CSI: New York Game Review

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CSI: NY is a great game if only for the fact that it is the perfect vehicle for a hidden object game. After all, what better reason to be searching for hidden objects than if you were a police investigator searching murder scenes for evidence?

CSI: NY is a pretty faithful adaptation of the hit TV series, with the series stars such as detectives Mac Taylor, Stella Bonasera, Don Flack, Dr. Sheldon Hawkes and Adam Ross all featuring heavily in the game.

The feel and atmosphere of the game also captures the essence of the TV series. The scenarios in the game are structured like episodes of a TV series, and what really got me was that each episode started off with a clip of the murder victim being found followed by credits totally like a TV series. And each change of location also incorporates a movie clip of the cityscape of New York, again a faithful adaptation of the series and a very nice touch to the game.

The actual hidden object puzzles in the game are also integrated very well. As detective Taylor or Bonasera, you attend a crime scene and need to search the area for evidence and any plot items that might lead to potential witnesses or suspects.

Other hidden object scenes involve searching the premises of potential suspects and last-known-whereabouts of the victims. There is very little random objects to be found: everything seems to fit nicely into the story. There are even nice touches such as newspaper clippings that when found reveal the history of the victims and further advances the story.

Another thing that makes the hidden puzzle section of the game unique is that each scene starts with you not knowing what items you're meant to be searching for. There is a list of items to be found, but that list emerges very slowly. So for the first minute or so, you're on your own trying to guess which objects could be evidence in each case.

What this game excels in though are the mini-games that are scattered throughout, and there are plenty of them. These are not your typical mini-games such as jigsaws or numerical puzzles, but are actually neatly integrated into the story and theme of the game. You get to swab crime scenes for fingerprints, take photos of the correct evidence, perform facial recognition, calculate the victim's falling trajectory and a whole lot more. It is these unique mini-games that makes CSI: NY really stand out among the other games of this genre and sets the tone you'd expect from a game based on the CSI franchise.

There are 4 "episodes" in this game, with different characters from the series having starring roles and with each case being unique (as unique as they can be... after a dozen seasons of the various CSI series, every kind of murder becomes pretty cliched).

There is a fair amount of humor and characterization in the game to make it feel like the TV series as well. Scenes such as Adam Ross saying "Umm... Mac? Why do you and Stella always want to do the fingerprinting yourselves? Is there something wrong with my work?" are funny and capture the essence of the show.

Admittedly, the game is pretty linear with very little room for open exploration. Everything occurs in a sequence and could be stifling for gamers more used to the exploration-style adventure games. But CSI: NY stays true to the episodic scene-by-scene storyboarding of a TV show, and is a pretty good adaptation of the franchise. Definitely a game worth playing if you're into the crime scenes theme and want to have a hand in helping stars like Gary Sinise solve crimes.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

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