Back in the day, to play video games we would have to have the latest system and wait until our parents had finished watching their favourite show on TV. However, it has never been easier than it is today as smartphones fill the earth meaning that we can play games on devices the size of a calculator; who would have thought it? One of the most popular games on the app store at the moment is ‘Criminal Case’ and at the time of this review, it has over 53,000 reviews with a rating of over 4.5 stars in the iOS App store. Furthermore, the app is now available in a number of languages including English, German, French, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and more.
Criminal Case is an adventure game that allows the user to take control of an investigator to solve various murder cases; these cases vary somewhat but all take place under the jurisdiction of the Police of Grimsborough and therefore, the user. Crime scenes have to be investigated and clues searched and users can even question suspects as well as analysing the bits of evidence. Ultimately, the aim is to catch the guilty party and keep the city safe from further crimes.
Even though Criminal Case app is completely free, as with many apps these days, there are certain items that can be bought for real money rather than ‘in-game’ currency. However, if you wanted to be sure or stop your children from purchasing these items, in-app purchases can be disabled in the settings of the device. Criminal Case has come a long way since first being introduced to the store and still gets regular updates to keep it fresh for users and to fix any bugs that arise; the app has spent a long time in the charts in the App Store and this doesn’t look likely to change any time soon.
If we take a closer look at the game itself, it is split up into a number of different parts with each one advancing the story in some way. A picture comes on the screen and players are asked to search for clues in a ‘hidden object’ style game and for the maximum points to be scored, the clues have to be found as quickly as possible. Once all the clues have been found, your total score will be calculated and then this transfers into a star rating for that particular level.
One of the main benefits of the Criminal Case game is that it allows progression and that seems to be important with applications today; players can work out who the victim was, what the method of killing was, and then of course, who the murderer is. At the end of the case, players are shown a lineup of suspects and the murderer has to be chosen using the evidence gained throughout the investigation. If the right person is picked, the case is finished and another case will be unlocked.The stories in Criminal Case are surprisingly good and the graphics can also follow it up nicely; furthermore, with a variety of different scenarios the game isn’t likely to become repetitive unless the user plays the game extensively!
You can download Criminal Case from the App store here.