Age Of Conan Review

Book review - 'Mrs. Hudson and the Irish Invincibles' reimagines Sherlock Holmes

Although Homes creator Arthur Conan Doyle passed to the Great Beyond in 1930, lots of other writers have kept on “discovering” new papers from Dr. Watson and adding entries to the Holmes casebook.

Nicholas Meyer's novels (“The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” and “The West End Horror”) and Laurie R. King's books, beginning with “The Beekeeper's Apprentice,” in which Holmes comes out of retirement and even, believe it or not, gets married, are just a few titles on a wide shelf.

A whole pseudo-scholarly field of Holmes studies has sprung up, promoted by the likes of Christopher Morley's “Baker Street Irregulars” and William S. Baring-Gould's “biography,” “Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street.”

Some of the theories are rather revisionist: Several, for example, posit that Rex Stout's plus-sized detective, Nero Wolfe, was the offspring of Sherlock Holmes and his sometime adversary, Irene Adler. (Wolfe, after all, uncannily matched descriptions of Holmes' brother, Mycroft, the real “brains” behind the British Empire.)

Barry S. Brown of Carolina Beach has joined in the merry game with a theory of his own: Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper at 221-B Baker St., London, was the REAL detective.

Brown, a retired researcher for the National Institutes of Health, introduced his lady sleuth last year in “The Unpleasantness at Parkerton Manor.” Now, he follows up with “Mrs. Hudson and the Irish Invincibles,” which may be even more fun than his first novel.

As Brown explains (using “newly discovered” papers lost for years in the Bulgarian embassy in London), Mrs. Hudson learned her detective skills from her late husband Tobias, a London constable, or bobby.

Alas, in the Victorian Age, women were falsely assumed to be too delicate, and too flighty-minded to cope with crime. (Such sexism carries over into the historical record; we're still not sure of Mrs. Hudson's first name, although Brown notes that some evidence suggests it was Martha.)

To handle cases, therefore, she hired two male “boarders” to be her fronts and her legmen: Holmes – bright enough, but too languid to make a first-rate mind and far too careless with chemicals – and his medical friend Dr. Watson, a solid researcher and a lot smarter than the old duffer Nigel Bruce portrayed in those old Basil Rathbone movies.

Age of Conan: Unchained Review | GameFluke

The world of Hyboria is a dangerous one for those not prepared.  It is a world ravaged evil magic, slavers, wars and death, yet filled with heroes waiting for their chance at glory and riches.  It is the time when Conan is King of Aquilonia and strives for peace amongst all the kingdoms.  However there is a great evil sweeping the world once more and threatens many innocent lives and very kingdom Conan protects.

This is where you come in.  A person who has forgotten their past and will stop at nothing to do what it takes to regain their lost memories and perhaps even end the evil that threatens all of Hyboria once and for all.

As you finish creating your character and enter into the world of Conan, you start on-board a slave ship as well, a slave of Thoth-Amon.  Tragedy falls upon the ship and it is destroyed leaving you to drown in the depths of the ocean.  Luckily you are magically washed ashore on the island jungle of Tortage where a stranger named Kalanthes offers you advice and the path in which you can find the city Tortage to take refuge in.

There is an overall branching quest storyline for your character and it plays a major role throughout your levels in Age of Conan.  Its referred to as The Destiny Quest Line, and is undertaken all in solo play in an instanced world.  For instance in the starter city of Tortage, you take to the streets at night when the evil Red Hand Guard is drunk or asleep and begin uncovering the dirty secrets of Strom, ruler of Tortage, and help the resistance to take back their city.

As you increase in level you begin to remember spells and abilities long forgotten to you.  Also depending on your class and race selection, certain aspects of the Destiny quest line will be different offering a unique gameplay experience for additional characters you create.  As you start to discover the secrets of your forgotten past and you’re about to finally leave Tortage behind, your characters backstory gets filled in quite a bit and will lead you on towards what your ultimate goal will be as you travel home to your characters racial city.

Once you first step into AoC, veteran MMO players will notice right away that the controls for moving your character feel slightly different than many other MMO’s.  Your character do not turn as sharply as other games and it does feel a bit more realistic because of this.  The strafe keys are defaulted to the Z and X keys instead of the usual Q and E.  You can also use the right mouse button to turn your character more sharply and is perhaps the most preferred amongst veterans.

GameAxis Unwired

The living age ...

Littell's living age

GameAxis Unwired

The review of reviews