Sherlock Holmes Chapter One review: Not exactly elementary

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is an odd duck, with one foot in its point-and-click adventure game roots and the other in action-oriented open-world modernity. At its best, it’s a fun detective simulator with investigation, deduction, and all the things you want when you play Sherlock Holmes. At its worst, it’s a low-rent action-adventure title starring a knock-off Batman, complete with useless sidekick.

Chapter One is ostensibly a prequel about a youthful Sherlock Holmes investigating his mother’s mysterious death on the fictional island of Cordona. I say “prequel,” but Holmes still has all his deductive, investigative, and martial powers, so make of that what you will. He investigates a number of cases, and the players must follow clues, search crime scenes, and piece together what really happened.