Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsene Lupin
Preview
The greatest detective vs the world's best thief
by Marcus Mulkins
previewed on PC
What’s it all about, Alfie? (cont.)
Did I mention the public humiliation involved? Arsene Lupin apparently has widely advertised that both Holmes and Scotland Yard have been informed that he intends to steal five national treasures and at which five locations. With that much advance warning, if they fail to apprehend Lupin in the act, they will look like prime fools. Naturally, they’ll be expected to apply all their resources to prevent those crimes. [Gee. What a great time to commit a major crime **elsewhere**!]
Besides the shift in the point of view, Frogwares has dramatically improved the graphics. Judging by the plethora of material that Frogwares has released for public consumption, the world view will be MUCH more detailed. There are about forty main characters that the player will have to interact with, which is more than in the previous games, but that still leaves London (population 5 million + circa 1895) woefully unpopulated, with the screen density of population still remaining at about 1 person per block, overall. (I guess the graphic artists didn’t want their beautifully rendered stage sets too obstructed by unnecessary people.)
We’re still dealing with a point-and-click world. Frogwares states that there are considerably more puzzles to be solved. However, unlike past games where Holmes has to improvise numerous workarounds, many of this game’s conundrums will be riddles set down by Lupin specifically for Holmes’ agile mind (i.e., yours) to unravel.
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? At least it’s a serious change of pace from the (un)usual homicides that clutter most current detective games.
What’s wrong with this picture?
This is what ALL of the other games review sites have to say about the game (which is to say, what the Frogwares Press kit has to say):
”Having grappled with the machinations of a cult of Cthulhu in his last PC adventure (Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened), the world's greatest detective is now ready to challenge Arsčne Lupin, the gentleman thief. Lupin, a character invented by renowned French writer Maurice Leblanc, has thrilled millions of readers worldwide with his exploits, and will prove a perfect foil for Sherlock Holmes.
“This Sherlock Holmes game sends players to 19th Century London where Arsčne Lupin, a young French burglar with an impressive track record, has just challenged Scotland Yard and the most famous of detectives - Sherlock Holmes. Lupin has announced that he plans to rob the capital of five objects of immense value over the course of five days. The objects are housed in highly prestigious locations such as the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Tower of London and even Buckingham Palace! Sherlock Holmes will have to muster all his courage and ingenuity to save England from terrible humiliation.”
What’s wrong with this picture? Let me count the ways!
First, let’s look at the “world’s greatest” claims. I think there is a strong case favoring Holmes as the greatest detective. Just the sheer volume of support material, in the form of numbers of books sold over the years, movies, radio programs, and even computer games focusing around the character indicate that, in regards to detectives, Holmes gets the most traffic. But what about thieves? Yes, Lupin has quite a following (mainly in French-speaking countries), and there are lots of Lupin books out there; even several – older – movies. But how does he compare with other notable thieves, such as Simon Templar (which even had the “The Saint” TV series starring Roger Moore) and going way back, Robin Hood? Had the category been narrowed to “gentleman thieves”, Lupin would be a serious contender, but when it’s just “thieves”, he has to face off with Fu Manchu, Al Capone, Don Corleone, A.J. Raffles, Ali Baba, and a host of others. With this consideration, I’m inclined to think that if Arsene Lupin is the “world’s greatest thief”, it is because he is a legend in his own mind – or more precisely, the mind of Maurice Leblanc.
Secondly, there is the approach to the game’s premise. Lupin is known mainly as a Robin Hood figure: he steals from the rich that _deserve_ to have their wealth stolen. Yes, he is a criminal, but he is a criminal with social awareness. In truth, he steals mainly for the fun of it; not that he needs the money. Though he can appreciate the challenge of squaring off with Sherlock Holmes, what has the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Tower of London and even Buckingham Palace done to deserve to have their treasures stolen? (Careful how you answer that lest you slip off into a political diatribe!) It isn’t like he’s going after a stolen masterpiece purchased by a collector through the black market. Somehow, challenging Holmes to contest over several British national treasures strictly for the ego stroke payoff when he wins doesn’t seem to fit Lupin’s character.
