Secret of the Silver Earring

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $9.75

Features:

• Play as either Holmes or Watson
• Explore 40 different locations across 19th-century London
• Follow the clues as they take Holmes & Watson to Brazil and India
• Interview over 40 witnesses and piece together what really happened
• 5 levels and a wealth of in-game movies unlock the mystery!

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Pretty to look at ... deadly dull to play  [Posted on 2006-02-13]

This game's documentation boasts that it has more than 3 hours of dialog. Actually, it seemed like 30. There were times when that's all you do: listen to people talk talk talk, and that's before you come to the VERY lengthy end "movie" (more about that later).

During the game, in which you are usually Sherlock Holmes and occasionally Dr. Watson, you search several locations for clues about a murder (and ultimately, several murders). This entails "painting the wallpaper" with your cursor, searching for hotspots that lead to things as minute as hairs and a feather. At times you (literally) need a magnifying glass to find them. It also includes reams of documents and transcripts of conversations, all of which are recorded in your notebook for future reference.

There are only three or four real "puzzles" in the game -- ranging from ludicrously simple (the box at the end of the game) to impossibly difficult (the safe 'combination,' which even most walkthrough authors say is nearly impossible to figure out).

To make things easier (or duller, depending on your point of view) the game is extremely linear. You can't leave a location unless you have found all the clues for that segment. Once you find the last clue, you are normally zapped to another scene.

Even the "crime laboratory" scenes at 221b Baker street do nothing to add interest to the game. You click on an item in your inventory and Holmes tells you what to do with it ("Hmmmm ... I wonder what heat will do to this item?")

The second worst feature of the game (I'll get the to worst feature in a minute) are the periodic "quizzes" that take place at the end of each "day" of investigation. You are forced to answer questions and even provide the "evidence" to justify your answer. If you're wrong, you have to just keep at it until you get them all right. Is this a game or a classroom?

To its credit, some the graphics are gorgeous, with incredible color and detail. Spend time really looking at the interior of Holmes' Baker street apartment, or even the cobblestone street. In addition, for the most part, the voice overs are good, with a real feel for the speech patterns of the old Holme's movies.

Yet, the navigation is awful. You're supposed to be able to click when you see the "footprints" icon, but half the time you have to click all over the screen to get Sherlock to move. To complicate matters, the perspective keeps shifting so you hardly know if you're coming or going! And when was the last time you had to work your way through a maze? Wasn't it back in the Zork I days?

The absolute worst feature, though, is the extended cutscene at the end, with Sherlock reviewing the entire case and explaining how everyone was killed, by whom, etc. Granted, I had guessed early on that it was ... oops, can't tell you! ... but the convoluted explanation at the end brought in facts that we never had throughout the game. If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd have rented a DVD rather than buy this game.

All in all, despite the few good features that kept me going until the end, I can't recommend this for anyone who wants more than a bit of eye candy for graphics design.

They ALMOST got it . . . [Posted on 2006-08-03]
While I understand that different gamers search for differing factors in their entertainment, I think we all can agree that interface problems take the joy out of almost ANYTHING. I was close to giving up on this game until I realized something . . . the extremely ornately "Paisleys" decorating the edges of the screen shots were actually the "exit" arrows for the closeup shots.

Likewise, this game has NO "safety" (ie. "Second Chance"). If you die, you die, and you'd better hope you have a recent save, or you'll be retracing a lot of your steps.

And last annoyance? Pick up the picture of the girl on the mirror in the powder room on Day One, or you will be unable to finish the game. This is a definite FLAW.

Other than these annoyances, the game had some fun moments, some humor, and decent graphics. If you have a UHS, this will play much less frustratingly. One of the number puzzles was WAY out there, and I (who possess a high IQ and mathematical aptitude) found it ridiculously difficult. Even after reading the "solution" I thought . . . "How in the world did they come up with THAT??". All in all, it was fun, but a lot of work for the reward (sort of like eating artichokes).

As Usual a Good Sherlock Adventure [Posted on 2007-01-05]
I'm a fan of Sherlock, so I have nothing but good to say about this and all other Sherlock games.

The perfect original Holmes story. [Posted on 2007-12-29]
The graphics are minmimum (lips movements of the characters), but it is still a worth-while game. The author did a good job writing this fan-fiction story. The background graphics are rich in detail. You can walk up to any certain clue, which can show can interset to Holmes' ivestigation to the crime. When the credits role, you can here the most wonderful music from the most greatest artist in classical music. Makes you think it is a PBS program.

Fun, but not a winner [Posted on 2008-04-25]
In Secret of the Silver Earring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are on a case. This time, they start out investigating the murder of a wealthy man at a dinner party. But murder isn't limited to one body in this game...
In the game, you play in third person. Most of the time, you play Holmes, but you sometimes switch over to Dr. Watson. The game is well-animated with plenty of places to explore. Challenges are not limited to tile puzzles and codes; in one part of the game, Holmes only has a certain amount of time to navigate his way through a forest. Even though murder is involved, the game isn't graphic, so if you get squeamish easily, don't worry too much. The story can be a little hard to follow, but altogether the story is decent. Also, there are plenty of people to talk to throughout the game.
The game has downsides. One of the most annoying things about it is that at the end of every level you have to evaluate what you've learned so far which is a pain. Also, you can't advance unless you collect all the items you need, (down to hair on the counter) There are some tricky puzzles too, but remember... there are always cheat websites to go to.
Altogether, this game is entertaining and fairly well-done. It is by no means great though. If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, or an adventure game fan, then this might be a good thing to consider getting. But if you like lots of splattering blood and rolling heads, then you will probably think this game is pretty boring.

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