Crimes & Punishments, a new game in the Sherlock Holmes series has been announced by Focus Home Interactive. And the game isn’t based on developer Frogwares Studio’s homemade graphics solution. Instead it is being built around Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 to help the legendary detective take on added realism.
Crimes & Punishments will build upon last year’s Sherlock Holmes success, with the publisher revealing that changes will come both on the graphical front as well as in terms of the experience that the game will provide. It will see players take on a more proactive role in the detective’s dealings, unlike the last few offerings.
To that effect, it will feature 8 cases that will require all of Holmes’ skills to solve vagaries ranging from the most evil, murder, to things like mysterious disappearances and baffling heists. The cases are to be the cornerstones of the title, and the publisher says they have been written in the tradition that would make Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself proud.
In addition, players will be able to make moral choices rather than just enforcing the letter of the law, and all decisions are binding. They affect a player’s reputation and can sometimes have unexpected consequences. This means that players will have to live by their choices, a feature that adds depth to every move that gamers might make.
What’s more, the title will see Sherlock turn up in a new avatar, shedding his classic look inspired by the 1960s films. The new look, which can be seen in the image we’ve posted above, still keeps a few of the traditional elements of his garb.
The last game – a ‘testament’ not just to the detective’s observational skills, but also to his deductive abilities – was released in 2012. It featured gameplay elements similar to Rockstar’s L.A. Noire in that players could go down different lines of questioning in order to catch suspects off-guard for vital information. It also shifted focus away from point and click gameplay prevalent in the series prior.
Crimes & Punishments is set to launch sometime this year with an exact release date not having been mentioned. It is expected out on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, and with the Unreal Engine 3 technology should prove quite an eyeful.