Adventure Gamers - Forums

I’m starting the series of a random, unprovoked comparative reviews that will, for no good reason, compare two games that have something in common (well, at least they’ll both be an adventure!). In reality, I’m doing this to motivate me because I have a long list of unfinished and to-be-played adventures, and playing two at the same time will shorten that list faster! If you want to chime in with your comparison, please do so, but follow the format bellow with the 6 key categories (you do not need to write the text, just scores):

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (2012)  vs The Case of the Rose Tattoo (1996)

The comparison is afoot, Watson! In one corner, we have The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, the 6th release in Frogwares series, released in 2012., and in the other - the second game in the Lost Files series from Mythos Software/Electronic Arts released in 1996.

Graphics: Wow, this one is hard! “Testament” features nice 3D and pseudo-free roaming world (and in Frogwares series every next game features better graphics than its predecessor), while “Rose Tattoo” has authentically rendered 50+ 2D locations, with a neat black’n'white authentic screenshots of all locations you visit. Rose Tattoo also “fell victim” to a FMV craze in the late 90s, and every character in the game is a real actor, combined with the backgrounds. The result is of a solid technical quality. Characters in Testament have pretty good facial design and high standards for a “simple” adventure game (though I was bothered by their eyes - they felt pretty unnatural and “lost” at times). There’s not much to tell here - although I’m leaning more towards the Jeremy Brett-modeled Sherlock Holmes in Testament, objectively it’s a draw depending on your preferences. Testament vs Rose Tattoo: 1/2-1/2

Sound: Although Sherlock sounded better in previous Frogwares installments, Testament features a solid voice over, but not better or worse than the actors in Rose Tattoo. It would be a tie if it wasn’t for music, that is in favor of Testament, compared to somewhat generic and sterile midi tracks in Rose Tattoo. Of course, it’s not fair to compare midi format to modern game’s music, but this is not a fair format to begin with : 1-0

Story: Testament’s script has everything you can imagine from Doyle’s stories - murder, theft, animals, poison… and even Moriarty. It’s somewhat clumsily tied-up together, and I’m not sure if I’m the big fan of “Holmes goes under suspicion” concept - I’m not here to play Fugitive starring Harrison Ford, but to solve a crime! Some other unusual segments were added, similar to what Telltale did in Tales of Monkey Island - changing the character’s relations etc. It’s not bad to add new ideas, but purists - beware. Rose Tattoo starts slow, in the vein of The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans or The Adventure of the Naval Treaty with the theft of a government document, but gradually escalates into web of affairs leading to a Cambridge University-connected members, murders and so many involved characters that you can easily lose track of everything. Testament’s story is more “confined” and easier to follow, perhaps not on its own right but definitely when compared to Rose Tattoo, but Rose Tattoo features much more ambitious and detailed story: 0-1.

Puzzles: The two games are drastically different when it comes to puzzles - Testament (like other games in the series) give players varied puzzles - this time around, it’s mostly the isolated mini-games, logic puzzles, and the trademark of the series - Deduction board. Much work has gone into puzzles, but there’re still couple of issues - few times, puzzles really feel “abstract” which does not suit the “Sherlock” feel, but a Myst-clone type of game which can break the immersion. Deduction board is great instrument to check how you apprehend the story (and consult the diary, saved documents and notes…) but there’s some questionable “open-ended” reasoning now and then, which may force the player to brute force it via quick trial&error;. Inventory puzzles are of a basic nature, and won’t present much of a hassle because you’ll hold no more than 10 objects at a time. Rose Tattoo has slightly bigger inventory count, though inventory puzzles are once again not game’s primary obstacles - actually, the game is so “wide”, at times overwhelmingly, that even though the game doesn’t have some special “weapons” in the puzzles department, you’ll often scratch your head and feel stuck even though the solution is trivial - at times, it’s as simple as missing to check the window, or use the “Look” option on a character to note something which Sherlock will use in a dialogue. Oh, the dialogue - as a reviewer once said there’s “More reading than War and Peace” , but that’s not the main issue - it features the “cruel” dialogue system where you need to constantly check if there’s some new dialogue option enabled, and after the characters count progressively rises, it really becomes a problem. Still, Rose Tattoo is kind of game that forces you to dive into the gameworld, and not miss a single pixel or text on the screen. The puzzles are not the greatest strength of both games, and being diametrically different, it’s hard to compare, but I’ll still award Testament’s varied approach: 1-0

Gameplay: Both games are linear in gameplay, with one big distinction: Testament of Sherlock Holmes will offer you no more than few locations at a time, while in Rose Tattoo it gets up to twenty. For a detective/mystery games, I always preferred the pseudo “non-linearity” and the non-linear design when it comes to order of things, and visiting locations at your will. More so, in Testament the puzzles are usually connected to the current area/location/screen, and you can’t proceed until you’re done. It may work for and against the game, but it still feels incredibly tight and linear. Rose Tattoo has other issues - it’s painfully slow at times, like whenever you leave or get back to 221B Baker Street you need to sit through the animation of Sherlock changing his coat, opening door etc. The game also lacks the direction of what you should be doing, and has an unusual inventory system - the objects has context sensitive menus, but the menu changes from place to place, situation to situation, and you’ll never know what actions can one object achieve. Still, the less “linear” games wins here - 0:1

Atmosphere: For the atmosphere parameter, I’m choosing the “Sherlockian” feel, the sense that you’re in the middle of an investigation, the mystery and the detective research. Testament at places feels like a “random” mystery game, and if it wasn’t for the title you wouldn’t know you’re in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes story. That’s not bad per se, but the aforementioned linearity also places itself on the way of a “detective” immersion, and for that, all the job fell on the shoulders of puzzles and (especially) deduction board. Rose Tattoo plays more like a classic episode from the canon - you’ll have Mrs. Hudson, a glimpse of “life” when returning to Baker Street for a casual chat with Watson (that part also serves as a hint system), or just an idle chat at times instead of Testament’s “What should we be doing, Holmes?”, repeated over and over. Also, even though it’s a much longer game (Rose Tattoo is one of the longest adventure games ever), Rose Tatto has more “natural” flow of the mystery, though Testament’s darker mood might also suit better to other players. 0:1

Overall:

Comparative review meter explained.

Blank meters for your review.

Great idea for a review Diego.  

I remember back in 2005 when a new gaming magazine appeared on the Romanian market named Games Arena and every month they would have a 10 pages comparative review. I still have the first issue, where they compared Civ IV to Civ III. (Civ IV won)

diego - 14 November 2015 11:28 AM

Comparative review meter explained.

So basically dark green is 6-0, green is 5-1, light green is 4-2, yellow is 3-3, orange is 2-4, dark orange is 1-5 and red is 0-6.

Abnaxus - 14 November 2015 12:26 PM

they compared Civ IV to Civ III. (Civ IV won)

And rightfully so.

Diego, is this a one-thread thing, or something that’ll get a new thread for each comparative review?

Awesome idea! Thank you so much. I haven’t played either of these,  but I’ll try to check them both out!

Thanks! Abnaxus, the local gaming magazine also had occasionally “comparative reviews”, though they were really two regular reviews placed next to each other - usually, two football simulation games, two real time strategies etc.

TimovieMan - 14 November 2015 06:44 PM

So basically dark green is 6-0, green is 5-1, light green is 4-2, yellow is 3-3, orange is 2-4, dark orange is 1-5 and red is 0-6.

Hehe… clever! But there could be 3,5-2,5 as well. Or 1,5-4,5 What I really thought of the Comparative review-o-meter is that, even though I’m aware it will in most cases represent the cumulative scores of the categories, it should be a separate, overall impression. Just like the “game is more than the sum of its parts.”

TimovieMan - 14 November 2015 06:44 PM

Diego, is this a one-thread thing, or something that’ll get a new thread for each comparative review?

Yeah, all comparative reviews will go in this one thread, and others can post here, too. Here’re the blank meters.

diego - 15 November 2015 09:10 AM

Hehe… clever! But there could be 3,5-2,5 as well. Or 1,5-4,5

Then you just put the meter on the line between two colours. Sheesh, do I have to think of everything around here?

Destination: Treasure Island (2010) vs Treasure Island (2008)

Ahoy there landlubbers! It’s Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic in this episode, in two video game versions - one from Kheops, and the other from Radon Labs.

Graphics:

Destination: Treasure Island (DTI) has a typical Kheops “warmness” and beauty to it, but Treasure Island (TI) has unparalleled level of details and 3D quality. DTI vs TI 0-1

Sound: DTI has a better voice acting, but that doesn’t tell much because TI has a much bigger character count, and DTI is simply more of a solitary exploration. Both games have solid orchestral music, and in case of TI it really feels like it’s from one of the Treasure Island movies. 0,5-0,5

Story: If you like imaginary “continuation” of the story, go for DTI, and if want a faithful adaption (with a minor additions) then TI is for you. 0,5-0,5

Puzzles: DTI has a typical variety of puzzles, and if you’ve played Return to Mysterious Island or similar Kheops games you know what to expect. The problem is - it’s probably the easiest Kheops game, and only the final puzzle which involves the Mayan calendar could’ve made it in a typical Myst-clone. TI is a typical inventory puzzle-fare, with triggers (some of them quite boring), but also couple of puzzles that try to break the mold. 0.5-0.5

Gameplay: DTI has a comfortable interface and perfectly fluid scene rotation, with the familiar inventory system. There’s no backtracking like in other Kheops games, as it’s also the most linear game in their catalogue. TI has some really nasty triggers that are barely connected to the main story, and has a similar problem like Dreamfall - there’s simply too much running & backtracking involved.1-0

Atmosphere: They both succeed on the “pirate atmosphere” level, though in a very different manner. DTI is a lighthearted take on the material (aimed somewhat at younger audience), just as you were playing a pirate-themed pinball machine. TI tries to be a “realistic” (it mimics the cult classic from 1950. and 1990. in several occasions), more serious and epic version, though it starts slow and you need to wait a bit for the things to get going. 0.5-0.5

Overall:

crabapple - 15 November 2015 04:32 PM

Frogwares also made some casual games featuring Sherlock—
Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Persian Carpet and
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles

Frogwares felt no obligation to be true to the original story in Hound of the Baskervilles. However the game is still one of my favorite casual games, offering better puzzles than you usually see in casual games. For whatever reason, Frogwares doesn’t seem interested in making casual games any more, though IMO their casuals were a lot better than average.

I agree re: Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles One of the interesting things about the game was that you could play in either of two levels of difficulty. That, in itself, is nothing new. But the fact that the puzzles, themselves dramatically increased in difficulty if you chose the harder level was something new. I think it was the first to do that. And I am hard pressed to think of many more games that followed that model.