CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Dark Motives review

Inexplicably one of the most popular television series in the United States, such is its popularity that it seemed almost inevitable that CSI: Crime Scene Investigation would garner a game, and an interactive movie-style adventure one at that. And so it did, of which this is the sequel, although maybe that’s too strong a word. To cut to the chase, this is more a new episode than a new series, with what little changes there are related to updated graphics and a slightly modified search system. Every other criticism is just a reiteration of the first, of which we’ll now have to refresh our memories of.

Dust for prints

As a game CSI 2 does nothing to betray the definition of point ‘n’ click, as that’s literally all that’s involved. On beginning the first case the array of special forensic tools at your disposal makes you eager for the opportunity to familiarise yourself with them and apply them to the relevant situation. Sadly, the realisation quickly comes that, no matter what the tool, no matter the evidence, this means nothing more than clicking on it, then clicking on the area of the screen to investigate. Only the rubbing of the fingerprint tool over fingerprints proves some variety. Disappointing. There’s not even the chance to control research in the lab, again there’s nothing more than dragging items onto the technician to analyse your findings. There’s a computer and microscope to look at, sure, but that does nothing new beyond allowing you to give comparisons or find answers by clicking on a button and waiting while the computer looks stuff up. That new search system mentioned above means the fingerprints and DNA you find give you five results to pick between. However, this is so easy to choose from as to not make much of a difference in the first place.

No, they had a chance to make the tools unique, something like the sub-games in the great but lamentably forgotten Spycraft. Something like the ability to control the zoom on the microscope or a sub-game where you have to search for DNA in blood. Anything, if only to give some superficial variety – the actual game itself needs far more work. Presumably the producers assume that the type of person that would buy this game is going to be so impressed by the authenticity of the license that they won’t think to complain about how it plays.

Scene of the crime

Disappointing by itself, though, it’s nothing compared to the interaction of your environment. With little to nothing in the way of red herrings, only genuine evidence can be examined, making this nothing but a simple sweep of the screen for hotspots. That may sound easy, but because of the unbending principles of the game, miss one thing and it’s possible to come to a grinding halt. You know the suspect’s guilty, all the evidence you’ve collected points to him, but the game doesn’t acknowledge it because you haven’t asked a suspect a question or picked up the one crucial piece of evidence that the designers require you to find. Which leads inevitably to the process of clicking everything on everything and everybody until something comes up. This is the least enjoyable part (and, sadly, makes up the majority of the game), made worse by the fact that the promise to yourself not to do it in the next case is soon broken in a flurry of clicking.

In for questioning

In order to make this a challenge, I played with all assists turned off. This means stopping the game from highlighting hotspots and automatically asking suspects questions, but it’s a mistake to think this is an improvement. Take the aids off and it becomes a frustrating experience to find evidence. Leave them on and you’ll finish the game a lot sooner than usual. There really isn’t much difference other than how quickly you’ll complete it, which is a day or two at most; frankly, there’s just not enough substance here however you mask it.

The five self-contained episodes, while filled with the quirky cases that make up the show, lose something from their original incarnation. Maybe it’s the oddly stilted CG models of the cast, but even employing all the main actors’ voices doesn’t give much value to the emotionless performances that make up the cases (though, you could argue that’s part of the authenticity – the show isn’t exactly known for its personalities). It’s like everybody is still in script rehearsal, making it feel too detached from the series. The curious thing is, it’s still pretty enjoyable to sit through. Drawing its scripting from the show, the plots are naturally entertaining despite what the structure of the game offers. However, that still doesn’t bring much of a recommendation beyond the chance to satisfy curiosity as to how the television series would play in another medium. Not very well is the answer: limited interaction and linear design do little favours for the overall package. Case closed.