CSI 2 Review

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 2: Dark Motives

Review by Old RoosterMay 2004

“Other than Being Dead, He’s in Excellent Condition” —Grissom

For those of us addicted to the CSI TV series (the original, not the upstart Miami spin-off), such droll understatements, plays on words and witticisms from Gil Grissom of the Las Vegas CSI team are music to our ears. A year ago, Ubisoft gave us one of very best game/show tie-ins with CSI.  This spring, they have produced a fine follow-up, still featuring voices and likenesses of the TV show cast, a greater degree of difficulty, and about twice the gameplay length.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the TV series, CSI deals with the fictional experiences of a squad of criminalists attached to the Las Vegas police force. Using the latest equipment, and considerable diligence coupled with brainpower, they work to solve complex crimes that would leave lesser mortals completely baffled.

There’s only some carryover related to the lives of the characters, and each episode (case) is self-contained. So, too, with the game.  CSI 2 presents us with five distinct and varied cases.

  • Daredevil Disaster—A motorcycle stuntman finds himself in the hospital. Accident? Catherine will assist you in your introductory case.
  • Prints and Pauper—A homeless victim’s death becomes a complex investigation.
  • Diggin’ It—A construction site skeleton may not be a century-old Native American after all.
  • Miss Direction—Life in the theater can become deadly.
  • Dragon and Dropping—How did a toe get in a dragon’s cage?

As with the show, each episode starts with the crime scene. Using a range of investigative techniques, and a little help from your friends, you proceed to the resolution, and even a final evaluation from Grissom. CSI 2 is rated “M” for mature, and appropriately so. If you won’t let your child watch the TV show, then it’s also not fitting for her/him to play the game.

“And You Were the Most Promising!” —Grissom, Commending Your Selection

CSI 2, comprising three CDs, installs smoothly—with your choice of 500 MB or 1.5 GB. Resolution has improved from last year’s game, now at 800×600. Of course, by standards of today’s cutting-edge action titles, this isn’t very impressive. But for us adventure gamers used to more moderate expectations, this resolution is a nice step up and quite satisfactory.

Voice acting is outstanding, using cast members from the TV show, as is the script, obviously done by seasoned writers. Background sounds and music are soft and appropriate, not at all dominating or taking anything away from the flow of the game.

A number of initial options are available, not only the expected audio/visual selections, but also the choice of subtitles, more frequent auto saves, and an interesting range of difficulty choices.  You may choose to have hotspots turn green when approaching a clue, or not; evidence tagged with a yellow flag to suggest going further, or not; automatic evidence questioning with suspects, or not; and a roaming tutorial in the initial case, or not. Although this may suggest the possibility of replay, unfortunately, since you already know the case disposition and perpetrator, there doesn’t seem much point, except to increase your score. In that regard, Grissom puts you through a final evaluation, with trivia-type questions.

“Stick with the Evidence; it Will Tell You More than I Can” —Catherine

Although you will have interaction with suspects, your primary activity is to go pixel hunting. Reason and logic play a major role in your selection of where to hunt. Obviously, for example, you want to look around the precise location of the wrecked stunt motorcycle, rather than other places in the vicinity. However, some selections are less clear and require a good deal of thought, concentration, real immersion in the ebb and flow of the case. Although there’s an overall linearity, you still have some options to return to certain locations, and you certainly have to pick up some clues before other successive options become opened.

Movement within a scene is limited to a 360-degree horizontal rotation, coupled with forward movement to portions that may hold clues or be of other interest. In other words, you are fairly directed where to go and can’t aimlessly wander off the track too far. I found this feature more limiting than helpful.

The lower portion of the screen features a very efficient toolbar, showing locations you may visit, victim and suspect files, evidence collected and analyzed. You’ll have eight tools for collection, ranging from swabs and gloves to electrostatic dust print lifter and adhesive specimen mount. Your seven detection tools range from a magnifying scope and UV light to luminol and nynhidrin. This may sound like science class and, to a large extent, it is.

When stumped or needing guidance, your associate on the case can be approached for advice. However, this counts against you in the final grading from Grissom! Yet I somehow found myself wanting to ask Catherine (voiced by Marg Helgenberg) a lot of questions—not so with the other helpers. I don’t know why that was.

You’ll also need to visit Greg at the lab to have evidence analyses completed, use some of the equipment yourself, and even see Doc Robbins on occasion for his appraisals. Finally, you’ll work up to Captain Brass to see if you have enough for a warrant. He’ll often send you packing. More work may be needed on the Evidence Trinity—an interesting guide to measuring progress among victim, suspects, and crime scene.

Lennie Briscoe or Gil Grissom?

Comparisons may well be drawn between the two major detective series: CSI and Law & Order. My personal preference is for the Law & Order games. They feature a greater degree of personal interaction with suspects and seem to have more life and character—rather like the TV series. And, of course, the games are topped off with the courtroom component. CSI, like its spawning series, is dry, pedantic, almost classroom-like. It’s also darker, both literally and figuratively. Playing CSI is a bit like doing a difficult crossword puzzle. You have to be in the right frame of mind, in a quiet place with no interruptions.  Also, with CSI you have five cases, as compared to only the one in Law & Order. They’re both fun, both very well done, but with different emphases. In that sense, both games represent their respective shows very nicely.

CSI 2 is an excellent sequel—with better graphics, twice the length, a greater degree of difficulty. It has a few bugs (get patch 1.01) but should run fine on even minimum-specification systems.  If you like the show, detective adventure games, or complex and detailed thinking exercises, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this series of cases with Gil Grissom and his CSI team. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: 369 Interactive Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: March 2004

Available for: Windows

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System Requirements

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP PIII 600 MHz 256 MB RAM 16 MB graphics card 650 MB free hard disk space

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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