A Slow And Methodical Approach To Crime Solving
Whatever we think of crime-solving, whether it’s police work or forensic work, our knowledge of how the job works mostly comes from fiction. In films and TV, we see moody detectives wandering around looking cool, finding clues, and solving the case within a week. But the reality of detective work and forensic science is that it is boring, patient, and meticulous work where you have to gather, collate, and analyse every bit of data from a crime scene.
Forensics: Crime Scene Detective is a realistic sim game endorsed by the Rhine police force in Germany. But is it any fun?
I think this is a game for those folk who might enjoy a real-life true crime story rather than people who want Starsky and Hutch. You don’t have a complex narrative to get your head around or a character that you can give a backstory to. Instead, the cases that you investigate are the stories themselves, and it’s up to you as a forensic detective to work out the pieces of that narrative. Arriving at crime scenes feels strange in this game, and very cold and scientific, as it should be. Bodies have been taken away, and the places are empty and devoid of emotion or narrative. It’s up to you to find the answers.
Investigating The Crime Scene
So, how does it work? In your office, you get a cabinet full of cases to work on. You select a case and then travel over to the crime scene. This could be a house, an office, a basement, or even a pub. Your first job on the scene is to observe and document everything of interest. But after the long tutorial, there isn’t any handholding to be had. It’s up to you to investigate everything.
Here, you collect samples of anything and everything, from fingerprints to photographs of evidence. You are also collecting various other bits, like mobile phones or electronic devices, to take back to the lab for the next stage in the investigation. I liked this part of Forensics: Crime Scene Detective more than anything else. It was enjoyable walking around the crime scene, looking for anything that might feel important.
You have your equipment bag near the entrance, which holds items you can use, like a camera, UV light, and markers to identify evidence. You can only carry one piece of equipment at a time though, which I can understand from a realistic point of view, but as a gaming experience, it’s a bit annoying as there is a lot of backtracking.
Putting The Evidence Together
When you return to the lab, the real work begins. You can work out bullet trajectories by treating them almost like a puzzle, turning and rotating the projectile. You can look up fingerprints and match them to the right suspect. Blood sample work is again all about matching the evidence, with lots of methodical work involved. The direction of blood spatter can also help determine the outcome of the case. I liked breaking into a digital device like a smartphone and recovering deleted messages that could turn a case upside down.
Be sure to know though, it’s a slow process and Forensics: Crime Scene Detective is a game that requires a logical, puzzle-solving mind. If you are after a quick, action-focused affair, then you might have a problem with this one. At the end of each case, you have to present your theory, but you can’t just guess at this. Instead, you need to go through all the correct analysis before getting to your conclusion. This can be frustrating at times, but it is realistic to how a real forensic officer will work through a case.
There is nothing breathtaking about the presentation. But what Forensics: Crime Scene Detective does do is present you with rooms and environments that cleverly construct a crime scene that happened a few hours ago. It’s a great feeling coming into a scene and then examining it to see what secrets it holds, and to the untrained eye, the equipment and machines all look authentic. Remember, there aren’t any fancy cutscenes to worry about either, as this is a quiet, methodical game, and the visuals support this. The sound is minimal too, like it might be in a quiet crime scene or lab; expect the hum of an air conditioner and footsteps as you walk.
Forensics: Crime Scene Detective Will Not Be For Everyone
The big question then – did I enjoy myself solving forensic crimes? I am not so sure. After the novelty of the first hour or so of gameplay, I started to lose the urge to keep playing. Everything is done well, and Forensics: Crime Scene Detective feels like a complete, realistic sim game, delivering what a forensic crime unit might take in. It’s a clever game by design and does some very original things with its mechanics. But you will need to have the right mindset for it. Without that, you’ll struggle to solve the crimes found in Forensics: Crime Scene Detective.
Important Links
Forensics: Crime Scene Detective – The Truth Lies In The Evidence – https://www.thexboxhub.com/forensics-crime-scene-detective-the-truth-lies-in-the-evidence/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/forensics-crime-scene-detective/9p1zxjpmxtkv
