Unsolved Crimes (DS) Review
Posted by Drew Robbins on 12.20.2008
A collection of crimes that are better left unsolved.
Title: Unsolved Crimes
Publisher: Empire
Developer: Now Production
Genre: Mystery, Adventure
Players: 1
Rated: T for Teen
It has been around four years since the launch of the DS, yet I can still recall how excited everyone was for the potential games to come on the system. There were games like Trauma Center, Feel the Magic, and most relative to this review, Phoenix Wright. Many were excited to see that perhaps the DS could be a small-scale revival of the adventure genre, and they certainly haven’t been disappointed. With games like Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright, the adventure genre has truly flourished on the dual-screened portable. Naturally, other developers will want to take a stab at the suddenly rejuvenated genre, and that brings us to Unsolved Crimes. Unsolved Crimes is somewhat of a hybrid between the two aforementioned adventure games, which sounds great on paper. However, this entry into the mystery genre falls flat on its face.
Gameplay - From an adventure game, you really can’t expect too much from the gameplay. Most of the fun comes the story as it unfolds, and you will begrudgingly play through the game to read the story. Earlier I mentioned that this game is similar to Hotel Dusk, and in the gameplay portion, they are shockingly similar. So much so, that I was starting to wonder where Kyle Hyde was. You wander around a small 3D map with the touchscreen, tapping items of interest.
Now, the twist in the gameplay is a little system called “queries.” Queries are a collection of questions the game gives you to advance each case. Basically, the game lays out your next objective for you, which kind of ruins the fun. Wasn’t the fun part of Phoenix Wright figuring out how the crime occurred on your own? Even worse, these queries are multiple choice questions; so honestly, you have to do very minimal investigating to uncover many of these cases. This game is like one of those tests you had in school, you know that one the really goofy teacher gave you? It was really easy and studying for it was just a waste of time.
If you thought the gameplay sounded dull, you will be horrified to know that the story, as it turns out, is not much better. As a young rookie detective, you must set out on a series of homicide cases to solve the kidnapping of Betsy Blake. Through this set of cases, you will be aided by a collection of boring co-workers, and will put several faceless criminals in jail. Faceless is unfortunately pretty close to the mark, because though you may see their criminal photos in your handy-dandy notebook, you never meet these horrible people face to face. When time comes to interrogate them, your generic partner walks off for all of two seconds to meet each of the suspects. She then reports back with testimonies from each suspect, and boy do these testimonies break the case wide open for you. Here is an example of how some of the testimonies sound. “No, I didn’t do it. I was grabbing a bite to eat with my homie Marcus at that time.” – Suspect 1. “I DIDN’T KILL THAT MAN GET THE HECK OUT, WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY? I DIDN’T DO IT I SWEAR!” – Suspect 2. So, which one do you think did the crime? (Pro-tip: Suspect 2).
Graphics - The description for this game, on both Wikipedia and EBGames, claims that it takes place in a stylized 1970’s New York. I ask you, when does the style come in to play? There is nothing stylish about this game. First off you have the characters, which look like the kind of 3D models you would see in a bad Gameboy Advance game. Then there is the city, something that you don’t see a whole lot during the game. When you do, however, it is a strange picture that looks like it was put through a dozen Photoshop filters. Finally we have the environments, which aren’t stylized, and look like they are directly out of Hotel Dusk. I envision a group of developers sitting around a table, saying that they want to make a stylish adventure game. One of the developers brings up Hotel Dusk, so they say “Brilliant! Let us take what made that game stylish!” Sorry developers, you picked the wrong part of Hotel Dusk to steal from. Heck, if this game had the stylized characters of Hotel Dusk, I could probably look past these mediocre cases.
Sound - Oh lord, what do YOU expect from a generic detective game?
Lasting Appeal - Once I finished the game, I put it in my DS case with the intention of never touching it again in my life. Its lasting appeal as a shelf-game is staggering, but as a pure game, you will probably only need to play this once in your life.
Fun Factor - You could say that I enjoyed Unsolved Crimes, but you could also say that I enjoy being punched in the face. Okay, that might be taking it a little too far. Unsolved Crimes is yes, very boring, but it does have its moments. Like finishing the game and putting it away? That was the best part!
The 411 - In all honesty I’m not sure who Unsolved Crimes would actually appeal to. Hardcore gamers would much prefer Phoenix Wright or Hotel Dusk, games which offer up an interesting narrative and excellent writing. The precious casual gamers would be better off just reading a mystery book. Any mystery book…even the Hardy Boys.
Graphics
7.0
Honestly, this is the one part of the game that doesn't completely suck. The environments look pretty nice for a DS game.
Gameplay
4.0
Inspect item, answer question. Congratulations, you have now played Unsolved Crimes!
Sound
0.0
Don't even get me started.
Lasting Appeal
2.0
You probably won't play the game more than once, but who knows, if you enjoy it, maybe you will pull it out again some day down the road when you have forgotten the story.
Fun Factor
3.0
Putting faceless drones behind bars is at least somewhat fun!
Now, the twist in the gameplay is a little system called “queries.” Queries are a collection of questions the game gives you to advance each case. Basically, the game lays out your next objective for you, which kind of ruins the fun. Wasn’t the fun part of Phoenix Wright figuring out how the crime occurred on your own? Even worse, these queries are multiple choice questions; so honestly, you have to do very minimal investigating to uncover many of these cases. This game is like one of those tests you had in school, you know that one the really goofy teacher gave you? It was really easy and studying for it was just a waste of time. 
