Genre: Hidden Object

ESRB: Crime Lab: T(een)

Release Date: Crime Lab: November 2010

Crime Lab: Body of Evidence is the main feature of our double bill. Fully expecting Crime Lab to be just another mediocre entry in the Hidden Object genre, I was truly blown away by the game’s depth. In fact, Crime Lab is anything but a Hidden Object game.

Starring FBI agent Nicole Bonnet of the Art of Murder series, Crime Lab: Body of Evidence is part CSI, part mini-game, part hidden-object. But the key to these is that they are all related to the subject matter – the capture of a serial killer who leaves playing cards near the bodies of his victims.

The sixteen hidden object levels all involve searches for items that are integral to the investigation. No hunting for items totally unrelated to the case such as minute needles or insects blended into the wood grain. Instead you must find objects that can provide evidence or clues to the crime. And if you must locate a seemingly unrelated object, rest assured you will need to use your luminal to search for traces of blood.

You will interrogate suspects and learn to analyze fingerprints. Your PDA will be used to access different locations among many and crime scenes are often a combination of hidden objects, evidence gathering, interrogations and minigames related to the crime.

Now, we did play in the relaxed (i.e. casual) difficulty setting in the Story Mode so we did not have to worry about the time factor or the higher levels of difficulty in the minigames (though you’re more then welcome to give your brain a workout if you wish), but we’re really just skimming the surface of the many available features. Besides the crime scenes and the minigames, you can also unlock character biographies, read criminal profile notes or even obtain awards as you progress through the mystery.

There are also some nifty-sounding DSi features that we unfortunately could not attempt as we’re a poor lot who just have a regular old DS. They are Hand Movement Recognition, which allows you to move your hand in front of the camera instead of using a stylus, Shape Recognition that uses the DSi camera as a fingerprint scanner and Face Recognition that utilizes the camera as a security eye scanner.

Crime Lab: Body of Evidence offers a lot of bang for your gaming buck and I’d give it a big thumbs-up but I’m afraid Agent Bonnet would scan my fingerprint and reveal my dark, secret past.

Crime Lab: Body of Evidence – A-