The simulation game Forensics: Crime Scene Detective offers players the chance to step into the shoes of a crime scene investigator, but the experience can quickly turn into a lesson in failure. The game allows players to make mistakes that lead to cases going unsolved, a stark contrast to the typical gameplay loop of many simulators.
Players are tasked with collecting and analyzing evidence from crime scenes. This can include labeling and photographing items like bullet holes and bloodstains, as well as collecting electronic devices and DNA samples. The process involves careful handling of evidence, with potential pitfalls at every stage, from collecting delicate fingerprints to extracting data from damaged devices.
One of the early challenges presented is extracting data from a damaged smartphone. The game requires players to carefully heat a memory card to desolder it, a process that can easily go awry. In the author's experience, this led to the complete destruction of the evidence, mirroring a burnt bagel. This inability to preserve evidence also resulted in a missed secondary electronic device at the scene, directly contributing to the case's failure.
Further complicating matters, fingerprint analysis proved difficult. The game simulates the process of dusting for prints with a purple light, lifting them with tape, and then matching them in the lab. Mishandling the powder, either by using too little or too much, can make the prints impossible to identify. Similarly, DNA analysis involves comparing results on a readout, but imprecise adjustments can prevent a match, leaving the perpetrator unidentified.
Even seemingly straightforward tasks, like collecting a bullet from a wall, can be fumbled. While the game offers satisfying mechanics like using a laser to trace the bullet's trajectory, errors in the subsequent lab work, such as improperly comparing bullets fired from a gun, can still lead to failure. The author's success in a case involving a gun fired into a water tank, which involved matching scratches on bullets, only came after several prior attempts. This particular case, where a gun was fired in an apartment, was part of the game's tutorial, highlighting the author's initial struggles.
Beyond the tutorial, the author's first real case involved a coin burglary. Despite finding multiple fingerprints and a pile of coins, the investigation faltered. The author missed additional fingerprints and electronic devices at the scene and failed to complete the fingerprint analysis in the lab, resulting in a low score of 16/100. This outcome underscores the game's commitment to simulating realistic investigative challenges, including the possibility of outright failure. Despite the setbacks, the author found the experience engaging, particularly appreciating the game's willingness to let players fail cases rather than guiding them through a predetermined checklist.