Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Takes Players On A Creepy And Bittersweet Adventure

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is a remake with new assets, puzzles, and areas. It follows Sherlock and Watson from London to Switzerland, then to New Orleans. What starts with finding the location of a “servant” leads to clues of a grand conspiracy. This is a stripped back, linear adventure that’s suitably creepy for players who prefer dark atmospheres and unsettling characters. There won’t be many jumpscares laying in wait despite the Lovecraftian influence. 

Gameplay consists of searching for clues that will be gathered into evidence. This is also how players will put events in order, which involves going to a location where ghostly figures appear. Sherlock will need to number these events based on surrounding evidence and what’s been gathered so far. A Lot of the game’s evidence is given through cutscenes. So it’s not overly complicated to progress. There aren’t any side quests either. The Awakened doesn’t stretch out its runtime and stays focused because of it. 

Though there’s an understandable amount of jank seeing as Frogware is a Ukrainian studio; developing under dangerous circumstances and with a tight deadline. This doesn’t take away from the game’s enjoyability. When things get dark, the game manages to skirt the line of horror and Sherlock’s fading grip on sanity without being over the top. The Awakened is also a direct sequel to Sherlock: Chapter One but feels like a complete game on its own. If the eight chapters aren’t enough, the Whispered Dream Sidequest Pack includes six extra side quests.

Players will get to travel through locations that feel expressive despite their dreariness. As the game goes on Sherlock will go from staunchly rational to witnessing surreal moments. With The Awakened’s focus on human corruption and the cult’s mind-altering drugs, this allows the game to have plausible deniability towards its wilder moments. Nothing needs to be explained and keeps that fear of the unknown intact. Players can choose to believe what they’re seeing is real, but the game won’t confirm or deny it. Even when the mystery wraps up it still feels like there’ll be something left to discover another day. Fans of darker mysteries and light puzzles may want to try this one.