But after this, most of the time you end up seaching for tools to break into places or other things like that, and it turns much more into a MacGyver game than a Sherlock Holmes one, you find a ladder, another one, an iron wire and you build a big ladder, two sheets and you get a rope. And if you don't create the exact tool you're supposed to, you're not going anywhere. No matter the far-fetchedness (yes, new word, get used to it) of the said tool, you have to make it, there's never any way around.

    That being said, comes the scripting. It was... well, quite flawed. The worst example i encountered was towards the end, so I call:
    SPOILERS:
    You get into the amusement park (or circus or whatever), you have to confront the prince and lie to him about Moriarty, but first you have to walk around by the trailers, so you do, you can see by the window without needing to click it that the 3 Russian Brothers are in one of them, but if you don't click the windows to watch them like the game wants you too, you're stuck, you can go see the Prince but nothing will happen until you go and click that window which you won't think of doing if you already know they're here and you shouldn't have to do it anyway.

    That said, I'm not saying the game is terrible, it has a lot of potential, but for one thing it's not exploited very well, and for another thing, it's far from what you could expect when you see the trailer.

    If another Sherlock Holmes game is made by Frogware, I just suggest a lot more deduction boards and other detective stuff and a lot less MacGyver do it yourself stuff.
    Also a lot less hand holding in deducting things would improve the game and in a two birds a stone movement would prevent the characters from being forced to sound like they're complete morons who can't figure out by themselves that two bullets in the head is not a suicide.
    Also loosing the over-scripted events.    … Expand
  7. bethegame
    Sep 27, 2012
    10
    This is a good game with good graphics and an up-to-date kind of Sherlock Holmes, not like the ones in the older movies, but not quite as rude as the one in A Game of Shadows or the movie before it. You get to experience a new side of Holmes as well as Watson. You can literally become Sherlock Holmes, the greatest detective ever. You will not feel left out or like you got ripped of. IThis is a good game with good graphics and an up-to-date kind of Sherlock Holmes, not like the ones in the older movies, but not quite as rude as the one in A Game of Shadows or the movie before it. You get to experience a new side of Holmes as well as Watson. You can literally become Sherlock Holmes, the greatest detective ever. You will not feel left out or like you got ripped of. I really think this game is worth the forty dollars that you have to pay to buy it. It is a game set in a time and place you will not forget guaranteed. No doubt. If you like Sherlock Holmes, you will LOVE this game. It is a deep game with many conflicts that puts you on the edge of your seat like a movie does. If you don't like Sherlock Holmes, or you don't know about him,give it a try and watch his movies. I just have to tell you one thing. Don't be overwhelmed at how bada** he is. You have been forewarned...… Expand
  8. Fuzi0n
    Jun 16, 2013
    6
    -The Storyline is full of plotholes and is badly written
    -Quite a few factual errors (e.g. radar in 1898? WTF?)
    -The puzzles are rather mediocre and very basic -The graphics are improved, which is nice, but the graphics engine runs like s**t. Not only does Crysis 3 look better, it runs like a charm unlike the horrible engine in this game -If you play with a 1st person then you are    -The Storyline is full of plotholes and is badly written
    -Quite a few factual errors (e.g. radar in 1898? WTF?)
    -The puzzles are rather mediocre and very basic
    -The graphics are improved, which is nice, but the graphics engine runs like s**t. Not only does Crysis 3 look better, it runs like a charm unlike the horrible engine in this game
    -If you play with a 1st person then you are very likely to miss clues/items, because the LOD (level of depth) is extremely low
    -And a bunch of other negative things.

    The game is only mediocre and defintely a major step down from previous Sherlock Holmes games (I have played them all).    … Expand
  9. HARALD
    Oct 28, 2012
    8
    So i played all the other sherloch holms games made by focus. This is a stroy based puzzel game, so dont expect action. withe the poseblety to skip puzzels you dont get stuck and you can keep playing the story. I Loved how i manged most ot thr puzzels this game, by usind dedution. At times you felt like sherlock holms for real:D There are som real draw back for this game, i wouldd haveSo i played all the other sherloch holms games made by focus. This is a stroy based puzzel game, so dont expect action. withe the poseblety to skip puzzels you dont get stuck and you can keep playing the story. I Loved how i manged most ot thr puzzels this game, by usind dedution. At times you felt like sherlock holms for real:D There are som real draw back for this game, i wouldd have loved more deduction boards, The ending was a bit disapointing, and you feel like you are beeing pushd thrue the game.

    I realy enjoyed this game and recmonend it to every one that can take a good story for what it is.    … Expand
  10. Keromyaou
    Jul 22, 2013
    9
    This is a puzzle-based game. So if you expect some actions in this game, you will be disappointed. All the games from Sherlock Holmes series by Frogware are puzzle-based games. So the fans of this series should know it very well. If you don't like puzzle games, do not try this game. You will get frustrated. Most of the puzzles are interesting enough although some of them are a bitThis is a puzzle-based game. So if you expect some actions in this game, you will be disappointed. All the games from Sherlock Holmes series by Frogware are puzzle-based games. So the fans of this series should know it very well. If you don't like puzzle games, do not try this game. You will get frustrated. Most of the puzzles are interesting enough although some of them are a bit mediocre. However, even the mediocre ones are good enough for brain stimulation. The clues to lead you to the right points for clicking are plenty. So you really don't need to search for clicking points all over. This is a very good thing. For puzzles and other gaming functions, I would give it 8 out 10. However, the strongest aspect of this game is actually the story. The story might have some holes. But overall the story is very original and interesting so that it will keep you going to the end because you want to know what will happen next. I would give the story of this game 10 out of 10. As a whole, therefore, I will give 9 out of 10.… Expand
  11. ABG
    May 16, 2013
    10
    I've read the entire Sherlock Holmes story collection, and played the entire series of Sherlock Holmes games from this publisher, and this game was the pinnacle of the lot. Its plotting was solid, its characters engaging, and the scenery and set pieces were top notch. Some of the characters were recognizeable from previous games, but were put to good use in the game. Others were used asI've read the entire Sherlock Holmes story collection, and played the entire series of Sherlock Holmes games from this publisher, and this game was the pinnacle of the lot. Its plotting was solid, its characters engaging, and the scenery and set pieces were top notch. Some of the characters were recognizeable from previous games, but were put to good use in the game. Others were used as active background scenery, turning their heads to watch you as you pass them in the street.

    I just can't get over the Victorian color of this game. The abandoned amusement park was a sight to behold, and I loved Holmes' comment about the slide ride.

    The Toby sequence was a fun surprise, and the game yanked my chain twice with surprise plot twists.

    The puzzles were not cruel. I did a little more than half of them, and fell back on a walkthru occasionally for an item I had failed to spot.

    Item management was well done, dropping items you no longer needed. You don't have to go far or carry a boatload of red herring items to find what you need to the next puzzle.

    Video hardware requirements were not too bad, and an autosave feature is handy, kicking in when you enter new areas.

    I played the game thru Steam, and the game never asked for the key code that Steam displayed.

    I play adventure games as a haven from high-twitch shooters. This game was particularly kind-hearted toward its players, giving them a chance to enjoy all branches of a funny conversation tree or to poke their head out and be spotted by a guard without penalty.

    I'm glad I got the game.    … Expand
  12. timthegreenbeas
    May 9, 2013
    5
    Okay so I've just finished The Testament of Sherlock Holmes the video game. Here is my review. I give it a 4.5 out of 10 due to the fact of simple graphics and poor game play as well as a general lack of open game play. This is the first game I ever bought used that I'm glad the company who made this will never see a dime.

    Okay lets tackle the first thing that annoyed me in this game.    Okay so I've just finished The Testament of Sherlock Holmes the video game. Here is my review. I give it a 4.5 out of 10 due to the fact of simple graphics and poor game play as well as a general lack of open game play. This is the first game I ever bought used that I'm glad the company who made this will never see a dime.

    Okay lets tackle the first thing that annoyed me in this game. The lack of instructions. Every time you had to do a minigame it just said solve the mini game. Which got very annoying and since they aren't repetitive, I keep saying what do I have to do here? Even as I looked this up on youtube to try to solve them, the narrations of the people where highly confused taking them on average 6 or 7 minutes to figure it out what you needed to do and then another 6 to 10 just solving it even after they themselves looked it up on the internet.
    Another thing besides the minigames that confused me were the items and how they were used. Near the ending it got better because they became more obvious, like a ladder just standing 3 feet away from a window with an action icon next to it. But in the game you had to go to an attic tear open a magician's cloak, which was in a locked trunk, get the keys that will open anything sewn into the cloak on the inside after turning the cloak upsidedown manually which the stitch you had to pull could barely be seen due to poor lighting and bad graphics, just to open a tool shed which you could have used a crowbar on, (which was in your inventory) in real life.

    Next were the graphics. It irked me that this game looked like it should have been in the N64 era of gaming. No real detail in anything including the faces or even in the cut scenes. This game was clearly never about good graphics.

    Last but not least the non open play that the game states on the cover. This game promises to be an open game where you can interrogate who ever you want and do what ever you want. That is a bold faced lie. You have to do everything down to the exact detail of what they wanted of you and if you do not do it, you can not progress in the story. You can't even guess at combinations. You have to find the paper with the combination on it, decode it, find some key to unlock it as well and then come back and put it in. It is like that for almost every lock in the game. It's a nice feature but it gets so repetitive and annoying after the first 2 times you do it.    … Expand
  13. paprik
    Oct 14, 2012
    3
    Has some decent concepts but fails at executing most of them. The opening and ending "missions" are quite good, though sadly that's it. In all other missions you are a SHEEP. You're not told or hinted why you should do the things you do or even what they are exactly. You're basically kept in the dark THE ENTIRE GAME for the purpose of an incredibly foreseeable plot twist. Half the thingsHas some decent concepts but fails at executing most of them. The opening and ending "missions" are quite good, though sadly that's it. In all other missions you are a SHEEP. You're not told or hinted why you should do the things you do or even what they are exactly. You're basically kept in the dark THE ENTIRE GAME for the purpose of an incredibly foreseeable plot twist. Half the things you're supposed to do don't even make sense.… Expand
  14. oldloverboy
    Sep 30, 2012
    10
    This is a amazing game. If you want a challenge try the puzzles in this game. The Testament of Sherlock Holmes have a very nice graphics and a good history, the scenarios are marvelous. If you are a Sherlock Holmes games' fan... check this game, you will enjoy every minute.
  15. miked007
    May 29, 2013
    2
    This is one of the worst games i have ever played, i decided to write this review as i am waiting for a video on youtube to load to explain WHAT in the living F is going on again, this is about all you do with this game, load it up, scream, WTF WTF WTF, for 10-15 mins, and close it so you can look up online just WTF you need to do, this is about my 50th trip to youtube or a walkthroughThis is one of the worst games i have ever played, i decided to write this review as i am waiting for a video on youtube to load to explain WHAT in the living F is going on again, this is about all you do with this game, load it up, scream, WTF WTF WTF, for 10-15 mins, and close it so you can look up online just WTF you need to do, this is about my 50th trip to youtube or a walkthrough since starting this game. The puzzles are just ridiculous half the time, and dont offer so much as a clue as to WTF you are supposed to do, after about 5 mins it will usually allow you to simply skip the puzzle but at no point explain it, or even give a hint.. I would have rated this game much higher if not for this this but the frustratuion level of the puzzles and lack of any clue as to what to do just ruins this game… Expand
  16. fudgepuddlez
    Jul 9, 2013
    1
    one of the worst games i have ever played. The look for clues feature is more annoying then fun. I just wish you would actually ha ve a gun fight in the game rather than watch them hold the gun. Half the puzzles dont even make sense and you get bored of playing it. at the end DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.
  17. Sideline
    Mar 4, 2013
    8
    As an adventure game fan, I enjoyed this game a lot. The puzzles are very clever and challenging, the deduction board and the chemistry lab are fun to use. The graphics are good although the lighting could have been a bit more polished, but it did not diminish my appreciation of the game. My only complaint is that the game, being about investigation and clues, could have been deeperAs an adventure game fan, I enjoyed this game a lot. The puzzles are very clever and challenging, the deduction board and the chemistry lab are fun to use. The graphics are good although the lighting could have been a bit more polished, but it did not diminish my appreciation of the game. My only complaint is that the game, being about investigation and clues, could have been deeper (and longer) than this with more developed characters. It would be great to have the same quality of facial animations they used in L.A. Noire for this type of game. I'm eagerly waiting for the next Sherlock Holmes title to come out.… Expand
  18. KentuckyWindage
    May 29, 2013
    9
    Certainly one of the better adventure games I have played in recent years with the only criticism being it is perhaps a little too easy even on hard difficulty (check the options). The length of the game is longer than usual for these games as well meaning you get good value. Miked007 shouldn't blame a game if he is a complete thicko. This game is easy compared to some adventure games.
  19. giappone
    Dec 2, 2012
    9
    So after finishing the game I thought I make a decent, unbiased review of this great game, because nobody cared to manage it up to this date... For me this game was one of the best games of this year. The game of the year for me was still Skyrim (its of last year, but I played for many dozens of hours in 2012), the second was Dishonored, for me the best of the year. And the 3rd runner upSo after finishing the game I thought I make a decent, unbiased review of this great game, because nobody cared to manage it up to this date... For me this game was one of the best games of this year. The game of the year for me was still Skyrim (its of last year, but I played for many dozens of hours in 2012), the second was Dishonored, for me the best of the year. And the 3rd runner up is the Testament. I always loved to play adventure games, I've played all the great ones and many not so great, but I rarely had so much fun with a game as with this one. I've enjoyed from the 1st minute to the last. It's sad that no adventure game can score above 80 nowadays. And it's not always the game's fault. The developing costs are much smaller than a blockbuster games... I think Frogwares managed to break this with the Testament. This is an A-game. There were only a few things I didn't like, let's go through them, maybe some of the developers show up here and read it :)
    1. It was short. OK, not THAT short, but I could have played it for many-many hours more, and I was sad that it ended, because I grew to like the Holmes-Watson team. And that is a good sign, the characters were living.
    2. Setting - kids telling the story - not again, please! A bit of creativity needed. I understand why: the story needed it, but this narrative frame ended soo cheesy, like a Hollywood blockbuster, Saving private Ryan or Independence day... This game had so much in it, beyond Holly-clichés.
    3. Sherlock isn't voiced by Jeremy Brett... Just dreaming.
    4. No tutorial. I realized almost at the end, how the 6th sense stuff worked exactly. I rarely used it, only to check if I've missed something, but still. We don't need an exhaustive one (how to move, click, etc), because you know that from other games. Teach us the stuff that's different here.
    5. Glitches in the design. Without giving away anything: I needed to cut glass, I clicked many times on everywhere on window, for no avail, than run around to find anything, any clue to help me. Than after a while came back and clicked on the spot where I needed to, exactly to cut it. I understand, OK, but I've been given the diamond and the glass, I didn't have to think, no riddle, no enigma, my life was only made harder for nothing. This is one thing I always hated in adventure games - they make our lives harder to make the game longer. But do it with riddles please, not with task like this. And there were some like this in the game, if not many. The other was a padlock somewhere, where you had to place the opening tool and click exactly in the middle, if not, you might thing there's another solution - running around again...
    6. Translation I've seen some videos of the game on youtube and the english version is far more superior than the french (I used). In the Arsene Lupin game the french version's riddles were simple as brick, while the english versions had irony, malice and intelligence in them. It felt a different game, with a different vile ( a more intelligent, more aggressive one). The breach isn't so wide in the Testament but it's still there. So this game needs no tricks, no brushed up or false reviews. It's one of the best of its genre. I'm hoping that Frogware in the meantime is making another 2-3 games of the same vein and level (or better), and they be releasing them in a few months. In a flush I bought the whole series on Steam, even though I've had 2 of them already, as a hommage if you like. Those games are mostly very far from the Testament, the latter 2 are quite good, the Ripper was the best, but the oldest ones are almost unplayable... Frogwares come a long way. Hopefully many gamer buy the Testament and prove that classic adventure games can be A-games, too. Far-far worse projects than this get millions of dollars on Kickstarter ...

    In the older games I sometimes felt left alone, not knowing what to do, and sometimes looking up the walkthrough. Not because I couldn't solve a riddle but because of missing a line in a book or in conversation... Hopefully not in the Testament. And can't thank enough that Frogwares forgot the riddles where I had to type in the solution (that always had to be typed otherwise... (french translation)).

    I hope there will be more FPA (First Person Adventure) games like this, or not like this, in other settings, but at least on the same level as the Testament. Because the glitches I gave a 9, but that leaves room to develop for the next Sherlock game. On that I would happily give a 10. The 75 of the critics reviews is a joke, and there are only a few user reviews (real user reviews even less).    … Expand
  20. martingale
    Jun 5, 2013
    9
    This is perhaps the best Sherlock Holmes game so far. Frogwares has indeed taken into consideration all the negative criticisms that their previous installments of the series received from players. In particular, the player now has the opportunity to choose between three perspectives (first person, third person, and classical point'n'click). This is a very user-friendly feature which IThis is perhaps the best Sherlock Holmes game so far. Frogwares has indeed taken into consideration all the negative criticisms that their previous installments of the series received from players. In particular, the player now has the opportunity to choose between three perspectives (first person, third person, and classical point'n'click). This is a very user-friendly feature which I haven't seen elsewhere, regarding that the first person view may cause sea sickness in a lot of players.

    The graphics is extremely good, as is the voice acting. But the strongest point of the game is what we are after in adventure games: puzzles. They usually present a true challenge for the player while not being overly hard and frustrating. Frogwares even was so kind as to include a "skip" button which appears after a series of futile attempts by the player, which is ideal for those not wishing to turn to walkthroughs when faced with a challenge beyond their capabilities.

    Another strong feature of the game (at least for me) is that the dialogs are spiced with humor while conforming in eloquence and wording to what is expected from the two educated Victorian protagonists.

    The only reason I gave only 9 out of 10 is that the ending seems (to me) slightly out of tune with the personality of Holmes. But, of course, that might not bother others.

    All in all, this is a good (and sufficiently long) game which is definitely worth your money and time.    … Expand
  21. Corwin86
    Nov 3, 2013
    9
    "The Testament of Sherlock Holmes" is an adventure game with a pleasant plot, overall well designed and built, with unexpected elements that appear on several occasions and a Gothic atmosphere pleasantly surprising.

    Personally, I also found the puzzles entertaining and understandable.

    Much has already being said, and I finish saying: this game deserve a big rating.
  22. yogurtspy
    Nov 9, 2013
    7
    Good game. Reasonable length. Some of the puzzles are more luck than judgement however which makes you sometimes reach for an online guide. Didn't find the voice acting as bad as some have found it. It's the diabolically bad lip sync which spoilt it for me. A bit of spit and polish if there is another one in the pipeline and it would get a full 10. As it is I got it cheap, and i'm glad IGood game. Reasonable length. Some of the puzzles are more luck than judgement however which makes you sometimes reach for an online guide. Didn't find the voice acting as bad as some have found it. It's the diabolically bad lip sync which spoilt it for me. A bit of spit and polish if there is another one in the pipeline and it would get a full 10. As it is I got it cheap, and i'm glad I played it.… Expand
  23. gietek
    Feb 19, 2014
    9
    Good story, challenging gameplay (if you consider games of today), a few interesting features and beautiful Victorian England.
    I won't spoil the story, but it's classic - Holmes solves a mystery with Watson's little help. The puzzles can be fun at times, but the real deal here is the deduction board. It's something that I would like to see in every game involving a mystery. It really    Good story, challenging gameplay (if you consider games of today), a few interesting features and beautiful Victorian England.
    I won't spoil the story, but it's classic - Holmes solves a mystery with Watson's little help. The puzzles can be fun at times, but the real deal here is the deduction board. It's something that I would like to see in every game involving a mystery. It really forces you to fully understand the events, consequences, and motives. Shame that it only happens three times in the game.
    The same goes with switching from Holmes to Watson. It could've been done more often that twice during the gameplay. I played it after The Raven and liked it a lot more. It's finished and bug-less for a start. Definitely worth playing.    … Expand
  24. shazzadoom
    Mar 4, 2016
    0
    I don't know where to begin with this game. How could it have gotten a rating higher than half?

    Having read all the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I find Sherlock's openness about his findings quite disconcerting given his preference to save his conclusions until the end. The level of arrogance shown by Holmes towards other inspectors and Watson is a tad out of touch with his subtle    I don't know where to begin with this game. How could it have gotten a rating higher than half?

    Having read all the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I find Sherlock's openness about his findings quite disconcerting given his preference to save his conclusions until the end. The level of arrogance shown by Holmes towards other inspectors and Watson is a tad out of touch with his subtle jibes being replaced by overly obvious slaps in the face.

    In addition to personality inconsistencies, the graphics make me nauseous. After the first scene, I wondered if perhaps it was an oversight or an afterthought, but the same animations continued through the game. The controls for moving the characters are quite fiddly and the methods of detection are hit and miss with no real finesse required. The puzzles leave a lot to be desired.

    This is the first Sherlock Holmes game I have played but it has left me sorely disappointed. While I paid peanuts for this game, knowing that other people have been charged upwards of $10 for the "privilege" to play this poorly designed game gives me a more queasy feeling than looking at a severed finger on a table for longer than I should have to.    … Expand
  25. ChoicestGames
    Feb 15, 2019
    3
    I can't help but think that if I played this game a few years ago, my impression of the game would be slightly different. The game would still have the poor animations, occasionally poor voice acting and some unbelievable character traits, but it may have been working enough for me to finish the game, and the gameplay I did manage to experience, isn't half-bad. Pity that continual crashesI can't help but think that if I played this game a few years ago, my impression of the game would be slightly different. The game would still have the poor animations, occasionally poor voice acting and some unbelievable character traits, but it may have been working enough for me to finish the game, and the gameplay I did manage to experience, isn't half-bad. Pity that continual crashes to desktop means I will never be able to experience the entire game and it looks like I'm not the only one.… Expand
  26. Krzych
    Dec 30, 2016
    8
    Surprisingly interesting game. Story is advanced and quite complicated, voice acting is great, character design too. It can be annoying at times, with puzzles at every step, I mean some doors could just freakin open like in the normal world, but overall I feel positive about this game. It was a good experience, sometimes annoying, but still. I finished it so it already says something, verySurprisingly interesting game. Story is advanced and quite complicated, voice acting is great, character design too. It can be annoying at times, with puzzles at every step, I mean some doors could just freakin open like in the normal world, but overall I feel positive about this game. It was a good experience, sometimes annoying, but still. I finished it so it already says something, very most of games are not getting to this point. Graphically it isn't top of the line of course, but good enough to create the atmosphere and avoid distractions that can be caused by really low graphics quality in games sometimes, but it was solid in that regard, no issues here. You can play it in first person, third person or point and click, which is also quite rare functionality. Overall, puzzles make you think, story is interesting, gameplay is not bad either, graphics are good enough even for someone used to maxed out modern games. Few days well spent with this game.… Expand
  27. Mpbpl
    Mar 31, 2020
    7
    An elementary game.
    The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a fine modern game of the point & click mystery genre, but it feels that was rushed in its release. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME IN FULLSCREEN! The games tends to crash when autosaving or saving in fullscreen which is a pretty bad flaw, I still got another crash when playing in Windowed, and in these games crashes are unforgivable, since    An elementary game.
    The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is a fine modern game of the point & click mystery genre, but it feels that was rushed in its release. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME IN FULLSCREEN! The games tends to crash when autosaving or saving in fullscreen which is a pretty bad flaw, I still got another crash when playing in Windowed, and in these games crashes are unforgivable, since you will have to do entire sections again which in these games means talking to same people, making the same exact puzzles, it is more annoying than in other types of games. With that aside, there is a lot to recommend, Holmes has an excellent voice although Watson could be better, but the rest of the cast does a fine to excellent job. The problem of the game(to me) is that this is just one big 10-12 hour mystery game that it's story is based on one of the most famous cases of Sherlock Holmes history, so even though I felt that the story was too long, it actually had to be a very grand adventure.
    The puzzles go from fairly easy to very very difficult, you will sometimes get extremely annoyed by one puzzle or another and there is a big focus on them, sometimes you move from puzzle to puzzle and little investigation which is not that great in a Sherlock Holmes game.
    I found the ending satisfying me, when all the main characters actually show a great deal of character that me feel that this adventure tested all the character to their extreme and yet back to the simple man again, it felt great in the end if only the game had been polished before release...    … Expand
  28. Pharmboy
    Aug 12, 2023
    9
    Finally played the switch 2023 port. Runs well. The story is actually very tense and engaging. The cases all connect for story unlike crimes and punishments chapters. I like it better than the awakening remake. VERY difficult puzzles. Had to consult a guide on two occasions.
  29. Almoststan
    Feb 6, 2020
    5
    Its... fine, I guess. There are moments when the story is good and some puzzles walk the fine line between tough and fair, and some puzzles that seem hard to do at first make you feel smart once you use your own logic to crack them.

    But my god are some things infuriating. Puzzles can feel extremely convoluted, things to pick up can seem extremely hard to see, pick up icons can sometimes    Its... fine, I guess. There are moments when the story is good and some puzzles walk the fine line between tough and fair, and some puzzles that seem hard to do at first make you feel smart once you use your own logic to crack them.

    But my god are some things infuriating. Puzzles can feel extremely convoluted, things to pick up can seem extremely hard to see, pick up icons can sometimes not even appear unless you are stood in very, VERY specific spots. Some puzzles can be sussed out by yourself way before you pick up all the clues; which is a necessity for every puzzle.

    As for story, its ok at times with some decent voice work, but can be bad at other times. Watson especially spends the majority of the game sounding like an absolute dumbass; not the typical level of intelligence you'd expect from Holmes' sidekick.

    I also must mention game performance, which is abysmal. I got it on GoG, but it seems from research that other platforms get the same problems with performance ,in particular the game will very commonly just hard crash you out if you attempt to save. It sometimes happens after an autosave too. Supposedly its something to do with too many saves (it actually keeps every single autosave in the game as separate game files), and it works fine if you play windowed instead of fullscreen. And therein lies another issue. No borderless window, so an egregious panel persists on the top of the screen, and, for some reason the performance completely tanked in windowed. I got frame drops and stutters and poor textures, even though in fullscreen i could run it on highest with no issue. I recommend playing windowed mode though, as autosaves are few and far between, and random crashes will make you lose progress ( I had to do the last bit of them game about 10 damn times).    … Expand
  30. bergcamp101
    Aug 10, 2020
    8
    This game is a good step forward in developing a detective experience. May not be as exited, as you expect, but still very good.
  31. Woolee
    Nov 20, 2021
    7
    Testament is a fine adventure game. It has an "investigation" flare to it to help it fit with the Sherlock Holmes name. The story is better than I expected but it still isn't all that good. There are many holes in it and it doesn't offer a very climatic ending, the most exciting part of t

Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    60
    The authentic Sherlock Holmes, never uttered the phrase ‘Elementary, dear Watson’. Instead he said ‘when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth’. Thusly, when after six games, Frogware refuses stubbornly to acknowledge the fact that Sherlock Holmes’s character and nature fits perfectly in a traditional adventure game, the truth is that, as a studio, it cannot, or does not know how to, create correct puzzles. [January 2013]
  2. Gaming Age
    Dec 7, 2012
    50
    All I can say is if you're a maniac for Sherlock Holmes stories or adventure games, then there's going to be something here for you. I'm not sure what I'd call it, but it's definitely something.
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  3. Destructoid
    Nov 22, 2012
    75
    Despite complaints, it's a compelling story with some standout moments and surprising twists. Even more surprising is that the narrative does make sense in the end; a Sherlock Holmes story needs to be tight and logical, which this game manages to pull off overall.
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