Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsene Lupin
Preview
The greatest detective vs the world's best thief
by Marcus Mulkins
previewed on PC
Who will win? THAT is decided by the Author - but which one?
I must admit, after having experienced Sherlock Holmes -- The Awakened, when I saw Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsene Lupin, I thought Frogwares had gone from the Cthulhu Mythos to a fantasy involving werewolves. ("lupine" = "wolflike") Silly me. I had to Google "Arsene Lupin", which led me to Maurice Leblanc, which turned out to be quite educational.
Without a doubt, Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was one of the iconic British authors of his period. And of course, Sherlock Holmes is the most notable Doyle literary creation. Contemporary with Doyle was Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941), a French pulp novelist. Doyle started writing his Sherlock Holmes stories in 1887 with "A Study in Scarlet", and kept at it through 1927 with "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes". Leblanc, over on the continent, wrote his initial tale Arsène Lupin, gentleman cambrioleur ("Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar") in 1907. The Lupin stories continued through 21 books by Leblanc himself, ending with Les Milliards d'Arsène Lupin ("The Billions of Arsene Lupin") in 1939. In the character of Lupin, Leblanc had created a veritable (then) modern Robin Hood: A member of the genteel class, wealthy with no need to labor, that amused himself by robbing his wealthy peers of their expensive but not properly appreciated works of art, which he then redistributed to the needy. (And let's not forget Lupin's need to surround himself with art masterpieces!) Pointedly not a ruffian or greedy sociopath. Of course, despite the handicap of being born wealthy, Lupin developed the kind of skills of disguise and acrobatics, and things generally NOT associated with social dilettantes.
With the smashing success of his first Lupin book, Leblanc needed a truly worthy opponent for his wily master thief to contest with. It being 1907, who would be considered the most talented upholder of the Law? Why, Sherlock Holmes, of course! So not too surprisingly, Leblanc's second outing with Lupin was "Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès" ("Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes"). The book contained two novellas, "The Blond Phantom" and "The Jewish Lamp", which, as with the Sherlock Holmes stories, were printed as serials before condensed into books. Not surprisingly, Doyle took particular exception when another author decided to utilize his literary creation, the renowned world-famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, to be the defeated opponent of the world-famous literary supreme burglar, Arsene Lupin. The objection being, "He's MY character, and he is beaten by a criminal only when _I_ say so!" In a particularly flippant response, Leblanc renamed the detective character "Herlock Sholmes". (In some English translations of the Lupin books, the character was renamed "Holmlock Shears".) More recently, once the name "Sherlock Holmes" became more or less public domain, the thinly veiled fabrication has been dispensed with and "Herlock Sholmes" has been appearing once more as "Sherlock Holmes."
What’s it all about, Alfie?
So, the world's greatest thief versus the world's greatest detective: which will prevail? Frogwares - a company with offices in Ireland, the Ukraine, and FRANCE - has already produced three other Sherlock Holmes games: Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy (2002), Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earring (2004), and Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2006). This one, Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsene Lupin was originally supposed to be entitled Sherlock Holmes Versus the King of the Thieves.
Makes you wonder why the title was changed, doesn't it?
Keep in mind that this is Frogwares’ fourth outing with Sherlock Holmes as the main character. By now, they’ve got the mechanics pretty much down pat. Thankfully, the game will be stepping back from the stomach-troubling first-person perspective of The Awakened to a third-person view. Like all of the other games, you start with Holmes learning of a situation that requires his expertise and then “The game’s afoot!” Unlike the previous games where Holmes tries to sort out the details of a crime(s) to get to the underlying Real Situation, this time he is confronted with a direct challenge to HIM – and Scotland Yard, I suppose (but when have they ever been brilliant in a Sherlock Holmes adventure?). In this case, the clock is ticking: Sherlock has five days to solve the crimes and apprehend the perpetrator and recover the stolen goods, or risk having them slip beyond his grasp.
