Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper - Xbox 360

The concept is fantastic! A detective story where you collect evidence and piece together the riddle of the Jack the Ripper crimes. You visit crime scenes, interview "witnesses" create time lines and even analyze evidence as the events of London 1888 are unfolding around you. Great idea! For a guy who loves "shooters" this was I had hoped a great change of pace. I love Ripper lore and have read tons of books on the subject. I've even been to London and toured the crime scenes and spoken with Scotland Yard historians as well as London Metro Police historians. These guys did their research to be sure. But as a game they missed the mark. The clues are often insufficient to lead you to any conclusions. The puzzles are ponderous and time consuming and lead to clues that are often insignificant or unrelated to your ultimate objective. the graphics are not mind bending but they don't suck. They are just nothing special. I would equate this game to the same level as the History Channel Civil War shooters. Historically detailed but less than fun to play. Not the worst Xbox game I've ever played but as a history buff who devours Ripper lore, this one left me feeling a bit lacking and frustrated at some of the puzzles. Not that they were overly hard. They weren't. But the game designers left you so few clues that figuring out where to find the puzzles and how to begin them once you did was a ponderous exercise in frustration. Even Holmes himself would have passed on this one.

It isn't the typical video game. So if that's what you are looking for, look elsewhere. It is interesting, quirky, and intelligent. I love love love the puzzles in it. They were challenging at some points, but gratifying when you finally got it. Holmes is as funny as he is in the books, and Watson still gets dragged along amusingly. It was a great game.