Sherlock Holmes trailer shows slice of life in Whitechapel

Written by Jack Allin — January 30, 2009 at 10:33

Here's something you don't see every day: adventure game news! At least, not recently, anyway. But after a quiet year so far, Frogwares and Focus Home Interactive are ready to make some noise with the first trailer for Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper.

The latest mystery for the great detective pits him against none other than the notorious real-life serial killer who managed to successfully elude police. In 1888, a series of prostitutes were brutally murdered in the shady Whitechapel district of London by a killer dubbed Jack the Ripper. The real murderer never had to contend with the likes of Sherlock Holmes, however, and the game puts Holmes (and players) hot on his trail.

Following its introduction in the "Remastered Edition" of The Awakened, this game includes the option to play either in free-roaming first-person view or third-person point-and-click. The game also promises to provide an "original crime scene reconstitution system" that allows players to test theories during the investigation.

Ironically, the new trailer features neither of the headline characters, but rather offers a lengthy in-game glimpse of the grim and seedy Whitechapel, with its "dark streets, oppressive atmosphere, constant poverty, alcoholics, beggars and prostitutes". The trailer can either be streamed directly or downloaded from the publisher's website.

With today's video launch also comes word of a short release date slip, as Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper is now scheduled for May 2009.