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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Dark Motives Hands-On Preview

Bust crooks by using the high-tech forensic methods of the Las Vegas Crime Lab in the newest CSI game.

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Crime-solving has always been a very popular subgenre for computer adventure games, which generally challenge you to nonviolently figure out a mystery by solving puzzles and talking to key characters. It started around 1987, when Sierra released the original Police Quest. Written by a veteran cop, Police Quest required you to adhere to actual police procedures to solve crimes. But now it's 2004, and the most popular show on television is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. On CSI, investigators use the latest scientific techniques and procedures to solve cases. It's a formula that translates easily to the PC, which it did last year with the adventure game CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. And with the television show exhibiting no signs of waning in popularity, it seems only natural that we're getting a second CSI game in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Dark Motives.

Yes, this virtual Catherine Willows is played by none other than Marg Helgenberger.
Yes, this virtual Catherine Willows is played by none other than Marg Helgenberger.

The developers appear to be taking a "if it's not broken, don't fix it" approach to Dark Motives because the gameplay and interface are virtually unchanged from the original game. In fact, you could probably consider Dark Motives to be "season two" of the game. Once again, you'll play the newest member of the Las Vegas Crime Lab team over the course of five distinctly different cases. You'll receive orders from lab chief Gil Grissom, and you'll work with each of the lab investigators, including Sara Sidle and Warrick Brow. All the principle cast members of CSI lend their voices to the game, including William Petersen (Grissom) and Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows).

The five new cases cover a wide range of crimes. In one case, a motorcycle accident on a TV reality show leads to an investigation that will determine whether or not sabotage was involved. The corpse of a homeless man raises some very interesting questions. A skeleton at a casino construction site may or may not be part of an ancient Native American burial ground. An actress in a musical production is killed onstage, yet no one knows who pulled the trigger. And, in the final case, a komodo dragon is stolen from a high-profile Las Vegas animal show.

Each case will feature CSI-style flashbacks. Fans of the television show are familiar with these occasionally grisly scenes. (In fact, some relish them.) For instance, when the stunt driver talks about the injuries he sustained in the motorcycle accident, the game will incorporate views from the body cam to actually show you bones breaking. If vomit is found at the crime scene, you'll watch as bile rises from the stomach, continues through the esophagus, and is expelled through the mouth. Some of the flashbacks involve stock footage that's been taken from the television show, but others are rendered specifically for the game.

As in the previous game, you'll travel to crime sites, and you'll navigate by using a simple point-and-click interface. Just move the mouse over an item and if it changes color, you can either interact with it, or you can move in for a closer look. You'll detect and collect evidence from the crime scene by using the high-tech and low-tech tools showcased on the TV show. In addition to dusting for prints, you'll swab for fluids, make molds of tire tracks and footprints, and use ultraviolet light to scan for blood stains or hidden injuries. You can also interview witnesses and suspects by clicking on them; your dialogue options will then be listed on the screen.

Depending on the leads you develop, you'll be dispatched to another location to either interview witnesses or to collect more evidence. Every piece of information you collect will automatically be placed in the case file, which you can refer to at any time. Once all the evidence is collected and witnesses and suspects have been interviewed, it's off to the crime lab. Here you'll examine evidence under the microscope, and you'll run fingerprints and DNA evidence through the crime database. If you get stumped, you can ask the partner assigned to you for advice for that specific case, but it will cost you points in your final score for the mission. Once you have enough evidence, you can approach Las Vegas Police Department Detective Jim Brass (voiced by Paul Guilfoyle) for a warrant.

Use ultraviolet light to detect evidence hidden from normal view, like this bruising on the victim's face.
Use ultraviolet light to detect evidence hidden from normal view, like this bruising on the victim's face.

From what we've seen so far, it appears that the designers are making Dark Motives a bit tougher to solve than the first CSI game, which was criticized by some for (perhaps) being too straightforward. For instance, in the first game, your lab partners practically walked you through the entire investigation, thus leaving little thinking for you to do. In Dark Motives your partners will give you some general guidelines, and they'll let you know when you're onto something. However, you'll be left to do more of the detective work on your own, though you'll still have the option of consulting them for additional advice. Dark Motives looks like it's shaping up to be a solid police adventure, and it should definitely appeal to fans of both the television show and the genre.

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