Back in 2003, this game was my opening door into the adventure game genre. Before, my poor soul was stuck only on mindless fps. This game is not perfect, far from it, but it has a significant appeal to me. The story is great, here a small recap:
Secret of the Silver Earring takes you to England in 1897, where Holmes attends a gala hosted by an industry magnate, Sir Melvyn Bromsby. Bromsby is celebrating the return of his daughter, Lavinia, from school abroad, as well as her 18th birthday. Just as Bromsby takes the stage to deliver an address to the assembled businessmen, army officers, and ladies, a shot rings out. Bromsby falls dead instantly. As the startled throng rushes for the exits, Lavinia is left looking like the prime suspect.
This game is your usual point and click adventure game, with many puzzles and ton of pixels hunt (especially at the beginning). At the end of each chapter, you answer a small quiz, which is a nice touch in my opinion, to highlight the important aspect of the investigation.
The graphic are nice. Static background help this game to pass the time. These backgrounds just look georgous and are varied. Characters looks stiff, but hey nothing can be perfect. You can see that the game graphics have been heavily influenced by the 1980-90 Granada tv series. The game has almost 1 hour of cinematic and these are well done too.
The sound director used simple chamber musics songs, but they actually fit the theme. Tchaikovsky "Souvenir d'un lieu cher op 42" is the main theme. The voice actors are really great. They all went with a 19th century London accent that only add to the immersion. Both Sherlock Holmes and Watson voice actors have been reused through the entire Frogware Sherlock Holmes series to my great pleasure. Unlike many "eastern" (German, russian...) games, the dialogue is perfectly fine.
Value: around 10hours if you use a walkthrough, 20 hours without one.
At 10$, I would pass, but if it gets a 50% deal, go ahead! You will not regret it.