Monday, March 3, 2014

Review - Sherlock: The Network



It's been a been a few weeks since BBC SHERLOCK's short season ended. Like Molly, many of us are jealous of John Watson as he gets to follow Sherlock around and help him solve crimes. Now you have your chance to do the same with a new Sherlock game, tied closely to the show, on your smartphone. I've been using the app for a few weeks now and here's my review.

The game starts out with a message from Sherlock (played by Benedict Cumberbatch here too). He puts us in character - part of Sherlock's network of homeless helpers. Sherlock exudes all of his usual personality in this video and sets you up for the game. 

The first case is a simple missing person. You get to traipse all over London - by walking, by subway, and by cab. The game sets you up with limited funds so you can't always just hop in a cab. There are little puzzles to solve if you take the subway or if you take a cab. Walking is free, but it eats up your playing time.

John and Sherlock give you assignments by video messages. Here's map with a video message from John Watson (Martin Freeman)



Once you've looked at all the evidence, solved a few puzzles along the way and found pockets of cash you get to go to Sherlock's Mind Palace (the place where all the words swirl over his head and he picks out the salient clues.) There you pick three clues that helped you solve the crime.

This app is totally entertaining, and while I don't even come close to Sherlock's crime solving abilities, I did have a lot of fun playing it. I love that videos from the BBC cast are integrated into the game. The mini puzzles and the crimes themselves are intriguing. 

A few weeks ago I talked about many smartphone mystery applications. This has now become my favorite.


1 comment: