Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is an adventure game developed by Frogwares and published in 2006 on DVD for Windows. The game follows an original plotline as Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. John H. Watson investigate a series of strange disappearances related to the Cthulhu Mythos.

The third in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series of adventure games developed by Frogwares, The Awakened was preceded in 2002 by Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy and in 2004 by Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring. This is the first game in the series to tackle supernatural elements such as the Cthulhu Mythos, the previous two games having fairly traditional (albeit original) Holmesian plots.

In 2008, a remastered version was released that offers the ability to play in a third-person perspective mode in addition to the first-person perspective. The version also features improved graphics and changes to the help system.

Plot
As the game begins, it is revealed that Sherlock Holmes is discontented because he lacks a case worthy of his talents. However, this mood quickly changes when Holmes learns of the disappearance of a young Maori manservant named Baowpa who worked for one of Watson's patients, Captain Stenwick.

Upon further investigation, Holmes deduces that the manservant did not simply go missing but was kidnapped. His search couples the manservant's kidnapping with other kidnappings as reported by certain interrogated individuals. It becomes apparent to Holmes that so many kidnappings could only be carried out by a powerful group of individuals—who are later discovered to be followers of Cthulhu.

Holmes and Watson's investigation takes them to Switzerland, New Orleans, and the western Scottish coast in a desperate race against time to not only solve the case, but to prevent Cthulhu from being reawakened once more.

Gameplay
The Awakened was the first Frogwares title to allow gameplay to take place in an entirely real-time 3D landscape and from a first-person perspective, losing the pre-rendered backgrounds of its predecessor.

Although the game had adopted a view popularized by the first-person shooter genre, it retains the point-and-click aspect of most adventure games, giving the player the ability to complete the game using the mouse alone.

The remastered version allows for gameplay in a third-person perspective, similar to other Frogwares titles, such as Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earring and Dracula: Origin.