CSI: Dark Motives
Get clued in to a fun but frustrating game.
Tags: CSI: Dark Motives Categories: PC Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Apr 28th, 2004
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| CSI: Dark Motives (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Adventure | No | ||
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It is a long-standing and well-documented belief of mine that any game based on a TV show or a movie has one main job: immerse the player in the universe of that show. To that end, any game based on CSI, the hit show from CBS, should allow you to get your hands dirty with gory evidence, uncover twisted plot threads, and let you mix it up with Warrick, Nick, Sara, Gil, and Catherine.
CSI: Dark Motives delivers all of this, plus a few more of the show’s signatures.
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You start the game being welcomed by Gil Grissom, who tells you that you were hired because of your amazing talents. He promptly sends you out with Catherine on the first of the five cases in the game. Each case plays much like an episode, with each piece of evidence and each witness revealing a bit more of the story. Sometimes a particular piece of evidence or a statement by a witness leads to a “reconstruction,” one of CSI’s famous bits of video that shows in great detail what happens when a bullet enters a body or what the body goes through right before a person vomits. And if you’ve never seen the show, yes, these reconstructions can be graphic and sometimes unsettling…and they are faithfully recreated in the game in all of their disturbing glory.
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Each case basically boils down to doing the same thing: searching each crime scene for every clue possible, performing analysis on each piece of evidence, talking to suspects that the evidence points you to, which could lead you to more crime scenes and/or evidence, until you piece together the whole case and find the guilty party. While the actions do get repetitious, the cases are compelling enough to drive you to crosscheck every fingerprint and test every odd piece of wire you come across.
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This leads me to two major complaints about the game. First, it boils down to pixel-hunting. Every crime scene is a 360-degree panorama with a mix of easily-discernible clues and maddeningly-hidden pieces of evidence. While it may be completely evident to you that the tire track in the dirt needs to be lifted, making sure to swab a completely blank space on a wall might just pass under your radar. When you’re completely stumped in a case, it pays to go back to each scene and run the mouse pointer over every square inch of the screen, waiting for it to turn green to indicate there’s something you can click on. My second major complaint is that there is rarely any evidence that doesn’t come into play – 98% of the things you find make a difference. False leads that, when followed, could completely ruin your case might add another level of importance to your observational powers.
All the tools of the CSI are there – fingerprint spray, UV lights, plaster, adhesive lifters, tweezers, and rubber gloves. Dr. Robbins will perform autopsies on murder victims and tell you his findings. And once you’ve collected the evidence, taking it to Greg in the lab will give you access to a microscope and a computer search system.
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When the evidence ties a suspect to the crime scene and the victim, talking to Jim Brass will yield you warrants, addresses, and background information.
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All of the main actors from the series provide their voices, giving the game an authentic feel. The quips and the wry humor are here, too, making you feel a part of a group that has to use a little humor to offset what can be a gruesome job. (As a side note, it would seem that most of the supporting voice cast are Canadians – the telltale “aboot” and voice inflections give them away. How’s that for detective work?)
The graphics in CSI: Dark Motives are superb. While the human actors appear a little odd and the lip-sync is a little off, each scene is rendered with great attention to detail, making finding evidence more believable (if still a bit frustrating). The reconstruction video clips and the scenery clips of Las Vegas that intersperse your travel from one place to another are crisp and clear.
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For anyone who played the first CSI game, it should be noted that the extras that can be earned by completing the cases in Dark Motives are much more rewarding. Yes, they have the concept sketches, but there are also video clips of interviews with the writer of the game and also interviews with a real-life CSI. The better you do at solving a case, the more rewards you can earn. As an extra measure of you detection skills, each case has “Observational Challenges” at the end which test how well you noticed things that didn’t necessarily have to do with solving the crime. Questions such as “How many pillows were on the couch?” are par for these challenges.
A game that does a good job of immersion can sometimes be forgiven of minor flaws. It is in my nature to mention that I noticed at least 6 typos in the subtitles during the game, and the load times at the beginning of each stage allow for plenty of time for you to heat up a Hot Pocket for supper. However, none of these things detract from what is a solid game good for any fan of the show or graphic adventures in general.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Graphics are great + Storylines are compelling and interesting + Voice actors are great in general, with the actual cast members' voices making the immersion factor very high |
7.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- It all boils down to pixel-hunting and repetitious testing - Weird graphical glitches, like the thumbprint that overlayed the whole last case. |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| The few flaws in the game won't bother you too much if you're a fan of the series. If you're not a fan of the series but are a detective by nature, the minor flaws won't bother you enough to keep you from playing this game. | |
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Tags: CSI: Dark Motives
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Apr 28th, 2004 and is filed under PC Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
