Sherlock Holmes - Nemesis
Sherlock Holmes - Nemesis
Game
Game2009
Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper
Developer Frogwares
Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper (French: Sherlock Holmes contre Jack l'Éventreur) is an adventure game for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360, developed by Ukrainian studio Frogwares and distributed by Focus Home Interactive. It is the fifth game in the Sherlock Holmes series of adventure games developed by Frogwares. The game takes place in the London district of Whitechapel in 1888, the historical site of the… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
191 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Nov 1, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
77
LovedLoved
138 positive · 41 negative
95% range 70–83%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 138 | 41 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 4 | 0 | 8 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
514 of 662 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
77% recommend · 138 yes, 41 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 179 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,125 of 1,384 positive).
Players praise the game's historical accuracy and atmospheric depiction of Jack the Ripper's London. [1][2][3] Many find it the best entry point to the Frogwares Sherlock series, with improved gameplay and a deduction board. [4][5][6] Some criticize the game for clunky controls, pacing issues, and bugs that hinder enjoyment. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
I seriously can not see why this had so many positive reviews. I bought it as a bundle so at least I didn't lose a lot of money but sanity is another thing. This game dragged on, and on, and on and on..... with boring dialogue and poor game play. If I wasn't such a stubborn old cow I'd have bailed after the first session but meh I hate to be beat lol. The game is nauseating to play in 1st POV which is why I spent as …
- [1]
It's my first online game (at age 63!) and I loved it. I thought the characterizations were quite good, and the deduction/conclusion is absolutely logical. I learned some things about the case of which I wasn't aware--and I actually know a lot about Jack the Ripper. I did get hung up on some of the puzzles, and since it was my first game, I cheated a bit with guides. If those hadn't existed, I might have been …
- [4]
If you're looking for a decent entry point to the Frogware Sherlock franchise, start here Unlike the previous games in the serie, this one doesn't have a too outdated engine (although the framerate is choppy even on modern cards), and doesn't force you into tedious pixel hunting puzzles, or a really random literary crossover that doesn't work. Of course that doesn't mean the game is perfect. It has all the jank you …
- [13]
I'm playing Frogwares games in release order and this is the first game I can wholeheartedly recommend. - Atmospheric, grim, gritty, exactly what is expected from Jack the Ripper story - Puzzles mostly make sense and are just difficult enough, I've opened the guide only out of laziness - Many features that make you feel like you truly do detective work Also, interactable zones highlight is the best thing that …
- [2]
Played this game for that one *specific* murder. I remember seeing the actual crime scene photo for the first time and it still gives me chills. Devs captured it very well. This game is far more accurate than any other Jack the Ripper films I've ever seen. ㅤ Watson, are you there? Where are we, Watson? What lies behind it is not the mortal realm. Could you take me home, Watson?
Summarised from 34 of the 191 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper sits at 77% positive across 179 opinionated reactions from 2 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics. GameSpot negatively commented on the way the player gathers clues in the game, as they must first run errands for the police.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 191 · most liked firstIt's my first online game (at age 63!) and I loved it. I thought the characterizations were quite good, and the deduction/conclusion is absolutely logical. I learned some things about the case of which I wasn't aware--and I actually know a lot about Jack the Ripper. I did get hung up on some of the puzzles, and since it was my first game, I cheated a bit with guides. If those hadn't existed, I might have been frustrated.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this game for that one *specific* murder. I remember seeing the actual crime scene photo for the first time and it still gives me chills. Devs captured it very well. This game is far more accurate than any other Jack the Ripper films I've ever seen. ㅤ Watson, are you there? Where are we, Watson? What lies behind it is not the mortal realm. Could you take me home, Watson?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As someone with a special interest being Jack the Ripper, and Sherlock Holmes being a current hyperfixation of mine this game is incredibly good. In terms of historical accuracy, based on my knowledge and the research I've done, it is really good. It has a lot of correct and factual information regarding Jack the Ripper and the atrocities he committed. The gameplay itself was very good as well, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The puzzles were good and engaging, though I will admit I had to look up…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →3.5/10 hardest part is trying to get to the puzzles
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First Sherlock (chronologically) that I can recommend without too many reservations. The atmosphere is sordid and the story is very intense. The puzzles are relatively ok and you get occasionally stuck, but not after every step. I rediscovered the myth of Jack the Ripper and one interpretation through this game. Enjoyed it overall. It did not get so dated in terms of graphics.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →best thing i've ever spent 1 euro on
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're looking for a decent entry point to the Frogware Sherlock franchise, start here Unlike the previous games in the serie, this one doesn't have a too outdated engine (although the framerate is choppy even on modern cards), and doesn't force you into tedious pixel hunting puzzles, or a really random literary crossover that doesn't work. Of course that doesn't mean the game is perfect. It has all the jank you can expect from a semi casual 3D detective game from 2009. Some of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The final Sherlock Holmes game in this engine and it's almost sad to see it go. It's been a super janky ride playing through all these games again, but quite interesting at the same time. There were definitely features in this game that left me scratching my head - as did all the previous games in this engine - but I generally like this the most due to the QoL improvements. I can't say I fully agree with Frogware's opinion on who Jack the Ripper was, but the way it's presented in this game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Frustrating errand simulator that reduces brilliant detective work to tedious item hunts. If you are thinking of picking up Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper, it is a narrative concept with massive historical potential that ultimately falls flat under the weight of outdated design. While tracking history's most infamous serial killer across Victorian London sounds thrilling, the actual experience is an archaic chore that will thoroughly test your patience. Here is what you need to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm playing Frogwares games in release order and this is the first game I can wholeheartedly recommend. - Atmospheric, grim, gritty, exactly what is expected from Jack the Ripper story - Puzzles mostly make sense and are just difficult enough, I've opened the guide only out of laziness - Many features that make you feel like you truly do detective work Also, interactable zones highlight is the best thing that happened to Point&Click genre since ever, but unfortunately, the button is not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I seriously can not see why this had so many positive reviews. I bought it as a bundle so at least I didn't lose a lot of money but sanity is another thing. This game dragged on, and on, and on and on..... with boring dialogue and poor game play. If I wasn't such a stubborn old cow I'd have bailed after the first session but meh I hate to be beat lol. The game is nauseating to play in 1st POV which is why I spent as much time on it (I had to keep pausing), I finally gave up and changed camera.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this frogware guys and this triology is a tragicomedy so lets conclude things: S.H Nemesis or vs Lupen - unbelivebly boring, your first case and you spend like hours in the gallery sorting and doing same things with 100 paintings, cant bear with it and had to drop it S.H crossover with Lovecraft - nice, much better! brilliant idea of doing crossover, super interesting to play but.. BUGS that break your game, I had three of them and I couldnt do anything S.H versus Jack Ripper - okayish…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →(CN: contains spoilers) I've first played this game about 15 years ago as a teenager when it was still quite new. Back then I loved it and it was actually what made me go for other games in the franchise and what's responsible for me being such a Frogwares nerd today. However now, after playing it for the first time again after such a long time, it is actually the one game among all of them I wouldn't recommend. It is unspeakably grim and that's probably what appealed to me in my edgy teenager…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☑ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a hard review for me to write because I'm playing this game after Crimes and Punishments, which I thought was a wonderful game. Maybe had I played this game first, my impressions would have been different, but I doubt it. The game has a good story and has a basis on historical facts. The problem that I had with the game was the pacing, especially toward the beginning and end and that large about of assertions that were made my Sherlock that were not based on fact, but were need to fit…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A mystery that I had been following since I was a teenager, bent on solving unsolved mysteries. The story places two of England's famous figures into a battle of wits, the titular Sherlock Holmes vs. the first mass media covered killer, Jack the Ripper. The game is beautifully well-done, giving you the chance to experience the game either as a point-and-click (the original intended way to play) or switch it to first-person to experience the dirty streets of Whitechapel for yourself. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting adventure integrating the real case of Jack the Ripper into a Sherlock Holmes case. The game has aged terribly not in the form of the gameplay, movement or story but in the form of bugged as hell animations. It got worse and worse as the game went on, it would get stuck for minutes before continuing into another segment of 10 seconds of animations before getting stuck again. Also by the later part of the game the dialogues would be unsynchronized with the animation and characters…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While there are some moments of gameplay and story that can these days be seen as core gameplay in amazing investigation games, ultimately the game is too bogged down by boring sidequests, classic kind of adventure game puzzles that make little sense and are just a chore, and the story only really starts coming together at the very end. Not to mention some jankiness and bugs. It's not a terrible game, but ultimately these days there is so much better options to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By far the worse Sherloq game, not because of the story line, but because I couldn't play. It continued to glitch & stop working.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Frogwares took a different approach with their fifth Sherlock Holmes adventure game. I don't know if it was budget cuts that caused this game to be about running back and forth in a limited number of areas. Or, maybe the developers just had a desire to tell a more grounded story than the tense thriller of "Nemesis" or "Awakened's" grand adventure. Though the formula for "vs. Jack the Ripper" is mostly the same, this Holmes adventure is so much busy work! Making a full game out of just a few…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my first of frogware's sherlock holmes games but I instantly a fan! It can be abit too hard times but that's what sherlock known for, And the horror atmosphere and accuracies of horrible and terrible living state of victorian england with the poor and desperate having to somehow live in the horrible enviorments even the children just a errie feel. Espically with the main villain being history most notorious serial killer
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a mixed bag but it's passable. Coming straight off playing Sherlock Holmes Nemesis, I started this title feeling highly dubious and mostly sceptical that I would actually finish it at all. And so I surprised myself. Between running around and losing focus on what I was meant to do, a strange mix of good and bad puzzles, in addition to getting the feeling the pace was dragging in places, I somehow ended up finishing the game. Almost everyone has heard of Jack the Ripper, so perhaps…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →medium.com/@DailyGameBy... Heya folks, I've completed Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper, so, here's my review! #sherlockholmes #videogames #retrogames #adventuregames #review
neutral · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a 2nd set of screenshots featuring Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper. #sherlockholmes #videogames #retrogames #adventuregames #screenshots #playthrough
neutral · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a 3rd short featuring Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper. I'm nearing the halfway point in this game, but there's still a long way to go before it's finished. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, though. #sherlockholmes #videogames #retrogames #adventuregames #shorts #gameplay
positive · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a 1st short featuring Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper. I wound up deciding to play through this game next. I own every available Frogwares Sherlock Holmes game, still need to play most of them. #sherlockholmes #videogames #retrogames #adventuregames #shorts #gameplay
neutral · AI labelView post →The best Sherlock Holmes game. The story alone is worth replaying, which is unusual for this kind of game. It offers no alternative paths or endings, yet it's the only game in the series that I replay every year or two. I'd love to see a remaster of this game, but given the execution of the newest game, The Awakened, I have mixed feelings. Best puzzle: Labeling the compartments at the Central News Agency. Worst puzzle: Unlocking Dr. Tumblety's trunk. I also love the foreshadowing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story and dark atmosphere are cool, but the game is just too old and janky to enjoy today The graphics are incredibly dated, the character models look rough, and the pixel-hunting puzzle logic is frustratingly old-school If you are used to Crimes and Punishments, this one feels like a massive step backward in gameplay Skip it unless you have massive nostalgia for 2009 point-and-click games
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best game of the franchise so far. The deduction board makes you feel like you're actually investigating a crime, instead of just following a set of instructions. This, and its great story, is what makes this the most enjoyable installment by Frogwares of its time. The ending is a little bit underwhelming, but that's up to the player.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not the best Sherlock game, but still solid. A few mechanics are a bit confusing. That being said it will absorb all of your attention.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 6/𝟭𝟬 ★★★☆☆ The game's story was overall gripping, and I enjoyed the pace and the A to B journey. I liked the mystery and intrigue and the banter between Holmes and Watson. Sherlock Holmes has always been a special interest of mine and this Watson is one of my particular faves. I could leave the interpretation of Holmes, but it wasn't awful. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 7/𝟭𝟬 Holmes and Watson, A+. Wiggins, A+. There were maybe one or two other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I RECOMMEND SHERLOCK HOLMES VERSUS JACK THE RIPPER !! AMAZING GAME !! INTERESTING STORY !! Adventure, Detective, Mystery, Historical, Investigation, Story-Rich, Thriller, Crime
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game, with new ideas at the time. You can control point and click, or real 3D. Controls are very clunky. Story is good. Audio non existing - dialogs broke at the begining and never appeared in the game. It is decent game for old school likers.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →utterly the best Sherlock Holmes game before entering modern ones, with great puzzle balances and plots
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely loved this game. I decided to try another of Frogwares' point-and-click games after playing Dracula: Origin because I really liked that one. Well this one is even better. The gameplay is a bit weird in that it can be first or third person, and there are a few bugs (if you can't figure out how to get out of a room, you might want to just try walking through the door, which only appears closed due to a visual bug) but the story and puzzles (most of them) are magnificent. This game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this when I was like 12, and remember enjoying it. Just replayed it. 12 year old me was wrong. It's real bad.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Among all five classic Sherlock Holmes games, this one is by far the best so if you are looking to play the classic adventure, play this. Frogwares took all the good things from previous installments and made it even better. The best thing is the introduction of deduction board. It invites you to think along with Sherlock and sometimes like in the book, you are riddled with his thought as you see from Watson's perspective which is a really interesting dynamic. Also, once again, they played with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is an absolute gem. It still looks good and the game mechanics work well. It does an excellent job at building the world and you get invested in it from the very start. London looks grime but that is exactly how it was meant to be.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Damn. DAMN. I demand a remake of this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish I could return this POS. The Game wants you to click certain spots in order to move the investigation forward, but when you try, you can't. Green magnifying glasses indicate sections you've completely searched through while clear ones indicate sections you need to search through. For 30 min. I tried clicking on sections I still needed to investigate and the game would not let me. The game only kept moving me back to sections that I've already cleared. For instance, if there is blood on a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was a good try, and I see what they were trying to do, but this game really was such a disappointment. The minigames were boring, nonsensical and glitchy af. Some like the map and pig corpse puzzles are interesting ideas, but very poorly executed. Having to walk from point A to point B is half the game. Sherlock is even more unlikable than usual and it is difficult to stay engaged, and then near the end he just looses his mind and acts crazy. It's just something I could never see the actual…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall I recommend this game. It has clever puzzles, and I like the way facts and fiction were combined to make an interesting story.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heya folks, here's a 2nd short featuring Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper. This game continues to be pretty interesting. It's also a shame Sherlock Holmes isn't real, 'cause if anyone could have figured out who Jack the Ripper was it'd have been him. #sherlockholmes #videogames #retrogames
positive · AI labelView post →Heya folks, here's a 1st set of screenshots featuring Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper. I wound up deciding to play the game in its original 4:3 aspect ratio because the widescreen mode looked too stretched out. #sherlockholmes #videogames #retrogames #adventuregames #screenshots
neutral · AI labelView post →i played for five hours only for the game to soft-lock me with no chance of correction. if you do play make sure to have a ton of saves incase your game glitches (it will)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another great game with Sherlock Holmes from Frogwares. The atmosphere is amazing. I loved the sound and music. I would especially like to highlight the wonderful story about Jack the Ripper, which is inspired by reality as much as possible. I recommend it to all Sherlock fans and players who like puzzles and story-focused games. Some other reviews noted that game doesn't explain to you a lot of things like how to solve the different puzzles, and I honestly love that about the game, that the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Everything Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened improves on from the older games, this game makes even better. Still has all the clunky Frogwares charm but with little of the obtuse gameplay features players of the series have just come to accept. As a warning: This game also takes after its predecessor, The Awakened, in that it covers a darker story. This game, however, makes the Awakened seem light and silly in comparison. Frogwares does their best to take a dark figure from English history and make…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story and mystery of this game is very captivating. The puzzles on the other hand sometimes are a little bit clueless as it often dont give you any hint/starting instruction to do the puzzle and you will find youself stuck in a few puzzles and you have to look up walkthroughs just to pass them. Despite this "flaw", i think the games sets the atmosphere very well and its even more immersive if you play it in first person mode.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely insane story. I worry for the sanity of the writer of this one. Detailed discussions with a man who collects vaginas of deceased women (who is somehow not the killer), puzzle-solving via slicing the necks of four pigs heads to try to match them up with the slices necks of four of the victims, and much more. Play it just to experience the “wow, they went there” aspect of it all. Gameplay and animations can be a slog though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By far the best of the pre-Testament Sherlock games* *I haven't played The Awakened cause I'd rather play the remake first
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →out of the pre-testament of sherlock holmes games this is by far my favorite. I love the twist in the Jack the Ripper story and what their interpretation of what happened in this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i played Crimes and Punishment and The Devils Daughter. Both were nice games, but this one is just so outdated. The deductions sometimes dont make much sense. The voice acting is not good and the controls are a bit clunky. The start of the game is kinda slow and sends you on running quests like a paper boy Well what do you expect its an old game, for some people it might have charme or something iike that. Not for me
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great atmosphere
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i have to say even if i enjoy the game the puzzles were good and a little bit hard in their own way i can't personally say i will recommend it because i have a game bug that make me impossible to finish the game sadly tried to go from old save files to see i can go throught but it was the same result any time no matter what that is the reason mostly why i can't recommend it but if you find yourself playing detectives games and you decide to try this old gem still encourage you to try but beware…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →'Sherlock Holmes versus Jack The Ripper' is one of the best, if not the best, of all the five Sherlock Holmes games I've played so far. Yet, it's plot is also the most complicated and torturous out of them all. The game is set in late 19th century London, and as usual Holmes tries to solve an unsolvable murder mystery involving grizzly murders of women. He ingeniously uncovers seemingly absent clues and makes logical deductions about the murderer from them, and finally finds the murderer.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun investigative story game. I would suggest having a tutorial on standby though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very fun game. Tense story, dark themes. I will say though, I'm glad it doesn't hold my hand all the way through the game, but how the heck was I supposed to know dragging and dropping items in my inventory can allow me to make new items?!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game. Need to use a walkthrough though
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Scary ahh game haha... Outside of the mechanics, It is a classic game so don't expect 2024 movement or graphics on a 2009 PC game (which was on a CD) Butttttt...... Tbh thats what makes it even scarier!! The ambiance, the real life autopsy photos with the women's real faces , the dingy town and clothes.. TBH I'm more than grateful to have not lived in this time period as I comfortably write this review from my modern and warm home lol. The story is better than the gameplay sadly but I am…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While this game introduces some interesting and somewhat fun mechanics (I say mostly because in later parts of this series they’re present but much more polished) it doesn’t help the game because it fails to execute them well. So yeah, kinda dropped the ball there game. The story is also much less interesting than the previous 2 games. Jack the Ripper is interesting when going against anything that isn’t a detective (at least that’s how I feel). The characters are fine, I liked the side…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
