the half way review (CSI Miami (PC))

Member Name: dubs0mality

Product:	CSI Miami (PC)
Date:	19/06/08 (282 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: resonably good game play over all

Disadvantages: its ridiculously short

CSI miami is one of the classics when it comes to TV and so was of course bond to spew out a game franchise some time or other. I was brought this game by a unwitting sister who was not aware of my life long annoyance with the cheesiness of Horatio cane don't get me wrong I love all the CSI series but the lines he come out with make me wince every time I watch. so with all this in mind I sat down to play what I thought would be the worst game I have ever played and I was surprised to be proved both wrong and right.

I'll start with a brief over view of the game. the game consists of surprise surprise you being the new member of the team while you are there you will take on 5 cases and will work with some of the CSI Miami crew. now I know that this game is supposed to be a direct copy of the other CSI game out but I have never played it which is probely a good thing because it means that this review is based purely on the points of the game its self instead of a justified rant about the evils of money making game companies. first off with the look of the game I was torn between calling them good or rubbish because the scenes are a extremely cartoony affair in the sense that nothing had even a hint of realism in it which for a game which involves imaging you are a hard detective studying a scene makes it very difficult to get in to the game however it was also very detailed right down to the different colours with in some one hair not to mention the people looked like who they were supposed to do which is the main point of the game for pretty much everyone who brought it.

first all the cases included the following. Each case starts with Horatio Caine telling you your case and who you are working with. you will need to ask Alex to collect the bodies in each case. although she doesn't seem to have much of a job since its you who have to examine the bodies and get finger prints ect She will tell you what weapons' were used and details about the case like in one she said the alligator ate the victim after they were dead. Yelina is the person you go to for warrants and searches on peoples doings she is found in her office. Valera is the main person you see because she runs the lab where you do the entire clue analysing of clues. you can see these people at any time by clicking on their location. you get different bits of equipment to use like a duster for prints a tweezers for picking up evidence (why? because tweezers look more professional I guess) cotton buds to get liquid samples ect. the way you play the game is divided up in to 3 bits first you find evidence but clicking for a close up and using the equipment. in the normal game play the mouse light up over a clue and I suspect I was one of many who resorted to shamefully waving the mouse around over the screen in hope of finding a speck of blood. the other is you ask people questions which only becomes difficult if you forget to regularly go back and question everyone so you can continue. the last is a few puzzles involving clues.
These puzzles come in two flavours: puzzles where you must put things back together (like torn up pictures) and puzzles where you must solve cryptograms (so decode messages like letters)

I will give a brief overview of the cases with out giving too much away for those of you who actually want to play.
Case 1 Later, Gator
A dead alligator is discovered dead on the golf course at Palm Springs with half a human arm sticking out of its mouth this is the only case where you have to examine an alligator's stomach contents lovely huh. for this case you have to find the body and who killed him/her. partner: Calleigh Duquesne

Case 2 Crack or Jack
a guy has been murdered in night club and at first it looks like it was an accident. this is one of my favourite once as it kept you guessing and you got too got to lot of different places. The supposed twist in this case is the Feds are there being a pain and letting you look but not touch however once you get the warrant they just go away. partner: Tim Speedle.

Case 3 The Hate Boat
A women is found dead on a boat at the house of a famous couple. I don't really want to talk about this case as it was easily the most disturbing of the lot involving.... well lets just say some nasty stuff and leave it alone. partner: Eric Delko.

Case 4 Sunstroke
A man is found dead on his beach with his dog poor thing. this case is the one I had trouble guessing who done it since the guy decided to live in his house with a whole bunch of people who hated his guts except the chef. partner: Yelina's

Case 5 Final Judgement
in this case a judge is found murdered. this case is supposed to tied all the others together and makes absolutely NO SENSE I don't see the need to have a link between all the cases what you end up with is a needlessly complicated case that when you think about is about as likely as someone paying me 5000 pounds for my one broken sandal (don't ask) but still I suppose I have to agree you don't see the ending coming.


next I will talk about the game play its self. first the fact they rated it 16 is again both right and wrong because the graphics meant that seeing a red splog on someone wasn't remotely scary however when you think about the plots like finding a mangled human arm inside an alligator that's not nice stuff. also I found it was very fast in loading which is of course a bonus. however it could only save between cases this should have been a major problem but it was because of an even bigger problem than the ability to save.....
The whole game took about 3 hours of solid game play if that which for your money is a complete rip off because even if the game was the best I had ever played I would still be iffy if it was worth it or not. even worse you cant play it again with a new difficult because you already know were all the clues ect are so it defeats the point meaning the difficult settings are redundant.

as it happens overall I think the game play itself was interesting and while slightly dull at places it had fun puzzles and questioning the witnesses was very fun although it was annoying to have to keep switching them round every time you learnt something new because you had to wait for them to load although to be fair this did take short amount of time. I wouldn't recommend the for any thing over £4.50 because it was a reasonably good game that I might have given 4 stars if it wasn't for the length but it isn't worth going out of your way to buy it.

Summary: buy if you are really really bored or have too much money to spare