Sherlock Holmes: The Secret of the Silver Earring
| Sherlock Holmes: The Secret of the Silver Earring | |||
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| Original title | The Case of the Silver Earring | ||
| Studio |
Frogwares Digital Jesters |
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| Publisher | dtp entertainment | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
November 19, 2004 | ||
| platform | Windows , Wii | ||
| genre | Point-and-click adventure | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Mouse , keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
Windows 98/2000 / ME / XP, Pentium III / Athlon 1 GHz, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 9 compatible graphics card with 64 MB RAM, DirectX 9 - compatible sound card, 1.5 GB hard disk capacity | ||
| medium | 2 CD-ROM / 1 DVD | ||
| Age rating |
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Sherlock Holmes: The Secret of the Silver Earring is a point-and-click adventure released in 2004 . The game was developed by Frogwares , in collaboration with Digital Jesters , for Microsoft Windows and published by dtp entertainment . It is the second game developed by Frogwares Sherlock Holmes franchise to Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson . A port of the game was released for the Wii in 2011 .
The Secret of the Silver Earring is the second part of the Sherlock Holmes series and the follow-up to The Secret of the Mummy . In 2006 a follow-up was released with The Trace of the Awakened .
action
The Victorian London in the year 1897 . A letter from a local aristocrat friend gives Holmes and Watson an invitation to a festival from Sir Melvyn Bromsby , an eccentric industrialist who runs one of the largest construction and architecture companies in the entire Empire . Bromsby gives the reception in honor of his daughter Lavinia , who has just returned from boarding school in Switzerland after many years and who is also celebrating her 18th birthday. Bromsby also wants to read out an important statement. But shortly after the patron began his speech, he was shot and died. As the perpetrator, the focus is initially on Lavinia Bromsby of all people, because firstly she was not present and secondly the shot came from the direction where she was standing.
The suspicion is ultimately not confirmed and when the bodies of other Bromsby business partners appear, another one is suspected: Hermann Grimble , Brombys right-hand man, who obviously wants to take the company under his belt. While the police chase after Lestrade Grimble in the form of the pedantic Inspector , Holmes and Watson remain in doubt. You continue to research and come across information about lost funds and a bridge building project in India with many secrets.
In the end, both expose the murder as the tip of the iceberg in a sophisticated plot that affects, among other things, the death of a waiter and the mysterious disappearance of an English actress - and her precious silver earring ...
Presentation and control
- The game is a pure graphic adventure in point & click style. You act from the so-called “ 3rd person ” perspective, that is, you control the main characters from the perspective of a third party.
- A novelty is the notebook that is in the inventory. All conversations held during the course of the game, information on objects, people and items as well as certain important documents, photos and records are listed here. In addition, there is a map with which you can reach certain places in London and the surrounding area.
- The game is divided into several chapters. A chapter always ends with a summary of all findings. A special part of the notebook is activated, in which questions about the past events and occurrences of the respective game section are asked. The questions are answered with the collected documents, conversations and information from the notebook. Only when everything has been answered correctly can the game continue. With these questions, important clues are highlighted, but the interpretation is dispensed with, so that the player has to think about it until the very end. Only at the end of the game is he asked to assign the right murderer to each death. It is no longer possible to use the notebook to help. However, it is not absolutely necessary to solve this final puzzle. Even without the correct answer, one can skip to the final video in which Holmes explains everything.
- In contrast to the previous game The Secret of the Mummy , The Secret of the Silver Earring is mainly about criminal work in the classic Sherlock Holmes manner. The very complicated evaluation of the clues was simplified again in the subsequent games.
- You cannot die in the game itself, but there are several situations in which the player has to show skill and speed. If you fail in these situations, the game is over and you can continue at the beginning or the last save state.
reception
Sherlock Holmes - The Secret of the Silver Earring has largely met with positive reviews. 4Players.de wrote that it was a "lovingly made crime thriller adventure for clever hobby detectives". It also has "its length, [...] but the motivation to continue is actually always there. Above all, however, the implementation of the" Victorian [n] surroundings ", combined with the" beautiful music "and the "professionally recorded voice output" are positive.
The games world also noticed "[the] exciting story and the cozy atmosphere", which motivated them to continue playing.
DemoNews criticized the game substance as "not too big", which was due, among other things, to the "constant search for small objects". The "bad animations and a few badly implemented action scenes" would also be annoying. But the game compensates for this "thanks to great dialogues, a fabulous story, very nice graphics and well-staffed, German voice output".
useful information
- In addition to a number of well-known voice actors such as Sascha Draeger and Marion von Stengel , Henning Venske can also be heard in the game. The well-known cabaret artist loaned Dr. John Watson his voice.
- Sherlock Holmes: The secret of the silver earring was first examined by the USK on November 2, 2004 and released for children from 6 years of age. With a new edition of the game as a "Special Edition", a new test was carried out in which the game was approved without age restriction.
