CSI: Deadly Intent for Wii
Nicola Mawson
At school, people used to call me 'Mysteries Incorporated' because I was always into detective novels and investigating things.

No small surprise then, that when I left school – and the ragging stopped – I was still into investigating. In fact, I wanted to become a forensic investigator. But that would have meant becoming a cop or working for the government.

So, instead, I have become a CSI junkie. Watching it on TV is great, but being able to interact on the Wii is way better. And Father Christmas must have been listening, because Deadly Intent was in my stocking last year.

The game was released for the Wii platform last October, and there are five cases to solve. It’s a lot like the TV series, but has cast members from the Vegas CSI team in season nine, which I haven’t seen yet. Like the PC game, the graphics could really do with some work – they are more primitive than I would have imagined for a game of this calibre.

However, odd-looking characters aside, Deadly Intent is challenging, and you need a bit of skill to get through it. Each case requires the player to find evidence, interrogate witnesses and search several scenes. There are also morgue scenes for those who can stomach it – although they’re not as graphic as those seen in the TV series.

The tasks one performs include dusting for fingerprints, searching for items that might be related to the case, unveiling hidden evidence through observation as well as using DNA and microscopic analysis.

Having played some CSI games on PC before being gifted with the Wii version, I was familiar with what needs to be done. The Wii game is a bit easier in that you can only ‘go’ to where there is evidence, which is a drawback in terms of becoming deeply involved with the game.

Also, the mouse is a far better tool for searching with than the Wii remote, especially if the batteries in the remote are running flat.

Without giving away too much, it’s a great game, especially for anyone with a bit of an investigative mind, and I found it challenging.