
Developer Frogwares have become known for their line of Sherlock Holmes adventure games, of which there have been six to date.The last one, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, in particular was well-received and praised for jettisoning the traditional point-and-click gameplay style of adventure games and providing a more immersive third-person adventure experience.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is set to be the seventh entry in the series and publisher Focus Home Interactive promises more improvements and features. Rather than simply follow the famed detective around, in this game you actually play as Sherlock and solve not just one but six cases including murder, theft and mysterious disappearances.

A new game engine also allows for additional investigative techniques heretofore unavailable in previous installments in the series such as utilizing the sense of smell. That seemingly innocuous ashtray, for instance, has a story to tell and by Jove you’re going to hear it—er, smell it.
It’s also going to allow you to utilize methods of subterfuge such as disguises. This new video features sample gameplay of using a disguise.
Focus Home Interactive says that although the character is essentially as faithful as ever to Conan Doyle’s iconic detective, Crimes & Punishments also forgoes the more traditional depictions of the character for a version with a bit more modern flair albeit still rooted in a Victorian time and setting, perhaps taking a cue from the enormous popularity of recent cinematic and televised reimaginings.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments will be released on Sept. 30.