Red Dead Redemption 2 – American Dreams Quest

While Red Dead Redemption 2 features a rapidly changing America where the law and civilization are making their way into society, acts of heinous criminal activity are still running rampant that still show the signs of the Wild West that this place once was. During their travels, players will come across some brutally murdered people with deformed corpses lying around. Upon closer inspection though, Arthur Morgan comes to the conclusion that all these are acts of a serial killer. If you use Arthur’s detective mode around here, the trails will lead you to pieces of a map. Once all map segments are collected, an American Dreams side quest is triggered which entails bringing the serial killer to justice.

As an origin story, Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One features a younger version of Sherlock who’s just starting out as a detective. Traveling to the island of Cordona, Holmes begins to investigate the death of his mother with his old friend Jon (who is not his iconic partner, Dr. John Watson). Questioning witnesses, gathering evidence, donning disguises and fights with guns and fisticuffs are to be expected as the duo unearths a conspiracy.

You can check out our review for the base game here. Sherlock Holmes Chapter One was also slated to release for Xbox One but it was postponed indefinitely by production being impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Those who pre-ordered the Xbox One version can receive full refunds. As for whether it will ever release, we’ll need to wait for more details.

In a recent statement shared via Twitter, Kyiv-based Frogwares explained that the team tried to squeeze out as much performance as possible from the last-gen consoles, but the production has been severely affected by the political situation in Ukraine, which is still under attack from invading Russian forces. As a result, the Xbox One version has been postponed indefinitely in favor of diverting all focus to the game’s PS4 version which will be releasing on April 28th.

Fans who pre-ordered the game on Xbox One will be entitled to full refunds for the same by canceling the order. Keeping the current situation in mind, it seems highly unlikely that the game’s Xbox One version will restart development anytime soon.

pic.twitter.com/MsXx3XNF3G

— Sherlock Holmes The Awakened (@SHolmes_Games) April 21, 2022

As a result, Sherlock steps up to the plate. The only thing that’s really known about this spy is that they go by the name “M.” Now which one of Holmes’ biggest nemeses could possibly have a name starting with M? M for Mystery can be purchased for $10 standalone and is included with the $25 Season Pass.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is currently available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. The Xbox One and PS4 versions are slated to release in Q1 2022. Stay tuned for more details and check out our official review for the base game here.

https://twitter.com/SHolmes_Games/status/1506979502580289538

The expansion adds a new quest going by the same name, and it should be at least an hour-long case, and will see Sherlock going up against “a master thief who is targeting Cordona’s ultra-rich and doing so with brazen gusto and open mockery.” It will be available at the game’s Grand Saray area, but only after completing the A Gilded Cage quest. Other additions include a Newcomer Outfit, as well as a Widow’s Outfit. The DLC is available to purchase across all platforms for a price of $4.99. This is part one of the three-part post-launch plan that the developer has already announced.

GamingBolt’s own review gave the game a 6/10 rating, saying that for everything Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One triumphs in, it stumbles in another area, ultimately making it a missed opportunity. You can check out our full review through here,

Regarding the first delay, Frogwares said that, “We needed to take a bit more time to polish and test the game on older hardware to deliver appropriate performance. This is our top priority, and we’re doing our best to make sure that the release is of a proper quality and well-optimized.” It thanked fans for their understanding and support.

As a sort of origin story for Sherlock Holmes, Chapter One focuses on a younger version of the detective, who heads to Cordona to investigate his mother’s death. Conspiracies and corruption abound though so Holmes must work together with his childhood friend Jon to learn the truth. There are several cases to crack and like previous titles, the player must gather evidence to pursue a hypothesis before accusing a suspect. For more details, check out some gameplay here.

Important info regarding the PS4 and Xbox One versions. pic.twitter.com/QWco7B1uD2

— Sherlock Holmes The Awakened (@SHolmes_Games) December 7, 2021

Over on Twitter, Frogwares confirmed via the game’s official page that to thank players for their support of the game, the developer is going to give away the Detective Pack to all players for free as “a little token of [its] appreciation”. The Detective Pack includes several outfits and disguises- namely, the Master Sleuth Outfit, the Greatest Detective Outfit, and the Ukrainian Jon Outfit. The pack is available to download now for all players on Steam, and will be made available on other platforms “soon”.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 6/10, saying, “Technical issues and an excessively padded out plot make Frogwares’ open-world rendition of its Sherlock Holmes games a disappointing experience.” You can read our full review through here.

To say thank you for your support, here's a little token of our appreciation.

The Sherlock Holmes Chapter One Detective Pack is waiting. New outfits and disguises, ready to download. All for free.

Steam available now. Other platforms coming soon.

Link: https://t.co/SCt7WbgukO pic.twitter.com/nnR5UbkYWn

— Sherlock Holmes The Awakened (@SHolmes_Games) November 23, 2021

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One takes a different approach to adapting a Sherlock Holmes story, focusing on a younger Sherlock before his days as the famous detective in London with John Watson by his side. In Chapter One, Holmes travels to his childhood home, the fictional Mediterranean island of Cordona. The game features an open world setting, with its gameplay being a mix of investigations, combat, stealth, choice and consequence mechanics, and more.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is out now for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can read our review of the game through here.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One sees players controlling a young Sherlock Holmes who is well on his way to proving himself, as he lands on the island of Cordona to visit his mother’s grave when he comes across a strange clue left at the grave by a painter. Holmes has his trusty old friend Jon alongside him during his travels, although it needs to be reiterated that he isn’t the John Watson that fans of the character might be familiar with. The tale is supposed to be a deeply personal one, as Sherlock descends down the rabbit hole of what actually happened to his mother – which will take him all across the island as he tries to peel the layers behind this long-forgotten mystery.

"The story itself might not be the most riveting or unpredictable, although the effort is certainly appreciable. Sherlock carries the same wits about him as you’d expect, although he is a much more vulnerable person this time around."

The story itself might not be the most riveting or unpredictable, although the effort is certainly appreciable. Sherlock carries the same wits about him as you’d expect, although he is a much more vulnerable person this time around. However, the game doesn’t really go all-in with exploring Sherlock’s backstory and showing his naivety as much as I’d want it to, which makes it feel like a missed opportunity by a significant margin.

Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes games are known for their excellent voice performances, all of which stand true in the case of Chapter One as well. Characters deliver spot-on performances and witnessing Holmes and the mysterious Dr. Verner debating about the purpose of justice, art, truth, lies, and whatnot can be an absolute treat at times. The banter Holmes exchanges with his friend Jon holds a lot of charm in a similar vein. There’s also a fair bit of cinematic flair to the cutscenes too, as characters are constantly framed in a scene with high or low angles so as to make them feel vulnerable or powerful accordingly, alongside some other cinematography tricks which can keep the action interesting. However, all of this good stuff is heavily marred down by voice lines being completely out of sync and the lack of facial animations.

The plot itself isn’t paced very well too, as you are constantly taken out of the action to solve another mystery that might not be in any way related to your mother’s disappearance. For instance, a breadcrumb trail in the main case led to a friend’s house who unfortunately had an accident of his own. As you’d imagine, I had to solve the entire case that took multiple hours which ultimately led to a disconnected cutscene of a witness giving me the next piece of the puzzle – which again, was completely unrelated to the outcome of the case or the case itself. While it’s understandable that the game would want players to visit as many of the game’s locations as possible, the way it’s carried out makes it feel tacked-on and adds to the feeling of the story being excessively padded out.

"While it’s understandable that the game would want players to visit as many of the game’s locations as possible, the way it’s carried out makes it feel tacked-on and adds to the feeling of the story being excessively padded out."

What makes this issue more excruciating is that the game already has the perfect format and the tools to solve such issues. Players are free to roam the isle of Cordona at their own will, which of course holds a ton of side activities to pursue. You can spend money building up your collection of disguises, you can buy furniture for the manor – and most importantly, you can pursue those side-quests littered all across the island’s four districts. The side-quests themselves consist of regular crime cases that you can tackle, memories of young Sherlock that you can uncover, and finally the Cordona Stories – which involve public cases like tracking down ghosts and the like. As such, it would have been in the plot’s best interest to entirely delegate distractions from the main questline to side-quests, which should have resulted in a much tighter, focused, and well-paced narrative.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One‘s gameplay mostly focuses on going from crime scene to crime scene and solving cases. That, of course, requires thorough investigation and collecting evidence – which is done by scouring through the crime scene in a meticulous fashion. You also have to talk to witnesses, which will provide more information – using which you try to reconstruct what actually happened at the crime scene. This involves taking into account all collected evidence and selecting the right silhouettes in your imagination to build the right narrative. Once all the pieces are collected, players have to join those clues together to make deductions – which leads to an eventual outcome. There can be multiple conclusions to a case, although I didn’t experience any substantial effects of choices I made in previous cases.

" There can be multiple conclusions to a case, although I didn’t experience any substantial effects of choices I made in previous cases."

Chapter One also features a combat system this time around. Unlike past entries which mostly had quick time events, you actually have to fight enemies with your standard-issue licensed pistol. As the rightful bringer of justice, you are encouraged not to kill any enemies rather use your surroundings to find interesting ways to stun them. It could be blasting a fire extinguisher, dropping a light bulb at one’s head, throwing a flashbang – which is a rather interesting spin on the formula. However, the AI felt pretty lackluster on the normal difficulty, and I was able to breeze past most enemy encounters and even Bandit Lairs which are challenge arenas with relative ease.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a pretty lengthy game, for those who want to see all that it has to offer. Rolling the end credits took me around 12-13 hours, which involved trying out just a few side activities in the world. Tackling all side-cases could take well over 40 hours according to a statement from the developer. However, the core gameplay systems – case-solving, choice and consequence, and combat are pretty thin to sustain a long and enjoyable runtime. After finishing the story, I loaded up an old save to experience more of the game – but eventually gave up as I was already done doing the same things again and again.

"The game also seems to suffer from frame-pacing issues alongside some frame-rate inconsistencies. "

On top of this, the game also suffers from a buffet of technical problems. NPC behavior can be weird at times as they glitch out and repeatedly keep walking into a wall, Sherlock’s running animations are hilariously janky, the draw distance is painfully low – even on a PS5. The game also seems to suffer from frame-pacing issues alongside some frame-rate inconsistencies. The game’s tutorials and help sections are pretty threadbare too, which makes getting to grips with the game’s multitude of systems a hassle. That said, it needs to be noted Frogwares is working on a patch to alleviate some of these issues that will go live on launch day.

For every one thing Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One does right, it misses the mark in another department by a solid margin. Witnessing the backstory of the detective is an enchanting prospect, but it is heavily marred down by technical inefficiencies and poor pacing. The combat is markedly better than prior entries, but it also gets stale pretty quickly. The isle of Cordona houses a ton of mysteries to crack, although you might just get bored doing the same things over and over again long before there aren’t any markers to chase on the map.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Set in the open world of fictional Mediterranean Cordona and telling the story of a younger Sherlock Holmes, Chapter One will offer story-driven choices, stealth, combat, and of course, investigations. The latter promises to be quite multifaceted, with mechanics like infiltrations, disguises, questioning, the Mind Palace, and more leveraging the inherent strengths of the property (or looking to, at least). This new trailer focuses on investigations first and foremost, while also offering another look at what we can expect from this younger, cockier, more inexperienced Sherlock Holmes. Check it out below.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is out for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on November 16. PS4 and Xbox One versions will be arriving at a later (and as-of-yet unannounced) date.