Nintendo Wii port

When the Nintendo Wii was first revealed to be remote-driven with a heavy emphasis on motion-sensing technology, the possibilities for a resurgence of adventures on home consoles seemed promising. After all, not only is the Wii controller ideal for simple point-and-click mechanics in a way that gamepads are not, but the notion of introducing a new level, new form of physical interaction to a largely passive experience seemed like just the kind of innovation that the genre sorely needs to be relevant beyond the diehard adventure community.

It took a while for any adventures to appear on the system, but now the early results have started to trickle in. One of the initial ports of existing games is CSI: Hard Evidence, and while the game proves a generally competent conversion of its PC forebear, it also demonstrates the limitations of playing it a little too safe.

The fourth adventure starring the CSI crew from Las Vegas, Hard Evidence stays devotedly true to the formula laid down by its predecessors, somewhat to its detriment. The criticisms of the original PC release were based not so much on failings of the game itself as on the stubborn resistance against moving the series forward in any significant way. In that sense, a Wii port of the game could have been the perfect chance to finally freshen up a series quickly going stale. In saying "could have", of course, the logical (and correct) conclusion is that it doesn't.

Perhaps going the safer route is the best decision for this particular game on the Wii, mind you. After all, the CSI series is designed with casual gamers in mind, and Hard Evidence is the series debut on a unique system itself designed to appeal to casual gamers. It's only natural to think that the goal is simply reaching a whole new market of casual gamers from the millions of TV CSI fans, cautiously avoiding the pitfalls of excessive ambition and potentially intimidating motion controls. The voices of the disgruntled PC hardcore are muted here, and the game's unflinching similarity to previous titles irrelevant.

Indeed, if this is your first exposure to the CSI adventures, there is much to like about the game on a fairly superficial level, unencumbered as you'll be without prior expectations. Not only is it a faithful port of its point-and-click counterpart, but with few exceptions, a fairly flawless one. The character models look even blockier than I remember, the lower resolution results in some pixel hunts at times, the voiceovers will stutter occasionally, and the load times are longer than I'd have liked, but in all other respects, there is very little difference of note between original and port other than its platform. No content corners have been cut, the game is still fully voiced (mostly by the cast of the television show), and if not for holding a remote instead of a mouse, you'd barely notice a difference in controls.

Now, having said that – you knew there was a "but" coming, right? – there's no getting around the fact that this is about as uninspired a port as possible. Yes, it's exactly like the PC version in all material ways, but that's not an inherently good thing. I mean, a Wii game with no motion controls at all? What the heck! If nothing else, the central activity of using the many forensic tools is ideally suited to a basic level of hands-on interaction, but Hard Evidence doesn't even go there. Need to dust a surface for fingerprints? Surely that's a tailor-made demand for some remote-sweeping motions to simulate the dusting action. But no. Here you'll hold down a button and watch the duster automate itself. That's just one example, but the bigger point is that there are no examples to counter it, forsaking even the most obvious opportunities to capitalize on the Wii's most distinctive feature.

The end result, then, is a routine point-and-click adventure on Wii – nothing more and nothing less. If you've already played the PC version, there is absolutely no reason to revisit the game. Even the "extras" provided for completing the five cases and meeting the highest performance goals are identical, and they were pretty lame to begin with. Replayability and thoroughness bonuses are common features of video games but never a strength of adventures, so this game faced an uphill battle in that regard. Hard Evidence does make an effort, but it'll take more than a few concept sketches and game trailers to entice anyone to spend any longer than the 8-10 hours it'll take to whip through the first time.

Still, the game largely succeeds at what it tries to do, so if you're up for a lightweight mystery adventure and have a Wii in your household, Hard Evidence may just be the excuse you're looking for to kick the kids off the TV and grab some gaming time yourself. The port is unquestionably a solid conversion, making the choice of versions a simple matter of system preference. If you've always wanted to be an armchair CSI, now you can actually be one in your coziest armchair if you so desire.


This review addendum was originally printed in a Wii port feature article by Jack Allin on March 27, 2008.