[Sanda]

Hello all!
Just figured I'd write in my personal thoughts on the two games I have played.
(I recently ordered the other 3 on eBay, so soon I will have input on them all)
Also, I should warn that I will freely talk about cases, so if you don't want spoilers I'd suggest you head elsewhere... Sorry but I just wanna discuss the stuff freely. Also, I get so rambly so I apologize in advance for boring you to death. I just felt like writing about it, and knowing me I won't be able to stop :'P

Anyway, I finished TDoM yesterday (PS2) and replayed DM (PC) over the past few days...Let me start off by saying that both are amazing games. Very different from the TV show in my opinion, but I love them none the less! Honestly, I actually think I like DM slightly better than its successor. I say this for several reasons:

1) I love the character's lines. I think they made Brass, Robbins & Greg much more loveable (as they are in the show) in Dark Motives. I liked how in Dark Motives when you asked Brass for a warrant (and you had enough evidence for it etc) he would list off clever words/phrases about it. That didn't happen in 3 Dimensions of Murder, and I must say I quite missed it. He was just always like "lets bring them in for questioning" or "here's your warrant." I am sure many Brassofiles out there didn't appreciate him not getting the great one liners. As far as Robbins goes, I loved the things he said in DM. It made it feel more personal to me, and yeah that sounds weird since it's a game, but I felt it was much more enjoyable (: In TDoM he just kinda said what he needed to, which was effective, but I like the chattiness. Ooh, that brings me to another point: Greg. While I love the fact that Greggo is out in the field (power to him!!) I did miss that element in the lab. Don't get me wrong, it was indeed fun to use all the new high tech gizmos in TDoM, but I missed Sanders terribly. In the game's defense it evolved and I just need to adapt to it.,, But what got me is that Greg also lost his one liners ): I loved the comments he would make about the evidence you would hand him. I can see why they made the lab more "hands on" in TDoM, as I said it's a natural progression. And I realize that while you're working with him in the field it might be slightly tougher to get those phrases in there, but I wish there had been more of an effort. CSI's catchy quotes are part of what sets it apart from the other shows in its genre; the writers are very adept at it and I think it's a shame that the game doesn't make use of clever things like that.
I think in future CSI games they should make use of Hodges, Wendy, Mandy, Archie, Wendy & Bobby (: That would be way cool! That way the player would still get the experience of "processing" the evidence themselves, but for specialized things the lab techs could make funny comments when they process it or whatever.
In general, I think the dialogue in TDoM was much weaker. I don't recall laughing at all because one of them said something clever/funny/silly. I can remember laughing at least twice for DM. Once in Diggin' It when Sara was at Mme. Lazora's Parlor and looked into the crystal ball, and a second time when Nick asked "you think these would fit me?" about the underwear found at Heather Colby's place in Miss Direction. I know there were more times, I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

2) The music. I loved the music used in DM...Straight from the show! I'm still trying to track down the soundtrack to that by the way, if anyone has it please please please let me know!
While I really did enjoy TDoM's music, there was just something missing without the usual CSI tunes. DM's music is memorable; infact it is stuck in my head at the moment. TDoM's isn't...the only thing I can think of from there is the music that plays in Carie Cannelli's appartment, while I can think of any given song from DM. Minor detail I know, it's just a personal preference of mine.

3) I personally think the characters looked better in DM. I know TDoM was higher quality and more advanced graphics wise, but as far as making the characters look like themselves I think DM takes the cake. Aside from Sara having blue eyes (um wtf?) I think they looked much more like themselves. Sara, Catherine, Grissom, Warrick and especially Greg and Robbins were so much better than they were in TDoM. I think Robbins was scary looking and Greg looked like Greg from far away, but when you zoomed in on him it didn't resemble him in the slightest! Catherine was pretty good in TDoM, and Nick was WAY better. Really, Nick was the only character in DM that I thought they did an awful job on! They made him look so scary ): Nicky is incredibly gorgeous and they really messed him up in DM, yuck...So TDoM nailed it, as I remember I was impressed with the job they did on Nick in First Person Shooter. As far as Brass goes, I think he looked more like himself in TDoM but they screwed him up in both. Guess his unique looks are just hard to mimic? Whatever the case may be, he just looked terrible either way. Bottom line: if you only care about Nick looking good, TDoM is the game for you!

3) The load times on TDoM were annoying. DM didn't have any. Perhaps this is what I get for having the PS2 version, but the load times were obnoxious. Also I constantly had to save it incase it crashed (because I had read about the PS2 version crashing and whatnot so I wanted to be safe rather than sorry) DM automatically saved which was really nice. Plus, as I said no loading time. Bottom line: TDoM for the PS2 wasted a lot of time loading while DM didn't.

4) Ok now this next part drove me crazy about TDoM: THE DARKNESS. My goodness, I realize that the TV show would have you believing that CSIs work in the dark but geez, do they have to apply that same logic for the game too!? There were several times when it was really dark in the game and I had to refer to walkthroughs just to know what I was even looking for! The time that readily comes to mind is the warehouse at the end of Big White Lie in TDoM. I was SO frustrated looking for the medical kit in the absolute pitch black section of that stupid area. Seriously that was ridiculous! The entire warehouse was hard for me to navigate through because I had trouble finding stuff in general but wow that one thing really was just hell to find. Now I realize these games are designed to be a challenge in theory, but making something impossible to find because it is impossible to see is just idiotic in my opinion. I know others had issues seeing it too judging by my google searches, and I sure as heck wasn't about to wait until night time to see if playing in darkness would resolve my problem because I was too darn impatient. I don't like playing games that force you to play them at night because they are so dark (and don't have settings to make it otherwise!). It totally reminded me of playing Silent Hill Origins on the PS2, which was incredible, but impossible to see for sh!t. Drove me nuts then, still does now as TDoM proved. Yeah, so bottom line: Hard Evidence better not pull that "we're CSIs and therefore too cool to use real lights" crap or I will be very, very sad ): IT IS cool on the show, not so much when you're struggling because you know something is there and just can't click on it.

5) TDoM was much more particular about evidence hotspots. Ok, while I can see that yes that does make it harder, it also makes it more annoying. I didn't have problems collecting evidence from collected evidence. (That is to say, getting a hair/fiber off of some clothing etc)
Oftentimes, it was just seeing the evidence itself that gave me problems. Sometimes it could be attributed to darkness. Sometimes not. Also, I would've liked it if they let you USE the flashlight when you felt like it. Then they can make it as dark as they want to! But without that I just don't think its fair to submerge players in complete + total darkness. Bottom line: TDoM, please don't be so picky about where the pointer is! Grrr.

6) I really disliked how sensitive the controls were for the PS2! I had so much trouble collecting evidence because I would barely touch the controller and it would shoot me across the room. Granted, I did enjoy the new way of storing the casefile+evidence by attaching it to the L1 command. Kept it off the screen unless I wanted it. Also, it was pretty cool getting to go around looking at the set designs. Like, in Daddy's girl I went to every corner of the hospital because it simply amused me. Bottom line: TDoM's controls overreact but it has a more convenient layout and more to explore.

& finally... Overall, I think there was just much more of a CSI feel to Dark Motives. Again, it's personal preference I suppose. But I definitely felt that ALL of the characters' personalities showed through way stronger in Dark Motives. And that to me is what really made the game fabulous.