Silver Earring is Terrible.

[An0maly33]

The previous Sherlock Holmes game was much better and I'm hoping the one after this is an improvement.

It would be impossible, infuriating at best, to complete this game without a walkthrough. Even WITH consulting the walkthrough I had trouble in some places performing necessary actions just because the game is so clunky and unforgiving. Some of the puzzles were fun. Others were simply stupid. I finally finished the game and couldn't bring myself to even sit through the ending. Keeping track of so many characters (while none being apparently important enough to stay fresh in the mind) is extremely difficult. I believed I had the right answers many times on the end of day quizzes but nope, I was wrong and baffled - walkthrough time. Apparently I had completely misunderstood someone's conversation, a piece of evidence, etc. At the very end of the game you're given an optional quiz. By this point I was in f'it mode and just went straight to the walkthrough. For me, two of the questions COULD NOT be answered correctly because the answer did NOT exist in my journal as a selection.

Horrible, clunky mechanics. Terribly contrived plot that makes no sense, even when Holmes attempts to explain things at the end. About 2 minutes in I had enough and just spammed escape so I could quit.

DO NOT BUY THIS ON ITS OWN. I'm glad it was only part of the Holmes package so I don't feel ripped off for potentially only getting 1 bad game out of the bunch. I've started on one of the later games in the past but wanted to go back and do them in order. I've seen enough to know there's some promising fun ahead.

[Tanidar]

The game is fine for classic point-and-click adventures (and it's ten years old). So if you don't like classic adventures, that's ok :)

[An0maly33]

I grew up on Space/King's/Police Quest. I know what classic adventures are and I love them. This game is a terrible example of that type of game though.

[An0maly33]

For what it's worth the holmes game that was previous to this one (I forget what it was called but had an egyptian theme in a mansion), was FAR better even though it was older. I enjoyed playing through that one. I think I consulted a walkthrough only a couple of times because I was stumped (but usually found that I was on the right track.) It was enjoyable. I'm not concerned with the age of games or the quality of their graphics. Silver Earring was just not very well executed in terms of playability and plot.

[Skieth]

The game is FINE according to me :)

[Paarma]

There were a number of bugs and typos, but overall I liked the atmosphere of the game. The water fetching felt a little little bugged thanks to Holmes not always registering a click in somewhere. I also got stumped in the end as I had no idea Jeffries was Spencer, didn't know who the other killers were either as the complexity of the plot had thrown me off the track long time ago. (and also I had months long pauses between playtimes).

[Gilmaris]

I loved this game, myself. I did have to resort to a walkthrough, and I would not have guessed the right solution at the end in a million years, but still I had a great time. The cut scenes were very Sherlock Holmesy, too. And I actually liked the puzzle solving mechanics at the end of each chapter.

[Robo_Rat]

I actaully really enjoyed the complexity of this case. Although I didn't guess all the murders correctly (Yes I did notice Jeffries wasn't an option to select also), I found it all tied together quite nicely at the end. To be hosnest, if I'm going to spend almost 10 hours of story line, I'd expect the resolution to be more complex than a 60 minute CSI episode.

[nethqz]

cabby!

played through mystery of the mummy and oriental carpet (steam collection deal) so far and after being roughly halfway through silver earring i think it is better than both and generally acceptable if you consider how old it is.

not so keen on those recycled bachgrounds (sherringford hall/lindon hall for example) though

[Gilmaris]

Originally posted by nethqz:

not so keen on those recycled bachgrounds (sherringford hall/lindon hall for example) though

That's actually Oriental Carpet which borrowed backgrounds from Silver Earring, not the other way around. Silver Earring is about four years older, I think.

[RobOda]

Originally posted by Tanidar:

The game is fine for classic point-and-click adventures (and it's ten years old). So if you don't like classic adventures, that's ok :)

Necro'ing! >_>

Only crappy thing about this, given that it is old, is that they subtitle every scene except for the cut scenes.

Not very accessible for Deaf gamers obviously, I was lucky I found a guide that kinda filled in the blanks of what was being said. :)

[waltc]

Originally posted by An0maly33:

I grew up on Space/King's/Police Quest. I know what classic adventures are and I love them. This game is a terrible example of that type of game though.

That's because this game is not "that type of game," precisely...;) Those sierra games were far simpler--with not much intellectual depth to them. Sherlock Holmes is altogether different fare, generally speaking.

[An0maly33]

Originally posted by waltc:

Originally posted by An0maly33:

I grew up on Space/King's/Police Quest. I know what classic adventures are and I love them. This game is a terrible example of that type of game though.

That's because this game is not "that type of game," precisely...;) Those sierra games were far simpler--with not much intellectual depth to them. Sherlock Holmes is altogether different fare, generally speaking.

Granted. I meant to provide context to my experience with these sorts of games, even if this one does only fit loosely. I've played some other Sherlock games and some older ones from a different series when cd-roms were just becoming a thing. I specifically had trouble following THIS Sherlock Holmes game. I specifically had trouble with bad game mechanics in THIS Sherlock Holmes game. =)

[NicoDavout]

One of the best games I must say. Yes, it is very very complicated, but better then extremely boring, puzzle solving and running from room to room like Nemesis was. The artificial puzzles are limited to a place of the inventor, not lying at every corner. One has to deduct the things that happened, not count how much powder I have to use for the gun in order to blow the door, oh how I disliked the Nemesis game. The plot is awesome, and as I have finished this game immediately after Nemesis, I found it twice more attractive cause the latter game was so boring. If only the controls were modern, sneaking & ruin time elements were not there....

[Ema.Broncini]

previous Sherlock Holmes game? which?

[tomlar68]

Originally posted by ema.broncini:

previous Sherlock Holmes game? which?

The previous Frogwares game to CotSE should be The mystery of the Mummy. How anyone can consider that mess to be better than The Silver Earring is beyond me.:) In my view, CotSE is pretty bad for the reasons mentioned by the OP, The mystery of the Mummy is terrible. Seems to be free to play here on Steam. I still would not recommend it.