Sherlock Holmes game Crime and Punishments explains moral choices in latest trailer

Sherlock Holmes, as far as I know, has never sent the wrong man to jail, never asked Watson to shoot the wrong hellhound or, conversely, ever played any of the right notes on the violin - he is, as far as his deductive skills are concerned, infallible. That's why Crimes and Punishments , Frogwares' latest Sherlock Holmes game, is so intriguing. As the titular detective, you'll comb through the evidence, interview suspects and accuse the potential perpetrators yourself, in the seven different cases that comprise the game. Do a slap-dash job and you could send the wrong person to the gallows; even once you've determined whodunnit, you may be able to arrange a more compassionate outcome, as revealed in the following trailer.

As Eurogamer note, Holmes traditionally has no problem with working outside the law, so the decision to let the culprit go in the video fits in with the stories pretty well. I like that it's possible to finger (as it were) the wrong suspect, as it adds a layer of responsibility that should encourage you to be more thorough with your investigations.

Crimes & Punishments will be out around Spring/Summertime this year.

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.