DS Games: CSI

This series of games is based on the TV series by the same name (which I admit to never watching) and revolves around collecting evidence to solve a series of crimes. You use various forensic tools to connect suspects to the crime scene and are ‘marked’ on your performance.

I’ve played three CSI DS games with each following the format of examining crime scenes, collecting and processing evidence and interviewing suspects, although they all vary somewhat with regard to animation, employment of tools and interviewing technique.

Dark Motives The first game I played and the first chronologically too. The graphics are a bit grainy and not as clear as I would like. To move around the scenes you guide an arrow cursor, which turns green over items of interest. This can be a bit erratic to control, sometimes zooming in on objects that you don’t want it to. I really wasn’t keen on the menu setup on this game either, there are tabs at the bottom of a screen that you click on to reveal subheadings, which just makes the whole screen feel a bit crowded. Usage of tools is basic, just click on the one you want and hold it over the item you want to use it on, without actually doing anything with it – what is a pain is trying to put back a tool you don’t want to use! Another problem I found is that you only get one save file, meaning that only one player can save games at a time, which is a bit annoying. I liked the idea of the game, rather than the game itself.

Deadly Intent, The Hidden Cases I noticed a big improvement in this game, although I found the animation a little ‘cartoony’. You are given three separate save files, allowing more than one player to have a game in progress. The cursor system works better, you move a circular icon, a bit like a gun sight around the scene and it flashes over points of interest. In this game you feel that you actually get to ‘use’ the tools e.g. move the stylus across an object to dust for fingerprints, then blow into the microphone to remove excess powder. Processing evidence in the lab becomes more involved too, performing puzzle-type tasks. The menu setup is clearer, the interview technique better and the game generally has a nicer feel than Dark Motives.

Unsolved! This has all the best features of Deadly Intent, but with nicer graphics. This was by far my favourite version, combining all the best elements – three save files, ability to use tools, interesting tasks to process evidence and taking part in interviews where you can so easily go wrong if you don’t think things through carefully. If I repeat any of them, this will be the one.

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