Detective games have been attempted on the PC since the dawn of computer gaming, and seldom have they met with success.  Sherlock Holmes is far and away the favorite subject of these sleuthing romps, and by looking at a decade of Sherlock Holmes games, you can get a good idea of what detective games on he PC are like.  A few of these games were lavish, historically accurate and graphically intense; the remainder were shallow attempts to translate the adventure game format to another genre.

	Admittedly, it's hard to create a realistic detective game, and the adventure game format is the easiest way to go about it.  But adventure games seldom convey any sense of what a real detective must do.  Instead of poring over evidence and proposing theories, players spend their time collecting objects, using these objects on other objects, and trying to solve puzzles that have little to do with real crime-solving.

	Jack the Ripper, a recent release by Gametek, probably won't make a big splash on the computer gaming market - it has average graphics, a small advertising budget, and worst of all, it's based on real, historical events, so it sounds suspiciously like it might be (shudder) educational!  However, despite graphics and an interface that look like they were developed in 1990, Jack the Ripper (hereafter JTR) provides a novel and satisfying game engine that does a credible job of mimicking a real detective's daily routine.

	Unlike your standard adventure game, where solving the crime is based upon solving a variety of puzzles ("Now, if I use the wire and the icepick on the keyhole, I might be able to open the door!") and dealing with a variety of pre-scripted events ("Ms. Peacock has fled through the back door - I must stop her!") JTR provides a much more credible game environment.

	At the heart of the game are premises.  A premise is a piece of information that will help you solve your quest, and in JTR, a premise is a tangible item.  More on premises in just a moment.

	During the course of the game, you move between several different locations by clicking on a map of London.  At each location you find premises by: interviewing someone who's there, searching the area, or examining items you happen to find there.  Interviews are non-interactive: you just select the Interview option and your subject gives a statement.  This statement is shown in a box of text.  While you read the text, you may click on any sentences that seem significant to the case.  If the sentences become highlighted, then you know that you've found a premise.  Double-click on it to give the premise a name and send it to your notebook for further review.

	You can also get premises by clicking on the text description of any objects that you find, and by clicking on significant passages in the newspaper.  

	Back in your study, you use a blackboard to combine premises.  This is a clever way to force the player into making logical deductions.  For example, if you have a premise that says "Dave is the only idiot in town," and another that says "An idiot committed this crime," you could put both premises on the blackboard, and then a third premise would appear: "Dave has committed the crime."

	There are two major parts to the game. First you must gather enough premises to build a case, and then you must retire to the study, where you can solve the case by combining premises.  Where's the challenge?  Each action takes time, and Jack will kill you if you don't solve the crime by a certain date.  Now there's a good incentive, eh?

	JTR's clever premise system, excellent game manual, and meticulous historical research make it a compelling game.  Since the clues change with each new game, you'll find that JTR does indeed have replay value.  The fact that many premises are useless is a great touch, because if you use the old adventure game tactic of "pick up everything you find", you'll have a notebook full of useless junk, and solving the case will be tough.  This encourages you to really think about what information to keep. 

	On the down side, players with a taste for graphic chrome and loud fanfares will want to avoid this title.  The pen-and-ink graphics are nice, but there's no animation, and the conversations are all text (no voice acting).  Also, your only reward for finding Jack is a screen showing a newspaper article: now where's the fun in that?

	This is one of those game's that you'll either love or hate. If you love slow-paced, thoughtful games, then you'll probably love JTR. But if you just want to cut to the chase, you won't find it here.