South Beach Chic

Lately I have felt like in every review there lurks a rant. Here’s a weird burn on graphics, ambiance and all those little extras. I have always been forgiving, or at least appreciative, of budget realities and the choices developers have to make to get a commercially viable game to market. Since few games are ever made with outside financial assistance these days, high-end applications for adventure games have to be carefully weighed. Now, it used to be that graphics was one of these “high end” areas that had to be fudged a bit if the game was ever to release. However, with the proliferation of technically savvy, free or low-cost engines and application software, many games with even a non-existent budget can look pretty darn good. It has gotten to the point that sometimes I question how much we have to oooh and aaah over a game for having reasonably good graphics. With the number of skilled people out there and the relative ease of use of the new engines, any adventure game from a large commercial outfit that doesn’t have superior graphics deserves to be smacked.

So yes, CSI stands up well enough to the games being released right now. It uses pastel hues that make you think of South Beach and related areas, and in general looks pretty good. It is too bad that the graphics quality is uneven. For example, the graphics in the first case seemed grainy compared to later portions. The game characters were equally uneven in style. I am not sure why his character was poorly done, but David Caruso’s game counterpart seemed more like a caricature than a well-rendered model. Like the overall graphics, these characters weren’t badly done, just not even near the caliber achieved in the recent Law and Order 3 game, and certainly not what I would have expected from Ubisoft on this title.

This rubs the wrong way for one main reason: the previous CSI game has ranked in the top-selling PC games list, not just for a few days—but for twenty weeks. Given the greater profitability of this series, I expected a bit more eye candy and character subtlety in this game. But it seems higher sales didn’t trickle into the graphics budget for the game. Now, the graphics aren’t terrible; they just looked dated in places. Bottom-line is that they made enough money on the earlier games to have spread a bit more around in this game.

CSI does have a scene transition visual that is both a positive and negative design feature. FMV cinematics are used as a visual transition when traveling from one place to another in the game. This is kind of nice except when it turns bizarre, like when you go to an estate resident’s bedroom and get a boat shot leaping across Biscayne Bay as a transition screen. I mean, exactly how far apart are these bedrooms, anyway? But in general the flashy views of Miami nightlife, the famous Biscayne Bay and other landmarks were a nice touch. Sadly, that impact was shattered when you got weird results like the visit to the bedrooms.

On a more positive note, ambiance within the game was a definite high mark. There was real attention given to sound effects and these were layered very effectively. On a dock scene, the sounds of lapping waves, sea gulls, distant boats and such provided a subtle richness to the scene. Truly, the game looks decent, gives more than a passing nod to general atmosphere and I can’t say it failed on any major measure in the graphics department. It just didn’t thrill, either.

Facts of the Case

I normally mention storyline at the beginning of a review, but since the game underwhelmed in so many ways, I decided to leave the best for last. CSI: Miami has noticeably improved the narrative aspects and bonus materials offered by its predecessors. Initially I was less than thrilled with the first case, but my interest picked up as the storylines improved along the way. The cases themselves are considerably longer, with more locations involved and a wider variety of potential suspects on hand. The subject matter itself runs the gamut from infidelity, greed, serial killing and even a suggestion of necrophilia. This is not a game for kids, but that is a positive development. Games with more adult subject matter are never a bad thing. If you travel through the steamier side of life, behind the façade of good manners, you might as well get down and dirty. Lending substance to these stories is an excellent host of voice talent. Not only do the show actors translate well into the gaming universe, those chosen for the game-based characters are equally talented. As with the other CSI releases, the format is four seemingly unrelated cases that all dovetail into one grand finale stumper. Since the entire game is more detailed, this time the end case is extremely twisty. It is a bit campy in tone at times, as you work your way back and forth between the varied jailed murderers and potential new suspects, but the game finally feels completely engaging at this point.

The extras are also expanded and ease of access is vastly improved. The scoring system itself seems generous, as finishing a case successfully gains you a master rating, which is all you need to open the bonus features. There are nine bonuses for each section of the game, and two items in each set are additional puzzles—one involving a simple substitution code, the other a jigsaw-type puzzle. They provide some small variety to the gameplay, though after the fourth run through, they start feeling on the stale side. The other incidentals are a bit more interesting and prove a welcome enhancement.

Case Closed

I would have liked it if this game lived up to even a moderate amount of all the hype. When the final case was wrapped up, all I really felt was unimpressed overall. The lackluster character animations, inconsistent graphics and mildly improved gameplay added up to a rather mediocre outing with the crime scene crew. Though I did enjoy the mysteries at the heart of the five cases, the narrative aspects of the game weren’t enough to overcome the shortcomings of CSI: Miami. The worst thing of all is there is little justification for shortchanging this license. With the profit margins on this series, it should have looked as good as Myst IV and played equally well. Bottom-line, unless you are a dedicated fan of the show, you might want to skip Miami and wait for CSI: New York, or better yet, tag along with the Law & Order guys.