The development of Crimes & Punishments on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC is advancing quickly. The new investigation game developed by Frogwares takes this opportunity to unveil a series of 4 new screenshots, testimony of the progress made on the game since its last appearance. This new ambitious title in the series of the Sherlock Holmes investigation games will be unveiled to international press next week at E3, where it will be presented in every detail for the first time.

Today’s screenshots show that Crimes & Punishments definitely marks the biggest step ever made by the Sherlock Holmes games. Giving up their homemade engine in favour of Epic’s Unreal Engine 3, Frogwares Studio first allows the game to benefit from richer, more immersive and detailed visuals, for both environments and characters.

However, this new engine not only benefits the game’s graphics, and it also allows the development of new investigation mechanics: in total, the game offers 14 gameplay mechanics that will be presented in more detail through screenshots and videos in the coming months. From the beginning of each of the 8 cases of the game, to the arrest of culprits and the moral choices that will be presented to the players, these new mechanics give the feeling that we ARE Sherlock Holmes, and enable players to fully use the incredible talents and gifts known to all fans, such as his skill to guess many details about someone’s life simply by glancing at them – or to imagine and reconstruct the course of event by carefully observing all the key details of a crime scene.

So what do you think of the next Sherlock Holmes title? Will you be investigating further into this game? Let us know what your inner detective thinks in the comments below.