CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

The Good
Behind every good game is a great story. This game is no exception. You start out as a intern working for the CSIs and must 5 different to be “evaluated” on your performance. I like how this game’s story is set up, because you don’t actually play a character from the show, you get to be a part of it. Thus, you get to see and talk to anyone you want. The cases are great and almost as good as the TV show. They are all almost tied together in some way, but I won’t tell you how. The special bonus material you get after you solve a case is cool, but it’s just sketches of concept art and stuff. Not what I expected, but cool anyway. I also liked the simple commands to interact with the environment.

The Bad
Interacting was a bit of challenge, though. You don’t always know exactly what you’re looking for, so you end up skipping a lot of things. Well, the acting in this game is not quite as good as on the TV show. This is understandable, considering that when you’re just talking into a microphone, you can’t sound as good as when you’re in front of a camera. Some of the dialogue was a little, er, bland. Not quite as good as the show. The graphics are not what I expected, either. Not as good as they could’ve been, but this is an adventure game, and you don’t really need mind-blowing graphics to have great gameplay.

The Bottom Line
This is a pretty cool adventure game. You don’t have to watch the show to “get it” or understand it. It’s easy to learn and fairly challenging to play. I was hoping it wouldn't be as short as it was, but there’s always the sequel, I suppose.