CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence (Wii) Review

Posted by Ty Huston on 02.15.2008

Who likes this game? Who? Who? Who? Who? I really wanna know ...



Yes ladies, I am a masochist.



When this game popped up on the radar, I decided to throw my hat at it and see how terrible it is, you know, for fun. Wow, was I ever NOT disappointed in my original assessment.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence has been reviewed on 411mania.com before, for the Xbox 360 (courtesy of our own Chris McCarver) and he ranked that version a whopping 4.0 on our scale of 1 to 10. My wife, like Mr. McCarver, is a huge CSI buff, so it was easy for me to pick this game up and give it a try. But still …

… 4 out of 10?

Yeah, not so good.

And of course, knowing this beforehand, I decided to try out the Wii version fully knowing that this game may very well be horrid. I mean, let’s be honest with ourselves here. I know Ubisoft has had this CSI license for years now and keeps pumping out game after game each year, spanning from the original CSI: Vegas to CSI: Miami and hell, for all I know there may be a CSI: NY game or two out by now. But honestly? I really don’t care to find out. I’ve played some of the previous CSI games and well, they sucked. I’m not saying that to be mean, it’s just true.

Your typical CSI game gives you a handful of cases that you have to solve with the help of your team and the ingenious point and click method of collecting evidence and such. Really, the theory isn’t bad, it’s the execution.




Little do they know, the CSI team is actually being Punk’d!



Graphics

While not as good as the X360, obviously, the graphics aren’t terrible. You can tell whom is whom and what is what. In the months since the X360 version, they haven’t updated the facial animations or anything on this port. I guess it took five plus months just to port it over to the Wii’s control scheme and dilute the graphics. Textures aren’t that great, but the 3D models work and are at least visibly coherent enough to recognize the difference between talking to Nick Stokes (George Eads) or Sara Sidle (played by Jorja Fox on the show, voiced by Kate Savage in the game).

Honestly, just look at some of the sample screenshots here at 411mania. These are the Xbox 360 versions – and we all know that the Wii can’t put out that smooth of graphics. Not to mention that the camera angles you get are terrible for finding and collecting evidence. Who knows? (HA!) Maybe they are trying to make it more difficult on purpose.




Hey man, I’ll look the other way if you get me Herbie Hancock’s autograph.



Gameplay

You know, even games with poor graphics and sound can overcome the odds and become an instant classic if the gameplay is right. Look no further than the Nintendo 64 THQ wrestling franchise to see proof of that. This game, however, isn’t one of those.

While the typical “point and click” method works, it’s also incredibly boring and tiresome on your arm due to using the Wii-mote instead of a typical controller. I mean, some cases, I’m holding my arm up forever while scanning the screen for the little icon to light up and tell me something is there. Which brings me to the next thing I have always hated about these CSI games – the evidence.

Why is it that the game has to be so linear that you can’t even find the evidence on your own? You only get to investigate what the game allows you to investigate and that sucks. Especially when the open ended design is the current trend and when you’re trying to mimic a television show where creativity usually finds the bad guy. You feel like you’re watching one of those kids television programs where the guy who happens to be way too happy asks what you saw on the screen:

“Hey kids, what did YOU see on that last screen?”

A) Cotton Candy

B) A teddy bear

C) The murder weapon

Do you see where I’m getting at? The game in fact, is so linear that at times it can be frustrating. In the very first case, I’m supposed to go check out this car that was impounded and at the garage, but I can only do that after I find the specific pieces of evidence that the game wants me to find. THEN I’m allowed to go check out the car. You can’t just show up at a murder scene and start finger printing and hitting crap with luminol to find traces of blood. Nope, you gotta move your little cursor around forever (and it gets very tiring with the Wii-mote, let me tell you) until it lights up and then you know it’s something you can actually mess with. You can get so off track just trying to find out what it is that they specifically want you to find.




Oh snap! The Undertaker is gonna be pissed about this one!



Sound

As with the X360 version, the voice work in this game is actually pretty darn good. I’d have to say it is one of the highlights. While, most of the cast are present for their character’s voice work, but where the hell are Marg Helgenberger and Jorja Fox? Not like it really matters to me, but what gives? Did they just turn down the offer? Why bother if you’re trying to make a CSI game without using the actual cast? These are the kinds of things that help ruin a good video game adaptation from the movies or television. Quality sound work, but a poor implementation for not even getting the full cast in on it.

Oh yeah, and during the “fancy” CGI copycat of the TV show’s opening, you don’t get to hear the classic Who song that makes it so awesome. It’s a generic rip off with no lyrics. That, my friends, is bullshit. A proper comparison would be if Rock Band put in Stairway to Heaven on the game’s soundtrack using the Art Garfunkel arrangement of the song.

Yeah, it’d piss you off. Same thing here.




There’s a lot of crap in this room you can’t even use.



Fun Factor

I’m going to say that the fun factor of this game is very low. While I think that if the game was more open-ended in terms of doing the actual investigations, maybe it would be more fun. Instead, it’s kind of like those stupid RPGs where you have to find the little girl’s dog/teddy bear/candy/roofies for her in order to get to the next quest. Where is the dog? Nobody knows, but when you find it, you’ll be lucky enough to move on. The game’s linear design continues to grow when you know it’s a linear game and you have to find specific evidence to move on, but they also give you a healthy dose of worthless evidence too – like 100 too many sets of fingerprints that don’t go to anybody involved in the case.

Oh yeah, and the very first case (the tutorial) is all about busting a cop for stealing Grissom’s doughnut.

I’m serious.




Is this evidence that will prove this game doesn’t suck? Unfortunately, no. No it’s not. But look at the product placement! CHA-CHING!



Lasting Appeal

There is none. I recommend staying away from this one. It’s just not a fun game and even if you do play through it once, it’ll either end up on your shelf or be traded in within a week.




I see dead people.



Final Analysis

Honestly, the game could have been better. A lot better. Unfortunately, Ubisoft is comfortable sticking with the same worn out “point and click” linear game play interface they’ve used since the very first CSI game. And every time one is released, it gets terrible reviews because there are 100 games released every year that more a lot more fun than these CSI games.

My suggestion to Ubisoft would be to either erase the linear game play and make the “investigator” actually work to find the evidence, instead of working to find the lit up icon on the screen. Either that, or drop this license because I don’t see these games making much money in the future.


Tune in later this week for my review of Sam & Max Season Two: Episode Three: Night of the Raving Dead!

Graphics	5.0	While the graphics won't blow your mind, they keep up fairly well with the quality that the Wii can do and you can tell which TV show character you're talking to. However, the crappy camera angles are terrible.
Gameplay	3.5	The problem with porting a game to the Wii and/or DS is that you've got an entirely different control scheme to use. Sometimes, it works out great (Super Mario Galaxy) and sometimes it royally sucks. The latter applies here.
Sound	7.5	One of the high points of the game, but just like the X360 counterpart - no Who's song. Point dockage for that.
Lasting Appeal	2.5	Play it for a week and then forget it. The levels are no challenge, the control scheme doesn't utilize the advantages of the Wiimote and it only comes with a handful of cases to solve. Sure, they are pretty decent cases, but only five?
Fun Factor	3.0	While graphically the game is a step up (albeit a small one) with this installment to the franchise, the games simply become less and less fun as time goes on. Ubisoft should either create a new control scheme for the game or just give up on this license.
Overall	4.3   [ Poor ]