Throughout the adventure, players get inundated with collected objects, clues and a plethora of conversations replete with meaningful details. Thankfully, Frogwares did a marvelous job creating an inventory system that is easy to use and accessible. Whenever needed you'll be able to go back and review every conversation or clue, which helps bypass the feeling of being "lost" or wondering what to do next. Additionally, you won't be able to leave an area if all the clues and pertinent details have yet to be found.

Additionally, The Awakened comes with a fast travel feature. As particular locations get discovered, players will be able to instantly travel anywhere by clicking on its respective spot on the map. Some of the locales are great distances apart, so it's nice to be able skip any tedious traveling. Plus, there will be occasions when a vital clue has been missed and you'll have to revisit a location, sometimes multiple times.

Visuals are surprisingly good, and players have complete range of movement within the moody, atmospheric and gorgeously rendered 3-D environments, despite some flat background scenery and blocky looking characters. One disappointment was the empty, lifeless streets of London. Instead of a vibrant Victorian city, it seemed more like a morgue.

Audio is solid, with adequate voice acting, dialogue and plenty of sound effects add ambiance to each scene. The only nitpick is not being able to accurately fast forward through the cut scenes, which at times can be very verbose. While you can -- sometimes -- skip them entirely by hitting the mouse button or the ESC key, we found it didn't always work. This is pointless anyways because skipping any dialogue may lead to missing an important clue.

As Sherlock Holmes once said, "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." In the case of The Awakened, as improbable as it might seem, the truth remains -- this is a great game.