Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter

Those familiar with the previous Sherlock Holmes game, Crimes and Punishment, will grasp and understand the nature of Devil’s Daughter quickly. For those who’ve just entered the series, don’t worry as the game eases you in gently while being complexing and thought-provokingly interesting. This third person adventure puts you in the shoes of the great detective himself as he tackles a number of mind bending cases of greed, murder and depravity. As Sherlock Holmes, you are tasked to investigate and solve these crimes to your best efforts, but to also carry out compelling moral choices that redeem or condemn the criminals. Devil’s Daughter feels like a darker, more personal aspect of Holmes’ career and certainly, most of these crimes will test Holmes as he witnesses the darkest attributes of humanity.

Each of the cases brings forth a strong narrative and compelling element of mystery that kept me hooked until I finished every chapter. I could see traditional plot devices infused with dynamic elements of gameplay to make one of the most engaging Sherlock Holmes games I’ve played.

In order to complete these cases, players will have to finish various exercises, such as gathering vital clues, examining key elements of a crime scene, interrogation and deduction. Exploration plays an important part in gathering clues and those who are keen to observe will be rewarded with a better understanding of the case. I did find examining certain items felt like a tedious process as they required more depth and analysis than I felt needed, such as looking at a poster with the name of a location you need to go to. Not realising that I had to look at the back to see it was pulled off a wall previously, and so I would then go to the location. It was odd for this instance, and a couple of others, that I had to check it over fully even though I could gather the most important information straight away.

But you have other moments, such as observation, where you build a character profile of a suspect by examining their appearance and doing so correctly, could unlock vital dialogue segments leading to important information. This bring forth a more compelling risk factor and with the success of finding information depending on your observation, it’s important to get them right. I would have liked to have seen more branching paths or varied outcomes for the cases, similar to that of L.A. Noire, where a whole case could take a different path depending on your actions.

After a decent amount of investigation comes the most interesting mechanic of the game, deduction. In this space within Sherlock Holmes’ mind is where players will combine clues to form a deduction, revealing an element of the crime, such as a means, motive and opportunity. This is the most engaging factor as it does give you the choice on whom you place as being guilty and why. It’s not too overly complex or long winded but rather, again, makes you focused to carry out a careful examination while also not being obscure or difficult in the process.

Aside from the complexity of investigations, players can enjoy some good old action, which for the most part is hilariously camp. I mean this in the best possible way as the game is fantastically varied for its action and the offering of mini-games, set pieces and puzzles, which is vastly diverse. There are moments where players will have to shine shoes, become Toby the blood hound, play bowls, crack open safes, defuse bombs and much more.

It’s brilliant how amusing each game can be as how each time they introduce new mechanics, they’re simple enough to understand and partake without much thought or prior knowledge. But bigger set pieces also offer a combination of quick reflexes, lateral thinking and raw determination, mixing QTEs with real time action; set pieces, such as out running a crazed gunman in the woods, to escaping various death trap infested rooms in an Aztec Temple. I will admit that some action scenes did drag on for too long, including a bar fight that just felt poorly paced, feeling slow, sluggish and repetitive with a lack of checkpoints. But for the most part, these segments were enjoyable, engaging and broke up the more serious nature of the gameplay rather well.

I will say that the game does, for the majority, look beautiful, while upholding a great amount of detail in London’s design and everything is replicated so well in the game world from that era. While, in technical terms, it does suffer heavily from a shoddy frame rate, long loading times and some awkward controls. I found myself playing and Sherlock Holmes would just stand in front of a door for a solid minute while the game caught up and loaded. But the only times these issues really held the game back was fast travelling to a different location in London and during certain cutscenes which slowed down a great deal.

I was also disappointed that London itself isn’t explored in more depth, where Sherlock Holmes would explore more iconic places within London or to be taken to places he’s never been before, such as underneath the streets of London. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is an engaging and enjoyable crime thriller that fans of the previous game will enjoy, even if the pace is much faster than the last game. But for anyone who’s keen on games such as L.A. Noire will find great pleasure playing this. Aside from the technical issues and some limited exploration of London, this holds up as a worthy game for any lover of a good murder mystery.

+ Great story and engaging investigation elements
+ Some fun action sequences
+ Visually gorgeous

- Some very naff, long winded action sequences
- Technical issues including frame rate
- Investigations could've included more branching paths

An Xbox One copy of Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter was provided by Bigben Interactive for the purpose of this review