Fans of Sherlock Holmes as he was originally portrayed will find this game as delightful as a Blue Carbuncle stuck in the crop of their Christmas goose.

While the narrative is a bit disconnected, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments uses the short story framework to its benefit, keeping each of its cases focused on pure, thrilling detective work.

Sherlock's mind is presented in such a way that he is clearly a man treading the line between madness and brilliance, which makes this opportunity to play him all the more riveting and an opportunity not to be missed people who enjoy genuine detective fiction.

The cases are thoroughly enjoyable, but deducing the murderer can be nebulous and unsatisfying due to a preponderance of circumstantial evidence.

Ultimately Sherlock’s alright - not much more, but alright might be all you need in the quiet autumn evenings.

Visually, Sherlock Holmes is brilliant, from the detailed crime scenes to the realistic facial animations. The clunky gameplay, frustrating mini-games and inconsistent voice performances do detract from the overall experience though.

The Sherlock Holmes franchise is trying to reach more people, and maybe with this game it will. The game however lacks a real challenge now. The game is a real detective game, but doesn't really convince.