Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and having a great start to the weekend, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things gaming and literature. Following on from a post I did titled "Elementary my dear Watson" where I brought up the topic of the latest game which will be released in the Sherlock Holmes series by Frogwares, I have since decided to do a post on each of the individual games to give readers a better idea of one of my favourite gaming series ever created. Today I will be looking at the fifth game in the series, called Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper.
The first post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy
The second post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring
The third post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
The fourth post in the game series was Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin (aka Nemesis)
Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper
The fifth game in the series, Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper, was released in March 2009 and had Sherlock Holmes against the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper who is haunting the women on London. This is the first game in the series to be released on console, specifically Xbox 360. The game consists of poems, puzzles and tasks that take Holmes from one clue to the next.
Set in the late Victorian period, at a time when the British Empire was at its peak, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson begin this adventure in 1888. The Whitechapel area in the heart of London is being terrorized by the greatest villain England has ever seen, who between 3rd of April 1888 and the 13th and February 1891, committed a series of violent and horrific murders. As Whitechapel is one of the cities must underprivileged areas, within its boundaries lived some of the country's poorest inhabitants including alcoholics, beggars, prostitutes, as well as a large community of Jewish immigrants fleeing Eastern Europe's ever growing antisemitism. In this terrible hole of misery, tens of thousands of people lived crammed within a maze of narrow, dank and dirty streets.
As usual, the game starts with Holmes being uninterested and bored with the quiet of the day on September the 1st 1888, while unbeknownst to him a prostitute is being murdered in Bucks Row, Whitechapel. Such a horrible crime makes the morning papers, but is not of interest to Holmes. Eventually, after some persuading from Watson, Holmes agrees to visit the Whitechapel police station. They are not very welcome and the have little intention of allowing Sherlock to interfere with the case, but the guard on duty needs and favour and Holmes reckons he could divulge some information if they help locate his missing pouch. Sherlock will conduct his own investigation into the murders, and questions nearby witnesses, discovering the streets of Whitechapel and its many interesting inhabitants in the process. They head to the boarding house where the owner Finley informs them of the whereabouts of the missing police pouch. After discussions with a local called Lucy and Wiggins from the Irregulars, Holmes secret police, they find Lucy's sick uncle the Captain. After a trip to the clinic by Watson, they help the Captain although he will only live for another month or so. Retrieving the pouch, Sherlock returns to the police station and manages to gain access to Dr. Henry Llewelyn's preliminary report in the death of the prostitute, Polly Nichols.
That night the pair head to Bucks Row to examine the corpse and make a deduction into what happened without the furore of a crowd. Polly had been strangled and her throat slit, with a number of motives including revenge, black magic, and love considered.
A week passes after no news when they read the morning newspaper of September the 7th to discover the Leather Apron, a bully of local prostitutes. Watson heads to the Whitechapel police station once again to gain some information, and from here he proceeds to the boarding house. Finley tells him about his new tenant, a strange man by the name of Dr. Tumblety, and also a foreigner. Watson then goes to the local brothel where Lucy introduces him to the bouncer and an artist by the name of Sickert. He lost his cane and would love for Watson to find it, while the receptionist of the brothel also informs Watson of a spillage from an usual delivery man the previous day. Watson heads to the clinic, where he learns that a prostitute who was let go, Margie, also had an encounter with Leather Apron. The leather apron had worked for a cobbler, a local one named Isaac Solomonovitch. Watson visits the cobbler and discusses John Pizer, aka Leather Apron, and pleads that the man go to the police to absolve his name of the murder. On returning to the police station, Holmes arrives as they discover another murder has taken place, this time at at Hanbury Street.
The pair head to the latest crime scene that night and enter the building, right through to the backyard, where they investigate the victim, Annie Chapman. She was murdered on site, partially strangled and had her throat slit. The murderer also stole her rings and removed her uterus in the process. A couple of days later Watson goes back to see Solomonovitch, on September the 11th. A crowd had chased a man through the streets, blaming him for the deaths. At the brothel he learns more about Annie Chapman, that she had rings of girls instead of traditional prostitutes. At the local pub, the Wasp's Nest, he encounters the artist Sickert again, and Dr. Tumblety, the man living at the boarding house, is present but locked behind a door. With no way of getting to him Watson goes to the police station again, where he gets more information including a testimony of the time of the murder, but still no description of Dr. Tumblety. A quick visit to the boarding house and chat with Finley solves this, and Watson learns of a gas leak caused by the police searching the area.
The following day, September the 12th, Sherlock and Holmes figure out a time of death for Annie Chapman based on all the information they have gathered, before 4.30am. They also deduce that the possible motives could have included money, human trafficking, and cannibalism. At London hospital Watson meets an old friend named Andrew. They talk about the possibility of organ trafficking and body trading. Alone in the hospital briefly, Watson does some snooping and after some puzzles discovers information on the workings of the heart, along with a magnet and piece of coded paper. Meanwhile Sherlock has donned a disguise and gone to the Wasp Nest's pub, where he manages to talk with the thug Bluto. The police have been chasing Bluto and he left a briefcase at the boarding house where the gas leak is, he needs a gas man to retrieve it. Holmes agrees and fixes the leak at the boarding house after a brief chat with Finley. Holmes switches out the stolen jewels in the briefcase for some rusted dishes, and returns them to Bluto at the pub. Holmes learns from Bluto that the man chased by the crowd was Squibby and they police have him in custody. With some help from the Irregulars and a prostitute named Big Danny, Holmes manages to create a diversion and get into the police station. Talk to Squibby and learn that he is locked up for his own protection. A journalist by the name of Tom Bulling had started the rumour of Squibby being the killer in an attempt to get even with Squibby. At the Wasp's Nest pub Sherlock learns about Bulling from the barmaid and see's some of the journalists papers scattered at his seat.
The next day, September the 13th, Watson tells Holmes about the missing bodies at the Hospital. The decipher the coded letter, which to their horror confirms that there is indeed body trafficking. They rush to the location shown in the code, 17 Wharfdale Road. They manage to gain access into the house by breaking in, and some investigating reveals a cellar. There is a coffin along with a stove, and Holmes solves a puzzle to reveal a bent key. After fixing the key with a workbench, they managed to make a ladder outside to gain access to the upper level. Inside they see a perfectly preserved body of a woman on the table with a London Hospital tag on her foot. A number of objects including new clothes and a magician outfit leads Holmes to believe she has been persevered to use in a magic show. A group of men arrive and Sherlock and Watson meet them, pretending to be new members of the gang. The men are responsible for preparing the bodies are here, and they inform Sherlock the bodies are not for selling organs as they are not in demand.
Two weeks later on September the 29th Holmes gets informed by Wiggins, one of Holmes' boys, that Tom Bulling is at his place of work. Holmes will go to talk to the journalist while Watson is to go to the London Hospital once again and inform them of the missing bodies. Holmes searches Bulling's desk as the journalist is not there, discovering a number for a contact, Walesby, who has information on the Whitechapel killer. After answering some puzzle questions Holmes searches the office a bit more before heading to the police station and talk to Inspector Abberline. He has a letter from the apparent Jack the Ripper but on inspecting it Holmes recognises the same ink as Bulling had used in his notes. Holmes meets Watson outside the Wasp's Nest Pub, and inside they confront Bulling on his fake letter and news stories. In an alleyway outside the pub they encounter Squibby. The police had released him, and he tells Holmes about Dr. Tumblety, and his preferences for human organs. At the boarding house Sherlock and Watson learn from Finley that Dr. Tumblety had left in a haste and not returned his keys. Watson and Holmes enter the room and discover a large trunk. After solving the code to gain access, they discover that the trunk is full of human organs, Tumblety's specimens. The police have arrived and are talking to Finley, where we learn that two more murders have happened.
On October the 7th, roughly two weeks after discovering Dr. Tumblety's specimens, Holmes instructs Watson to find a butchers or slaughterhouse along with a dozen pigs heads. Watson heads to the brothel and finds Lucy, and learns her uncle, the Captain, has finally died of his sickness. She tells Watson of a man named Fletcher who owns a butchers shop nearby. Its closed, but Watson learns the key may be with a man named James Hardiman. Watson finds Hardiman and learns he sells meat on the street. He lives with his mom and lost his daughter recently after her face was eaten apart by disease. He can locate the pigs heads for Watson, and will meet both Watson and Holmes at the butchers shop if Watson can fix the key to the butchers. Watson heads to Hardiman's home, where he discovers its the same place where Annie was killed. There is also a box of meat on the table to Watson's disgust, which is used by Hardiman to prepare his sales. At the butcher's shop Holmes conducts his experiment with the pigs heads. He slices the heads in a similar way to how the victims died, and by using a variety of knives. They figure out the type of knife which the killer must have used. Back at the Wasp's Nest Pub they learn from the barman about the latest victims and the Jewish community in the area. The victims were Liz Stride and Katherine Eddowes.
That night Holmes and Watson visits the area where Liz Stride died near to the Jewish club at Berner Street, a place called Dutfield's Yard. After considering all the evidence and testimonies given to himself and Watson, Holmes figures out what time the murder roughly took place at. He places the murder of Liz Stride at 12:45am to 1:00am. Searching the corpse reveals to Holmes that she also had her throat slit, by a thin knife, and she was killed was standing upright. They decide they need to investigate the next murder, the one of Katherine Eddowes at Mitre Square. Holmes talks to Abraham Solomonvitch at the corner by the Great Synagogue. Three men from the Jewish Imperial Club saw a man and woman talking but took no notice of them. One of these witnesses was the Aldgate butcher Joseph, and he said the man was about three inches taller than the woman, who was about five feet tall. Holmes and Watson go back to the scene of the crime, Mitre Square, and investigate the body. The pair re-enact the crime, using all the info they have available to figure out roughly what time it took place at. They deduce it must have happened around 1:35am to 1:42am. The deduction reveals the Eddowes was opened up like an animal from her murderer, and it was likely the same person who murdered them both. Her nose had been cut off, her cheeks thinned, her uterus removed, her eyelids removed, and her lungs cut.
The morning of October the 9th sees Holmes needing three mannequins as he wants to figure out what the murderer was wearing. After looking through all their info from witnesses the pair dress up the mannequins and conclude that the murderer was roughly 33 years old, was wearing a dark jacket, had blonde hair, and about 5'3" in height. Now that they know what he roughly looks like, the question is where does he live. He had time to get from Elizabeth Stride's murder to Katherine Eddowes so much bet within a certain radius of these. The pair place all the murder scenes on a map and using a pencil draw out a radius of the potential distance the murderer could live within. They break it down to a small area where Jack the Ripper might live, known as The Aldgate Area. Holmes decides to visit Tom Bulling once more to find the information at Central News Agency. Convincing Bulling he is owed, Sherlock manages to locate information include that from the directors desk. Particular interest is what Holmes learns from previous Law and Crime investigations, two cases called the Tabram case and the Smith Affair.. Holmes states that the Tabram case can be attributed to Jack the Ripper but not the Smith Affair. Back in Whitechapel they visit the pet shop but it is closed. They encounter Hardiman before going to the clinic, where Dr. Gibbons tells them the symptoms of syphilis. Pox causes eyes with no lids, non-existent nose and chiselled cheeks. A photo of a child with emaciated face is given to them, and it is very similar to that of the corpse of Eddowes.
A week later, on October the 15th, Watson and Holmes learn of another murder. This one is Martha Tabram, and happened at George Yard Building. Without giving it much interest, Holmes deducts the killer's cowardice, syphilis and knowledge of anatomy. Things remain quiet from here until November the 8th, when the irregulars inform Holmes that Dr. Tumblety has been in police custody and only just released. They head straight to the boarding house where they meet Finley and go to speak with Dr. Tumblety. The doctor explains his innocent interest in collecting organs, but never has he been involved in murders or acquiring them himself in person.
The following day Holmes and Watson walk down Dorset Street and enter a building by a crying man in Millers Court. Holmes comes running out stunned and horrified, having walked in on a horribly mutilated victim. They return to Baker Street and Holmes makes a clay figure of the victim, M J. Kelly. The heart had been removed from this one. They head to Whitechapel and speak to Hardiman and Isacc the cobbler, who inform the pair on the eating habits of Jews, especially the offal of an animal. Holmes decides they need to gain entry to the Jewish Imperial Club, and after breaking in Holmes enters the administration room. Here Holmes discovers some note and a safe, with the notes informing the detective that three men, Phillips, Woolf and Levy, had been accused of stealing meat from Hyman Sampson. Two of those had served time for their crimes, Woolf and Levy. Holmes discovers the address of Joseph Levy, 36 Middlesex St, Aldgate. Holmes escapes the club without being seen, and himself and Watson head to Levy's house. His wife answers and they discover he is not home but one of his kids has syphilis. Mrs. Levy gives a description of her husband and Jacob then arrives home. Holmes and Watson head back home to do their final deductions of this horrific case.
The killer has great strength and physical force, and definitely killed Nichols, Chapman, Stride, Eddowes and Kelly. He was a butcher, and verified the health of his victims by opening them up. He removed the organs of his victims where he could, and was a poor man. He had a score to settle with the Jewish community after they wronged him, and wanted to give his victims the appearance of having syphilis. From here, Holmes and Watson decide who their five suspects are.
Dr. Francis Tumblety
Walter Sickert
Jacob Levy
James Hardiman
Abraham Solomonvitch
After using all their evidence and comparing it with their suspects, they come to the only suspect who matches all their conclusion. Jacob Levy. Holmes goes and talks with a group of men along with Isaac on Middlesex street. To Watson's horror, they watch as Jack the Ripper kills again, but they confront him afterwards. Holmes has arranged for the Jewish community to handle Jacob, not jailing him but instead watching him and ensuring he cannot commit a crime again. Watson is disgusted by Holmes makes it clear he is not just intelligent but wise. The case was closed, at least for Holmes and Watson. The police never did find out who Jack the Ripper was and the eventually closed the case in 1891.
An example of the game is shown in the image below of Sherlock and Watson in London.
Main Characters
Sherlock Holmes: The famous consulting detective who resides at 221b Baker Street along with his loyal companion Dr. John Watson. Holme's methods are unusual and he requires all of his unique methods to solve this case.
Dr. Watson: A doctor and also Holmes' best friend. He will do whatever is possible in order to help his friend catch Jack the Ripper and save the people of Whitechapel from this terror.
Jack the Ripper: The serial killer who has been terrorising the streets of Whitechapel and its surrounds, killing prostitutes with zero mercy or remorse. He mocks the police in his conduct and is seen as both a madman and a genius.
Inspector Abberline: The main police inspector for the case, he refuses Holmes' help as he fully believes that he can easily solve the case alone.
Baker Street Irregulars: The gang of misfit children who help Holmes and Watson in their case. Wiggins is their leader.
Dr. Francis Tumblety: An American doctor who is in London at the same time as the murders, he is known to have a dislike women in general and a particular interest in human organs, which he keeps in glass jars.
Walter Sickert: A painter who has been regularly seen at the local brothel, where many of the Rippers victims are known to have worked.
Jacob Levy: A local butcher in the Whitechapel area who has a poor reputation due to his previous misdemeanours. His child is sick with syphilis and he has struggled with the Jewsih community.
James Hardiman: A poor meat seller who lost his child due to sickness, syphilis, and his wife. He is somewhat not right in the head but continues his life by supplying meat to serve some worth and use to the local area.
Abraham Solomonvitch: The local cobbler of Whitechaple,
System Requirements
To run this game on your PC it will require a minimum of the following as per Steam:
As a little piece of trivia, Sherlock did not make deductions, he actually used the logical process known as abduction. The difference between deductive and abductive reasoning is that the latter is based more on inference from observation, where the conclusion drawn may not always necessarily be true. However, in deduction, the conclusion drawn from the available data is always correct or true.
Have a great day,
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
Referral links:
Publish0x - https://www.publish0x.com/?a=olejZqrzej
Splinterlands - https://splinterlands.com?ref=rnabc1
Upland - r.upland.me/NQAH
Binance - https://accounts.binance.com/en/register?ref=143611368
NFT Market Sales
OpenSea - https://opensea.io/RNabc
Follow Me :)
Twitter - @RNabc123
