It’s (Not) Elementary, My Dear
HIGH The investigation of the scenes is carried out with a good sense of realism.
LOW The emphasis on using assumptions to solve cases can be frustrating.
WTF The exam for case file #3 — Bloodbath — a truly WTF case.
It’s not easy to make a good true-crime game, as one needs to be as realistic as possible to articulate the variables of a full crime investigation, while also making scenarios both believable and engaging. Scene Investigators succeeds on all counts, and will keep fans of the genre glued to the screen.
The premise is simple — the player is a trainee investigator tasked with solving a series of crime cases, each presenting puzzles that require deductive reasoning, attention to detail, patience, and problem-solving abilities to uncover the truth.
Since we play as a trainee trying to become a professional investigator, the cases we solve are actually exams and not ‘real’ crime scenes. Each has as its own set of questions and our goal is to answer them correctly. These vary between things like who killed who, where was character X at Y time, who owned object Z, and so forth. Answering these not only allows us to complete the investigations, but the percentage of correct answers unlocks new crime scenes, letting us progress in the campaign.
The gameplay mechanics are intuitive, making it easy to navigate crime scenes and examine clues. We move in a first-person perspective, and interact with the objects via the mouse. We can zoom in and out, rotate 360 degrees, and even magnify specific objects to get a closer look. We also have other tools like a camera to take photos, a flashlight, and a notepad — and the player will need to jot down every clue they find!
The game offers a multitude of puzzles to solve, which correspond to various types of crime that can be committed. For example, in one of the cases we have to solve who poisoned the hostess of a birthday dinner by delving into the personal lives of the guests (searching the computer, wallet and other personal objects). In another case, to solve the disappearance of a missing child, we must be able to calculate the whereabouts of each family member at a given time using scattered clues.
What differentiates Scene Investigators from others in the genre is the emphasis on following instinct. The crime scenes don’t offer all the clues needed to fully resolve cases, and most of the evidence is innocuous. Indeed, not all the interactable objects are important to the investigation, and not all the non-interactable objects are unimportant, so part of the solution is to intuit and make assumptions to fill in any gaps. This is a nice detail, because in real life it’s rare for crimes to be solved by way of having full and complete evidence.
Similarly, Scene Investigators cannot be considered an ‘easy’ experience for people with passing interest in the material. The player must spend time studying the scene and connecting all the pieces of evidence, and in the end, trusting their gut to make a final judgment. It’s likely a player will fail over and over again, repeating the same crime scene several times until realizing the true resolution. In this sense, I feel most comfortable recommending it to lovers of the true-crime genre and for those who want to exercise their logic and problem-solving skills.
Overall, Scene Investigators is a perfect game for CSI and The Mentalist fans. It offers lovers of the genre the challenge of analyzing crime scenes with a realistic approach in a way that remains loyal to its concept while also being fairly educational. A rare trick!
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by and published by EQ Studios. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 11 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: As of press time, this game was not reviewed by the ESRB. Being a true-crime game, Scene Investigators naturally contains blood and themes like violence, murders, sexual assaults and child abuse. Caution is advised for people who are sensitive to distressing topics. This game is not recommended to children.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. There are no audio cues since this game is practically silent. The game is accessible for deaf and hard of hearing people.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
His love for videogames started at the age of six, when he received his first console -- a Megadrive (or Sega Genesis, as it is called in the USA). From Sonic and Super Mario to modern triple-A titles, he's played over a thousand games. After so much experience in digital universes, André now considers himself a specialist in serious and educational games.
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