Sherlock Holmes Chapter One Reviews
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is an enjoyable detective simulator despite its brief runtime. The superior detective mechanics, as well as improved combat, make it an accessible experience and while the open world is ripe for improvement, what’s presented is quite serviceable and allows for a decent amount of exploration.
Sherlock Homes Chapter One takes full advantage of the next-gen consoles with stunning graphics on the PlayStation 5 while also providing plenty of cases to solve and a comprehensive narrative. Unfortunately, the game doesn't hold your hand, and with an empty open world, you might feel a little stuck.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is gorgeous in graphics, with in-depth gameplay mechanics, and a deep, emotional story about mental health and trauma compile it into the masterpiece that it is.
Unashamedly developed for fans of the series, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a unique and deftly crafted take on a well-trodden character. Retaining its detail oriented, mystery solving core while moving to an open world design with a heavier inclusion of combat, this game retains the charm of its predecessors while pushing the series in an exciting new direction. It’s not perfect, but an excellent story and a plethora of ‘eureka’ moments make up for many of its flaws. If you loved Crimes & Punishments and The Devil’s Daughter, you’ll love this.
If you can get through the relatively humdrum, lifeless and unneeded open world of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One you'll uncover a whip smart detective adventure that is up there with the series best. It's just a shame that a smattering of technical issues and poorly executed combat sections detract from what should have been the Pride of Baker Street's triumphant return to PlayStation.
A fresh and emotional take on the Sherlock Holmes property creates the best narrative in the series yet, but it’s let down by some ambitious design choices.
Despite some rough edges, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One has its heart in the right place. Frogwares is taking the classic Sherlock mythos and spinning off some impressive original work here. The story is well-presented, with the partnership between Sherlock and Jon particularly pleasant. Other cases show some interesting new puzzle types that I have not yet seen before. Whilst the two strengths of this title are separate, which annoys me somewhat, it’s the annoyance I feel when a game is a few decisions short of me showering it in unqualified praise. As it stands, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a standard-setter for open-world mystery games.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One successfully puts you into the shoes of London’s greatest detective, albeit with crippling, pace-killer conveyance issues. However, the precision-based combat, fun crime scene investigations and decent story help to mitigate the general lack of direction. Holmes is also as sassy as ever.
The shift of the series to an open world formula is a bit of a missed opportunity, but as a detective adventure Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One works well both in terms of writing and gameplay.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite a few missteps in terms of the combat, if you're a fan of detective games then Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is a pretty easy one to recommend. Getting to do things like interviewing witnesses or performing chemical analysis on suspicious evidence is an absolute blast. The island of Cordona is chock full of cases for you to investigate and while there are a few technical issues with the open world setting it's easy enough to forgive when sleuthing around is this much fun.
I need a little more hand holding than Sherlock Holmes Chapter One gives. I'm not as smart as Sherlock, and found myself bumbling around at times like a lost child. When I was in the zone I was having a good time. The variety of costumes made for a fun time, and the eavesdropping mini game were a good distraction to a worthwhile story. The game has flaws, but those can easily be overlooked with a mountain of fun and interesting mysteries to solve.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is not a perfect game; the action gameplay is dated and repetitive; the open-world seems overly ambitious at times, especially with consistent frame drops on PS5 and the learning curve to become the great detective may dissuade some players, but at its core it has a truly remarkable and insightful narrative about a young man trying to come to terms with the troubles of his youth, solving a number of grizzly murders along the way.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a memorable game, maybe the best produced so far by Frogwares. It is not a classical adventure game, rather an open world Victorian tour de force in the early days of the most famous detective. As such it is not easy, mainly because the developers decided to let players figure out how a detective’s mind works.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One stumbles at times, but solving its fantastic cases scratches that investigative itch like few others try.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a great detective game that’s saddled with unfortunately mediocre combat and the occasionally obtuse clue to impede progression. Still, when it works, you feel like a true genius detective, so if you’re a fan of mystery games or Holmes himself, this may be the game for you.
Chapter One got plenty of mechanics, but those doesn't add up into the solid picture, and the open-world minimizes all of the few good pieces that are there.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Quite possibly developer Frogwares’ most accomplished crack at the iconic detective yet, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One combines a compelling story, detailed world, and involving investigation mechanics to great effect.
The game offers a fun experience and hearty issues for those looking for an accurate simulation experience of the role of the investigator but fails to satisfy our curiosity about the story and the results of some issues, an experience that has suffered some serious errors in storytelling.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Great career start of well-known detective with some new elements and deduction.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The PC version of Sherlock Holmes Chapter One avoids the frame drops and other glitches that some PS5 owners experienced with the console release, and gives us a fairly good detective game, with several culprits to find in a beautifully crafted turistic island. Fans of Sherlock Holmes might discover a quite different hero from the one they are accustomed to, but the overall experience of Chapter One is absolutely pleasant.
Review in Italian | Read full review