Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy is the first of Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games, released in 2002 on the PC. It was later ported to the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2009, and is noted for the absence of Dr Watson.
Story[]
Answering a frantic letter from the future wife of a distant cousin, Elisabeth Montcalfe, Sherlock Holmes arrives at the family manor to help solve the mysterious disappearance of her father, Lord Montcalfe, a well-known Egyptologist. Scotland Yard believes him to have committed suicide by immolation, but the young lady believes differently. Unfortunately, Dr Watson is away on vacation, so Holmes is by himself in the largely abandoned manor... or is he?
Gameplay[]
A screenshot from the game.
Being the first game in the series, Mystery of the Mummy controls much differently than subsequent entries in the franchise. While in First Person Perspective, the environments are pre-rendered static backgrounds, offering up limited movement. The player traverses through the game between a series of set positions in the environments. The player collects a series of items and clues as they move through the world. Progress and notes are kept in a notepad to help solve various puzzles.
The Wii version, though, was apparently given a facelift and upgrade.[citation needed] The pre-rendered backgrounds have been replaced by a more fully featured 3D engine.