Crime Scene

The scene is grim. Two bloody corpses are laid out in an apartment. Both had suffered from gunshot wounds. Our sources suggest it was a murder/suicide between a husband and wife duo. This is Matt Simmons’ first case after a sudden promotion from detective to forensics specialist. Too bad Simmons’ introduction to forensics involves solving the mystery behind the death of the person he’s replacing.

Game Informer got to spend some time building Simmons’ first case in Crime Scene from SouthPeak Games, an adventure title reminiscent of Phoenix Wright gone CSI that makes full use of the DS technology to provide a handheld forensics lab.

Crime Scene began as Simmons spoke to authorities about the possible murder/suicide involving the ex-forensics specialist and his wife. Multiple choice dialogue became available to get more insight on the situation. After our introduction to the case, we used our stylus to survey the apartment for potential clues. When the stylus landed on a point of interest the reticule changed to highlight possible clues.

We found the husband’s corpse on the floor lying in a pool of blood streaming from a bullet to the head. Photos were snapped for evidence and then the forensics began. The touch screen provided a clue inventory system to track our evidence as well as an arsenal of tools to examine the crime scene. We started by collecting a blood sample from the scene with a swab. To collect blood samples you dip the swab in a pot of solvent that appears on the touch screen. Then a meter appears at which point you hold the left trigger until the meter hits green, and then let go and proceed to rub the swab over the blood in question. Finally, drop the sample in a small evidence bag that appears at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Collecting evidence using the variety of tools all require multiple steps. We moved away from the corpse to examine a handprint on a side table. The stylus turns into a brush that you dip into powder. Rub the powder on the print and blow off excess using the DS microphone. Then carefully place a strip of tape over the entire print, run your stylus across to press the tape on tight, then pick up the strip and drop it into the evidence a bag. Any missteps during these processes will damage your “credibility.” Reduce your credibility to zero and you’ll be fired, so precise handling of all tasks is key.

Our final piece of evidence was a bullet fragment wedged in a wall next to the female corpse. We used tweezers to extract the piece by tracing an arrow in a circle around the bullet until it was removed. With our evidence collected we returned to the office for further examination. There we worked on blood, DNA and fingerprint analysis, and bullet comparison tests. With the swab we collected, we conducted a blood analysis using a microscope to view blood cells and rid of unwanted glucose by tapping the cells with the stylus in a minigame of sorts. Next, we matched up the fingerprints collected with one of many registered in the office database. Finally, we went through ballistics and compared the bullet fragment we collected to multiple bullet types until we found a match.

With the evidence collected and analyzed you can present your case to your boss, but make sure your case is airtight. False conclusions will lower your credibility as well. The game offers five complex cases and takes approximately 15 hours to complete. While we can’t reveal the result of the first case, we can say SouthPeak has shown us enough evidence to suggest Crime Scene may be worthy of further investigation when it hits DS in February.