Ukrainian dev Frogwares is remaking its Lovecraft-themed Sherlock Holmes game

Ukrainian studio Frogwares is working on a full-blown new-gen remake of the Lovecraft-inspired 2007 adventure game Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened.

Newcomers and fans of the original game should know that the remake is being built from scratch in Unreal Engine 4 using mostly brand new assets as well as "cleverly reworked" assets from the recent Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One. There will also be entirely new gameplay mechanics, reworked and expanded existing gameplay features, rewritten and expanded story elements, all-new voice acting, a more modern third-person camera, and "the list goes on."

The story now follows a young Sherlock and his trusty sidekick John Watson taking on their first case together, which starts out simple enough but ends up involving an evil cult that worships the eldritch god Cthulhu and are hell-bent on realizing an ancient prophecy. In trying to bring down the cult as Sherlock, [you'll explore four distinct locations: Victorian London, a Swiss psych ward, the New Orleans bayous, and the Scottish Highlands.

"The idea of using the unsettling and horror-filled events in Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened to continue our young Sherlock arc has been floating around the studio for a while," said producer Denys Chebotarov in a press release (thanks, Gematsu). The supernatural, all-consuming cosmic horror setting and gameplay work extremely well as a monumental, life-altering moment in Sherlock’s formative years.

Tragically, Chebotarov also explained how Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine influenced the decision to remake Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened. Apparently, the fact that the groundwork for the game already existed gave the developers a sense of security that they might not have had developing a brand new game.

"So we’ve always wanted to remake this game at some point, but the war has forced us into making it now," said Chebotarov. "By working on a title that has the bulk of its content, scope and narrative all locked in place after just a few weeks, we are giving ourselves a much more predictable and structured development cycle. And stability and predictability is exactly what we need right now while the rest of our days remain so uncertain."

The Sherlock Holmes: Awakened remake is being developed by Frogwares in Ukraine during the invasion by Russia. Due to this, it's being crowdfunded via Kickstarter. It'll launch on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC.

Find out which Sherlock Holmes game made the cut for our list of the best mystery games out right now.