The game takes place in the London district of Whitechapel in 1888, the historical site of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Within its boundaries lived some of the country's poorest inhabitants including alcoholics, beggars, prostitutes, as well as a large community of Jewish immigrants fleeing Eastern Europe's ever growing antisemitism.

In this terrible hole of misery, tens of thousands of people lived crammed within a maze of narrow, dank and dirty streets.

It is within this sinister and faithfully rendered setting, that Holmes must investigate, track and apprehend Jack the Ripper, thereby solving one of the greatest mysteries in criminal history.

Holmes and Watson arrive to inspect each crime scene after the murder takes place, giving the player a close-up look at Jack's work.