First impressions on Jack Keane and new Sherlock Holmes?

[MikaelS]

I noticed these two have gone digital download at adventuregamers site.

What I want to know, are these games any good? First of, as far as I understood, Jack Keane comes from creators of ANKH games. I didn't like Ankh at all. One of the few adventure games I didn't finish simply because I didn't like it and humor was far from my taste. So, those who didn't like Ankh yet have played Jack Keane, are there huge differences? Jack Keane looks promising, but as we know about adventure games this doesn't mean much at all.

As for new Sherlock Holmes game, it also looks very interesting and good based on the screenshots and the idea...but I'm reluctant to buy it after disappointment with The Awakened. Another exception of an adventure game which I never finished just because I didn't like it.


So, any thoughts from those who have played them? :D

[misslilo]

As for Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, I never finished it either, which is why I won't buy the 4th one.

Jack Keane on the other hand I loved.
I like this graphic style and the story was exciting enough for me :)
Can't say it tries very hard to be funny, but some of it comes out that way.
The controls worked flawlessly... I didn't encounter any bugs at all.

[MikaelS]

As for Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, I never finished it either, which is why I won't buy the 4th one.

Jack Keane on the other hand I loved.
I like this graphic style and the story was exciting enough for me :)
Can't say it tries very hard to be funny, but some of it comes out that way.
The controls worked flawlessly... I didn't encounter any bugs at all.

Did you ever play Ankh games Misslilo? If yes, what did you think of them?

[CoyoteAG]

I played both of them and really liked them both. And I love digital download games. I wish all companies would do that.

Sherlock Holmes is way better than The Awakened. There are lots of word riddles to solve but they are quite clever. You are playing against Arsene Lupin, a famous cat burglar, and he leaves all these clues for you to try to figure out what he is going to steal next. I think you'll enjoy it. Like I said, way better than The Awakened.

And Jack Keane is really good too. It's better than the Ankh games. Much longer. Reminds me more of old school adventure games in terms of the inventory puzzles that you have to complete. It doesn't try to be nearly as funny as Ankh but it did make some references that made me chuckle.

Both of those games are ones that I will play in the future again.

[Terramax]

Is there an English demo of Jack Keane? Or if not, do they plan to release one in the future?

[misslilo]

Yes I played Ankh 1+2 and liked them - a bit childish in the artwork - at least to me it felt that way :)
Although the graphic is kind of similar, I wouldn't compare them to Jack Keane.
Jack Keane for me is more like Monkey Island, just with a more up-to-date graphic style.

The game itself is not too hard and not too easy either. I thought some of the puzzles were very clever... didn't feel like they were just tossed in to fill the game.

But I have to say, I really think you should finish the Ankh games.
Are you only talking about the first of them or both?
There's also a third on the way, which I personally can't wait to see. :)

@Terramax:
Yes, there's an english full version over at www.gamersgate.com, which you can buy as a download.
No english DEMO has been released, and I doubt there will be.
But, you can get a feel of the game even with the german demo.

[MikaelS]

Misslilo - Thanks for your views, helps a lot. :) And I only played first Ankh game...I didn't finish it. I played it as far as I did only because I felt as I had paid for the game, I had to at least try finish it no matter how unpleasant it was. :( Now I'm not saying Ankh is an awful game, but it just missed many things that I like about adventure games and that's why I found it extremely boring and unfunny. That's why I just didn't see the game would change much better by the end. Jack Keane looks a lot promising though. I'll have to read some reviews before I'll give it a go.

I'll probably play Sherlock Holmes first. It looks and sounds a lot of fun and it's nice to hear from other people who didn't like The Awakened so much, have found this good.

[Terramax]

If there isn't a demo of Jack Keanu to play I won't be buying the game. Not after the catastrophy of Ankh 2. The game was just so bugged it was unplayable.

In fact, unless the game's The Whispered World or City of Metrognome I won't be buying any adventures without playing a demo first.

[Cris Pandry]

If there isn't a demo of Jack Keanu to play I won't be buying the game. Not after the catastrophy of Ankh 2. The game was just so bugged it was unplayable...



What bugs were they? I don't recall any when I played it.

@CoyoteAG

Thanks for the heads-up. That Jack Keane looks great to me and sounds great too from your description. So does the new Sherlock Holmes.

Thanks :)

[Terramax]

I had to restart the game 4 times because I'd load games where events that were supposed to happen didn't, items were missing when they were supposed to be there or vice versa, characters glitching, the pointer options not changing, voices going over one another.... the list goes on.

[Sar]

Misslilo - Thanks for your views, helps a lot. :) And I only played first Ankh game...I didn't finish it. I played it as far as I did only because I felt as I had paid for the game, I had to at least try finish it no matter how unpleasant it was. :( Now I'm not saying Ankh is an awful game, but it just missed many things that I like about adventure games and that's why I found it extremely boring and unfunny. That's why I just didn't see the game would change much better by the end. Jack Keane looks a lot promising though. I'll have to read some reviews before I'll give it a go.

I'll probably play Sherlock Holmes first. It looks and sounds a lot of fun and it's nice to hear from other people who didn't like The Awakened so much, have found this good.

Like you I played Ankh through only because I paid for it. I avoided Ankh 2 so can't comment on that. In fairness there was nothing specific that I did not like about it. It just struck me as missing something to spark any real interest. Much the same with Runaway 1. Though that game was easier for me to dislike. I thought the main character was totally unlikeable. But again it's just me we all like different things. I understand where you are coming from with Anhk MikaelS

[MikaelS]

Sorry, I'm bumbing this in hope more people would have played these with more opinions.


Like you I played Ankh through only because I paid for it. I avoided Ankh 2 so can't comment on that. In fairness there was nothing specific that I did not like about it. It just struck me as missing something to spark any real interest. Much the same with Runaway 1. Though that game was easier for me to dislike. I thought the main character was totally unlikeable. But again it's just me we all like different things. I understand where you are coming from with Anhk MikaelS


Yeah, "IT" is very important in Adventure Games...if game lacks IT, it's nothing special. Suppose we could speak of it as bringing game world and characters alive etc and not feeling so plastic. :z

[RockNFknRoll]

I really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes. But then again, I also enjoyed the Awakened. I think they're way better than most adventure games these days. Real puzzles!

[JKR]

I played a demo of Ankh as well and didn't like it. I tried to, but it just didn't feel right. I don't even know exactly why.

I was hoping there would be a demo of Jack Keane in English. I really wanted to give it a try. I guess if I see it go down in price, I might take the plunge. Right now I have too much to play anyway I suppose. (And that pesky "work" thing that takes up so much time!)