Although classic adventure games are a much smaller genre than they were in their heyday, there are still series that are still with us and enjoying great new work. Last year it was the new Syberia and this year at least I hope it will be Sherlock Holmes The Awakened. The developers from Frogwares, of course, had a hard time, after Chapter One they wanted to start another, even more ambitious project, but the war intervened. Some of the studio’s employees stayed in Ukraine and help where necessary, while others are scattered around Europe. Despite these difficult conditions, they decided to continue developing games, although they could not continue this big project. They settled on something smaller, but still very ambitious, a remake of The Awakened Sherlock Holmes.
Although the title is presented as a remake, it is more of a reinvention. From the moment of the announcement, it was clear that, in addition to the basic skeleton, an unconventional combination of the famous detective and the myths about Cthulhu, in principle, there was no stone left unturned. The developers then turned to fans on Kickstarter for financial support, which was really generous. The goal came true quickly, like all stretch goals. Thus, development can continue and now, at the beginning of 2023, it is slowly approaching the finish line. So, Frogwares brought the promised demo to the backers, and I, as one of them, tried it out to share my first impressions.
If you’ve played the first chapter, you basically know what you’re getting into. The gameplay is almost identical, however, we no longer move in the open world, but in closed locations, which, it seems to me, is more typical for this genre. You go through rooms, collect evidence, interrogate locals, reenact events, and of course, there’s also the palace of thought. With the exception of one confrontation where I had to present three pieces of evidence in a row, which didn’t quite work out the way it should have, I enjoyed the gameplay.
In addition, the investigation of the evidence is accompanied by a story about Sherlock, once again voiced by Alex Jordan. As in the first chapter, he did a good job. And yes, as promised by the developers, we can also play as Dr. Watson, although his role in the demo was quite limited, and we don’t know yet how much game time he will get. But it’s definitely a welcome change.
You probably won’t be surprised by the graphics either, the game runs on Unreal Engine 4 and you can see that the authors used a lot of resources from the first chapter. After all, it is not surprising, because development began only in April last year and the game is about to be released. Regardless, the graphics are pleasing, though the environments feel a bit harsh at times. My main concern was the technical condition, I played the first chapter on PS5 where the frame rate was very poor, but the PC demo of The Awakened worked fine. There were stutters at first, but I quickly realized that this was probably a bad implementation of V-Sync, as they stopped after turning it off.
The demonstration takes place in the third chapter, in a Swiss sanatorium, which I think is a well-chosen location. It perfectly shows the change in the atmosphere of the whole game. While the first chapter was an emotional story about the sunny island of Kordona, this time we are in for something much darker. From the very beginning of the demo, it becomes clear that we will meet crazy characters and that Sherlock himself will gradually go crazy, that’s what I’m really interested in. The developers at Frogwares have proven time and time again that they are experts at crafting great stories, and so far all indications are that they won’t disappoint The Awakened. Well-written dialogues and atmosphere are aided by well-cut cutscenes. In addition, everything is complemented again by the very successful Czech subtitles of the translator Petr Tiháček, so that everyone can truly enjoy the game.
After playing the demo, I’m definitely in a positive mood, and I’m even more looking forward to the full version. Apparently, it should arrive in February, but we do not yet know the exact release date. Either way, the game is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
Source :Indian TV
