SHERLOCK: Interactive Adventure Review

The tales of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes are quite timeless, with many TV adaptations, film versions, and more ensuring that his eccentric ways are forever at the forefront of our mystery-tackling minds. The books themselves are wonderful too, and well worth checking out, which is precisely where SHERLOCK: Interactive Adventure turns into an attractive proposition.

The app is an interactive version of "The Red-Headed League," one of the many short stories of Sherlock Holmes. It won't take regular readers a particularly long time to read through, but its interactive components do ensure that it's a different experience from simply reading a conventional e-book.

Besides offering the text of the original, SHERLOCK: Interactive Adventure also includes an audio version of the story when the iOS device is tilted to the side. It captures the pace of the tale quite well, proving quite evocative at times. Furthermore, it's possible to explore some of these scenes by dragging one's finger around the screen to look at everything from different angles. It's a small but significant touch, further enhanced by the animations that bring life to the scene. Adding to the experience is appropriate music and sound effects for each scene.

More interactive elements stem from the dossier and mapping side of the app. The former offers up collated information on each of the characters depicted within the story, while the map brings with it a take on 19th-century London and a new perspective on the tale. SHERLOCK: Interactive Adventure is first and foremost a well told story, but those interactive elements ensure it sticks in the mind a lot more so than a regular e-book.

It's worth bearing in mind that SHERLOCK: Interactive Adventure is really $2.99, rather than the free price tag attached to it in the App Store. That doesn't offer the full experience with an in-app purchase opening the way to such delights. It still feels a reasonable price for such an experience, especially for those who are big Sherlock Holmes fans. It's both fun and interesting to see a new spin on a familiar premise.