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Playing Ubisoft's CSI games has always felt more like taking part in a truncated version of one of those cheesy murder mystery getaway weekends than actually solving a realistic crime. At every turn, these games find ways to clue you in on and push you toward exactly what you need to do next to proceed. You don't so much investigate as you go through a number of mundane motions to get to the predetermined conclusion. There's no threat of failure, nothing even remotely resembling a challenge to be found. They are less games and more mediocre episodes of the TV show that require button presses to unfold. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence is the fourth game in the series, and it doesn't diverge one bit from the formula laid down by its predecessors. There are five cases to solve in Hard Evidence, with victims ranging from an immolated racist cab driver to an electrocuted '80s rock group on a reality show that more than closely resembles Rock Star: INXS from a couple of years ago. As always, it's up to you to solve the crimes using the scientific tools of the trade you've likely seen on the CSI TV show. You'll be plucking bullets out of walls and matching them to various guns, dusting for finger prints, taking casts of footprints and tire treads, and even swabbing semen stains off of used condoms. No one ever said the life of a CSI was a glamorous one. The main problem with Hard Evidence--and it's the same problem that every CSI game has ever had--is that it's so unbelievably easy. Every ounce of thought or legitimate investigation is separated from the mix, creating a sort of paint-by-numbers murder mystery. All you have to do is poke around each location, wait for your cursor to turn green to dictate that, yes, there's something for you to look at there, and then click on it. The game even decides exactly how you should collect every piece of evidence, and the most thought you have to put into it is something along the lines of "should I use ninhydrin or luminol to detect blood on this particular surface?" If for some reason you ever do get stuck, it usually doesn't take long to figure out which scene you missed something at, since a big green checkbox goes over every piece of evidence and every scene you've investigated completely. If it doesn't have the checkbox, you missed something. Beyond that, all you have to do is make sure you've asked every question to every suspect. And if you're still somehow stuck, you can just ask any of the tagalong CSI characters for a hint. It "counts against your evaluation" at the very end, but that evaluation doesn't really mean anything. The one nice thing you can say about Hard Evidence is that the writing is at least considerably better than in the last game, 3 Dimensions of Murder. That game was predictable beyond belief, essentially telegraphing who each culprit was long before the endgame. Hard Evidence does no such thing, and the storylines are actually thoughtful and a bit perplexing at times. Solving them may be a breeze, but you won't necessarily guess who did it until the evidence finally comes together at the very end. It's not quite as sharp as the writing on the show, but it's a heck of a lot closer than ever before.Read full review
This is an example of where the sum of the parts are better than the whole. Pros: All the original likenesses AND their real voices. You cannot beat the original ensemble. The game pulls you in and makes you feel like you’re the next CSI. The Fire Goddess case alone is worth 8$. Mastery goals for each case. Cons The graphics are ABYSMAL. The CSI Equipment can be touchy. It’s a short game. It’s a fun game with surprisingly good replay. I keep coming back to it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I'm a big CSI video game fan and have played them all and I must say this one was very disappointing!! The video graphics with the xbox 360 version was very poor, especially when it came to the CSI team characters that don't look anything like they do in the other games!! the crime scenes themselves were BORING and the lab stuff was as well!! The time it took for them to release this game, you would of thought it was going to be awesome but it was far from it.. I bought mine on the afternoon of the 26th and did NOT spend all day playing it, yet I was already done playing it by the 27th!! Heck I might of been done the same day had it not been for having to waste time checking about 14 non-important areas for each case in order to get the master ranking you need to unlock the bonus at the end of game WHICH isn't about CSI, only 'A' casino game!! Oh and catching 5 bugs and the 14 areas had NOTHING to do with solving each case and obviously were only put there to prolong the the game in my opinion!! Examples of how badly the game was made... case #3 ... 4 people die, 1 girl and 3 males and hmmm all 3 male corpses look exactly the same.. case #4 all the blood samples (which is mostly what is collected) in the case match the same person whom is obviously the first person you would see if it matches to, hmm not much comparing/analyzing skills in that is there!! and so on....... Basically tooo much talking to do and not enough investigating/lab work to do and way too much having to go back to recheck the same crime areas and people!! I can't say I hated the game so I'll give it an average score but I sure was disappointed in it and I think many CSI video game fans will be at least a little bit dissapointed as well!! wow just realize i don't recall having to even once collect or compare a strand of hair ... yup boring, i should of rented the game for the 6-7 hours it takes to play it..Read full review
I bought this game as I am a big fan of the show. I assumed that it would play out scenarios and such, which it seems to do. Initially it is a little slow. The functions are a little clunky, and the help, isn't much help. I would rate this a 3 out of 5, that needs a good update for content. I lost interest after fumbling around for 20 minutes and getting very little enjoyment, but mostly frustration. Like I said, a little too plain for the 360 console, and for being so plain, a little too complicated. However I still like the show.
The game is way too short and will net you an easy 1000 xbox achievement points just by beating the game. The cases are fun, don't get me wrong. It is fun to fiqure out the cases by putting the clues together. (I actually really did feel like a real detective!). It's easy too because you can ask for hints. There are only 5 cases and each one takes about 1-3 hours depending on fast you can fiqure stuff out. It's an OK game, extremely low replay value! Rental for achievements and/or if you are a fan of CSI.
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