I normally hate movies like this, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I absolutely LOVE Michael Clarke Duncan’s character Tarik (which we spell Tariq where I’m from, but whatever). He cracked me up!

SPOILER

I kept rewinding and rewatching the scene where he’s disguised as El Cabillo and looming over George. They’re about to start fighting when Tariq’s voice comes out of the armour and starts giving him a right telling off: “What are you doing in this dreadful place. Are you crazy?! Risking your neck for that skinny girl. She’s got no meat on her bones! What did I tell you about that!”. Had me in uncontrollable giggles every time.

This adaptation is rather meh. Besides which I must admit that Shakespeare loses my attention anyway after the argument between Brutus and Cassius. The performances were indifferent with the exception of David Collings’ intense and emotional Cassius, and Sam Dastor’s slightly bitchy (and amusing) gossip scene as Casca. Overall though I would recommend watching another adaptation.

After reading this book, I have discovered that I have misunderstood its title my whole life. I always thought it meant 20,000 leagues deep. It actually means their journey is 20,000 leagues long. A 20,000 League Long Journey Beneath the Waves. Hmmm, not as catchy.

If you want to experience this story, read the book. For me, the movie didn’t even remotely compare. In fact, if I hadn’t already read the book I would have had trouble following portions of the plot. In its favour, the acting is pretty good. Most noteworthy is Richard Burton’s portrayal of O’Brien. Perfectly terrifying.

When I began the game, I was actually rather tickled. It was done in the style of the oooooold Sierra adventure games, with a parser instead of the now standard point-and-click interface. It looked like it was going to be fun, but failed to deliver. Here are my major complaints:

• too short
• and no plot development WHATsoever

There was no meat on them bones…..And there was only one bone.

The only reason I read all the way through this was because I never give up on a book. I don’t regret it. It wasn’t exactly bad. But it wasn’t exactly good either. The author has serious problems in a few areas including difficulty building suspense and repetitive, to the point of being almost identical, romantic relationship plot arcs. I wouldn’t recommend this to any serious fan of fantasy. It offers nothing original and the same-old-same-old with only the barest competence. What I can say in her favour is that her writing improves in the last book, so perhaps there is hope for later series.

Most reviews I’ve read of this game prefer it to it’s predecessor, The Case of the Serrated Scalpel, but I am of the opposite opinion. The story didn’t grab me nearly as much and was often prone to drag. I also didn’t get as involved with the NPCs which was one of the main things I liked about the first game.

On the up side, the acting was quite good. The voices of Holmes and Watson in particular were excellent and definitely added to the enjoyment of the game. I just wish they hadn’t reused the same actors for multiple parts, especially when the person has a voice that is both distinctive and highly annoying…I’m looking at YOU, Sister Grace!

Despite my complaints, I would still say this game is worth playing if you enjoy historical detail, which is present in delightful abundance even greater accuracy than the first game.

I really enjoyed this, despite the fact that it’s an adventure-RPG hybrid and I’m a die hard adventure game fan. The story is interesting and unfolds at a fair clip. The graphics aren’t great (it was released in ‘93), but nothing obnoxious and there are some cool, genre-appropriate locations to visit (afflicted village, swamp, vampire-filled cave, sire’s castle etc).

The only thing that bugged me at all was having to swap weapons every few screens because each type of monster is only susceptible to a particular weapon. Otherwise, the combat system is minimalist and the ghoulies are easy to defeat. True RPG fans would probably suffer from a lack of challenge, but if you’re more of an adventure fan and are looking for something a little different, just for the lols you know, I would recommend giving this little game a try.

I absolutely loved playing this game. The story is rich and involving. Possibly the best plot of any adventure game I have ever played (which, if you knew how many of them I have played, is a considerable compliment).

Holmes and Watson are lovely. Their language and personalities are very true to the books and this added tremendously to my enjoyment of the game. The NPCs are all extremely interesting, with distinct and well-developed personalities. I wish more games had this kind of high standard for the whole cast of characters, rather than focusing only on the protagonist.

Another thing I loved about this game was the incredible amount of detail Holmes’ gives you when you look at items around him. Not only does this reflect Holmes’ mind, which we know to be that of a very keen observer, but it greatly enhances immersion in the environment. I came to feel very quickly that I was actually there in Victorian London snooping around after a dangerous villain and showing up Scotland Yard’s finest.

I am trying to get myself used to spicy food so I can survive in Asia. It was tough in the beginning – had to mix it in with lots of rice and kept glugging water, which didn’t help at all – but about halfway through the dish I acclimatised. A win for me!