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CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION SERIES (X360 | PS3)
HARD EVIDENCE | DEADLY INTENT | FATAL CONSPIRACY
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Publisher: Ubisoft.
Developer: Telltale Games. Released: October 2007-October 2010. Genre: Investigation. Versions: X360; PC; PS3; WII; DS. Posted 5th July 2023. By Tom Clare © 2023 |
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A few years before Telltale Games would hit the jackpot with a string of hugely successful narrative adventures based around The Walking Dead, the developer was busy with a trio of seventh-generation investigation games. These centred around the original Crime Scene Investigation television series. Each instalment featured five original episodes, bolstered by the involvement of show writers and in many instances, also saw the TV show’s actors voicing their in-game equivalents. Hard Evidence, Deadly Intent and Fatal Conspiracy will be rated individually below, with a summary focus on their aspects distinctive to each. However, as they share significant aspects including the same engine, menus, music and gameplay mechanics, I will first offer a broader review, covering aspects relevant to all three titles.
Every episode sees the unnamed protagonist paired with a different member of the TV series’s investigation team. These include CSI favourites Sarah Sidle, Catherine Willows, Greg Sanders and Nick Stokes, as well as “leads” Gil Grissom and Raymond Langston. Each investigation begins, logically enough, with a crime scene. What’s nice is that several different investigation procedures stem from the inventory screen. It may be that you need to lift a fingerprint from a card, take a soil sample from a boot, or bag a skin sample from a glove. These often require pouring over 3D models of the evidence.
Pay attention to the small details: this is how you'll crack the majority of cases in Telltale's CSI series
Many similar titles opted to go the ultra-casual route of plonking largely contextless mini-games around a broader story that plays out on its own. This is not the case with CSI. Not only does it keep the player guessing at the machinations of each crime, but encourages you to look at each item in forensic detail and attempt to make and understand connections through the evidence. At its best, this can make episodes enthralling, and very addictive. Are some of the puzzle mini-games a bit casual-gamer friendly? Perhaps, but if this is true, they’re certainly not lacking cohesion.
Voicing is consistently good across the series, with a mixture of the show’s actors reprising their roles and voice-actor stand-ins doing a very decent job in their stead. The likeably punchy nature of CSI’s dialogue is replicated in fine style, giving the investigations a sense of purpose as well as intrigue. Indeed, CSI gauges the line between obscure and overbearing uncommonly well: fail to make progress for a couple of minutes and you’ll receive an email to your character’s PDA, offering a gentle hint as to the direction you should be focusing your investigation, whether it’s something you’ve overlooked at the crime scene, or a detail you’ve missed during an interrogation. It’s a great little feature because it never spoils things but stops cases from grinding to a halt.
Voicing is consistently good across the series, with a mixture of the show’s actors reprising their roles and voice-actor stand-ins doing a very decent job in their stead. The likeably punchy nature of CSI’s dialogue is replicated in fine style, giving the investigations a sense of purpose as well as intrigue. Indeed, CSI gauges the line between obscure and overbearing uncommonly well: fail to make progress for a couple of minutes and you’ll receive an email to your character’s PDA, offering a gentle hint as to the direction you should be focusing your investigation, whether it’s something you’ve overlooked at the crime scene, or a detail you’ve missed during an interrogation. It’s a great little feature because it never spoils things but stops cases from grinding to a halt.
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Heading back to the lab allows for all manner of evidence processing, including performing DNA tests on a swab sample, checking fingerprints against a database, comparing boot prints, or making microscopic comparisons between fabric threads. The player can isolate incriminating sections of phone recordings, piece together broken items, or check the chemical composition of mystery liquids. Whilst it’s never overly complicated, the range of tools at your disposal lends CSI a surprising amount of depth.
Visually, it represents the early days of the Telltale Tool so you can expect nothing spectacular. There are some passable character models and a reasonable attempt at lip-synching. The environments prioritise clarity, helping the player isolate small details such as a hair embedded in a phone, or items partially hidden in the field of play. This is to the detriment of close detail, meaning the games sometimes struggle to capture the gritty vibe of the TV series. Episodes last around two hours, meaning each game is good for around ten hours. There’s relatively little replay value but as all three are playable and addictive, each represents ideal weekend entertainment.
Visually, it represents the early days of the Telltale Tool so you can expect nothing spectacular. There are some passable character models and a reasonable attempt at lip-synching. The environments prioritise clarity, helping the player isolate small details such as a hair embedded in a phone, or items partially hidden in the field of play. This is to the detriment of close detail, meaning the games sometimes struggle to capture the gritty vibe of the TV series. Episodes last around two hours, meaning each game is good for around ten hours. There’s relatively little replay value but as all three are playable and addictive, each represents ideal weekend entertainment.
CSI: HARD EVIDENCE (X360)
Ubisoft | Telltale Games | Investigation | October 2007
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Released back in 2007, Hard Evidence is the only instalment to feature collectables: colourful bugs native to Nevada, that can be handed over to Gil Grissom for goodies. Incidentally, it’s also the only instalment of the trio whereby the legendary character appears and William Peterson is on hand to provide the voicing, too. The game offers a mere five achievements, one each for the completion of the five episodes, and one of those managed to bug on my playthrough.
The pick of a decent run of episodes is “Shock Rock”, which sees a band electrocuted to death on stage and the subsequent twists and turns of those involved with the band. The unusual nature of the killings, mixed with some interesting investigation scenes, make this a standout. Likewise the final episode, “Peacemaker”, provides a strong yarn. A store clerk has been shot and whilst a man on the scene has admitted to his murder, it emerges that he is one of triplets and things soon become more complicated. At its best, it’s absorbing stuff, with episodes you’ll quite happily lose hours to.
The pick of a decent run of episodes is “Shock Rock”, which sees a band electrocuted to death on stage and the subsequent twists and turns of those involved with the band. The unusual nature of the killings, mixed with some interesting investigation scenes, make this a standout. Likewise the final episode, “Peacemaker”, provides a strong yarn. A store clerk has been shot and whilst a man on the scene has admitted to his murder, it emerges that he is one of triplets and things soon become more complicated. At its best, it’s absorbing stuff, with episodes you’ll quite happily lose hours to.
OVERALL: 6/10
CSI: DEADLY INTENT (X360)
Ubisoft | Telltale Games | Investigation | October 2009
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Deadly Intent, released in 2009, is the weakest of the trio. I should qualify this by saying there isn’t a significant difference in quality: if you enjoyed Hard Evidence, then you’re sure to find this enjoyable too. Of the three, Deadly Intent is the only one to suffer noticeable performance issues, relating to some noticeable chugging during cut-scenes, as well as a super-sensitive cursor that had analogue drift issues that didn’t appear to be the fault of the control pad.
However, it does enjoy a bit of an upgrade in terms of the visuals, with tidier character models and more convincing location details. Specific to Deadly Intent are some nice cameos that occur once per case, seeing various investigators asking for the player’s assistance in some tricky, optional one-off forensic challenges. These are unrelated to the main case but reward an achievement upon completion. Speaking of achievements, the 28-strong list marks a big improvement on the original’s paltry efforts, rewarding thoroughness, skill in completing lab challenges and cunning during interrogations. Deadly Intent’s five episodes are, like the other entries, well-written and enjoyable, though there are fewer standouts. Judged on its own merits, however, it remains an ideal rental.
However, it does enjoy a bit of an upgrade in terms of the visuals, with tidier character models and more convincing location details. Specific to Deadly Intent are some nice cameos that occur once per case, seeing various investigators asking for the player’s assistance in some tricky, optional one-off forensic challenges. These are unrelated to the main case but reward an achievement upon completion. Speaking of achievements, the 28-strong list marks a big improvement on the original’s paltry efforts, rewarding thoroughness, skill in completing lab challenges and cunning during interrogations. Deadly Intent’s five episodes are, like the other entries, well-written and enjoyable, though there are fewer standouts. Judged on its own merits, however, it remains an ideal rental.
OVERALL: 6/10
CSI: FATAL CONSPIRACY (PS3)
Ubisoft | Telltale Games | Investigation | October 2010
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Averaging out at a distinctly tepid 39% on Metacritic, it’s clear that by the time Fatal Conspiracy marked the series’ only outing on PlayStation 3, it was met with all the energy and jollity of one of Doc Robbins’ autopsy subjects. Was there a hint of gaming fatigue in the air? There had been a lot of dodgy TV tie-ins doing the rounds during the five-or-so years preceding its release, so it’s hardly surprising that the press wasn’t exactly enamoured with it. I feel it was hard done by: Telltale’s story craft is evidenced in a five-episode thread that produces strong individual cases and a credible overriding arch.
Put simply, Fatal Conspiracy assembles the best collection of five episodes and is therefore the best of Telltale’s CSI games. The story brings together a nice selection of investigative avenues whilst drawing the player into a tangled web of South American drug money and murder. Episodes will keep you engaged and keep you guessing. Highlights are numerous: “Planting Evidence” sees a construction worker dead in an apparent suicide, though the evidence points to something more. “All Washed Up” sees a victim dead in her car at a car wash, carrying the dark vibes the show used to revel in. “Tapped Out” is perhaps the best episode across the three games, seeing a burn victim murdered through the sabotaging of her medical equipment, it’s a classic winding mystery that leads the player in a number of different directions, and makes for an enthralling playthrough.
Put simply, Fatal Conspiracy assembles the best collection of five episodes and is therefore the best of Telltale’s CSI games. The story brings together a nice selection of investigative avenues whilst drawing the player into a tangled web of South American drug money and murder. Episodes will keep you engaged and keep you guessing. Highlights are numerous: “Planting Evidence” sees a construction worker dead in an apparent suicide, though the evidence points to something more. “All Washed Up” sees a victim dead in her car at a car wash, carrying the dark vibes the show used to revel in. “Tapped Out” is perhaps the best episode across the three games, seeing a burn victim murdered through the sabotaging of her medical equipment, it’s a classic winding mystery that leads the player in a number of different directions, and makes for an enthralling playthrough.
OVERALL: 7/10
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VERDICT
"Telltale's CSI trio successfully capture the vibe of the TV show, translating it into a series of addictive investigation games with decent storytelling and enjoyable gameplay. All three are ideal for a weekend playthrough, if you can overlook some small qualms and middling presentation." |