Game Review...Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis

If you are an amateur sleuth, a budding Ellery Queen or Nancy Drew. Or one of those annoying persons, who always wins at Clue. (totally jealous I am of course) Then do I have a game for you. But if you are anything like me, then you better have pencil, paper and a good walkthrough handy.

Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis (aka: Sherlock Homes versus Arsene Lupin) is a first person adventure game. This game definitely requires you to use the ole grey matter. You will need to use your reasoning and deductive skills a lot in this game, and I must admit my skills were a lot sharper in my younger days when I used to watch Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce portray Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on the silver screen. The puzzles in the game range from easy to downright pull your hair out hard. (you will wind up saying to yourself after you have read the walkthrough "Now why didn't I think of that" a lot in this game)

Graphics
You don't need a powerful computer to run this game. If your machine is Pentium 3 or higher and your video card is 128 MB Directx 9.0c compatible you should be golden. The graphics are clear and crisp. (on a personal note, not taking anything away from the game. I found the depiction of 1895 London a little too clean and pristine for my liking. )

Audio
The sound effects in the game were good and the voice acting was first rate, but I did find that the character lip syncing was off a little in some of the dialogue cut scenes. There were scenes where the characters lips were still moving long after the dialogue stopped. Another nice feature is the ability to adjust the various sound levels. I personally thought the violin music in the background was a little to intrusive until I adjusted it to my comfort level.

Controls
You move through out the game by means of WASD keys on the keyboard or by holding down the left button of your mouse. Using your mouse you can interact with characters and items by left clicking on them. Right clicking your mouse will allow you to access your inventory, dialogue, documents, notes and maps. Right clicking again will close your inventory screen.

Gameplay
In this installment Sherlock Holmes is locked in a battle of wits with Arsene Lupin a fictional French gentleman thief. Arsene Lupin challenges Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to stop him from stealing priceless artifacts that he says were wrongly taken away from the French through the Treaty of Alexandria and ceded to the British. He vows to steal back these items and humiliate the British Empire in the process. You must unravel the cryptic clues Arsene Lupin leaves behind after the thefts at such famous landmarks in London as the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. You must try to stay on step ahead of Lupin, and prevent him from stealing these priceless artifacts. While maintaining the Honor and Dignity of the British Crown, and of course the reputation of Sherlock Holmes by solving the case.

I found the title a little misleading. When I think of Sherlock Holmes's Nemesis the first person that comes to my mind is Professor Moriarty.... None the less I enjoyed playing this game even though it was a little humbling at times.

545 People

I received this in an e-mail, and the more I thought about it the more sense it made to me. How can a select few wield so much power, and get absolutely nothing done. After reading this I understood. They the politicians want it that way!


WELL SAID!!

545 People
By Charlie Reese --

"Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority.

They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.

I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.

No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget.

He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House?

She is the leader of the majority party.

She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want.

If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ .

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!"

I say its time to clean house. I will not vote for any incumbent running for Congress or the Senate.

Doc.