SHERLOCK HOLMES: CHAPTER ONE
Portrait of the detective as a young man
Developer/ publisher Frogwares Format PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series Origin Ukraine Release 2021
The island of Cordona bulges with curious cases, but the one that leaps to mind is that of Benjamin Button. With each outing, Frogwares’ Sherlock grows younger and sexier. A fusty Jeremy Brett-alike became the smouldering Jon Hamm clone of The Devil’s Daughter, who now swaps his Inverness cape for a leather waistcoat and cheekbones that could launch a thousand Instagram stan accounts. He’s now so youthful the game even predates his relationship with Watson and partners him instead with ‘Jon’, who resembles a Peaky Blinders extra and offers boisterous banter amid the brutality.
The pair visit the Mediterranean to lay Holmes’ mother to rest, but simply checking into the hotel sees a body found. Handsomely dressed sets are probed for clues and crimes visualised and ordered in sequence by positioning ghostly mannequins. The first hint that a less proven talent is at work comes during deductive portraiture, where minor bruises and signet rings now suggest several potential character profiles; choosing poorly irks suspects and earns scathing evaluation from Jon. Quite how this friendship can alter the path of the wider tale is yet to be seen, but it’s suggested that it’ll serve as a barometer of your sleuthing prowess.