Game Details

Title: CSI: Fatal Conspiracy
Developer/Publisher: Telltale Games/Ubisoft
Game Genre: Point and Click Adventure
Multi-player: None
Age Rating: 16
Length: Short (5-10 hours for Completion)

My Impressions

As with the previous instalments in the CSI series Fatal Conspiracy is a point and click adventure game split into 5 chapters. Once again you have to collect and process items from crime scenes in order to get enough evidence to convict the criminal. As with the TV series there are numerous red herrings and reconstructions of what could have happened until you eventually get to the truth.

As such a simple guide to whether you want to buy (or rent) this game is if you have played the previous instalments and enjoyed them or disliked them, then the same will apply to Fatal Conspiracy. Alternatively if you want a quick and relatively easy 1000 gamerscore then it is worth a look.

The main difference I could find between Fatal Conspiracy and the earlier games, is that this time around all 5 chapters form part of an over arching storyline focusing on a female drug lord Beatriz Salazar. The events of the first 4 chapters are for the most part only loosely linked with this until the very end of Chapter 4, this then leads into Chapter 5 where you eventually take down her empire.

While I thought this ongoing storyline was a nice touch, I did find some of the connections a bit contrived (especially in Chapter 4) and the ending left me thinking WTF did they just do that so they can continue this storyline in the next game.

One thing I did find annoying was the Trend Micro Anti virus product placement every time you used a computer in game since every time you opened a computer it ran a virus scan for about 5 seconds. Sadly for Trend Micro they wasted their money as this product placement has encouraged me to never buy their products if I can help it. A little tip for game developers product placement should be subtle and not disrupt the game in any way (at least not obviously).

Product Placement aside, while not the best game in the world I did find CSI Fatal Conspiracy to be an enjoyable 10 hour diversion, along with a nice easy 1000 Gamerscore to add to my Gamertag

My Recommendation

Consider

A nice easy 1000 Gamerscore and fairly enjoyable if you like Point and Click games. The worst thing for me was the product placement.