NCIS (3DS) Review

I’m usually pretty averse to licensed titles, though I do acknowledge that every now and then there’s one that slips through the cracks and actually isn’t all that bad. It’s a bit of a hard situation, though, when this particular title pretty much copies all of the mechanics from another franchise that does it so right. NCIS 3D was a game that I was quick to actually dismiss when I first saw it on the store shelves, but after giving it quite a go I was surprised to find that not only did there seem to be a lot of effort gone into it, but it was actually a pretty compelling experience too. And I don’t even like NCIS.

NCIS 3D is similarly structured to Ubisoft’s other franchise, the CSI games. Players take on the role of a “faceless” new recruit who works with the cast from the show to solve crimes across four episodes, which have been written by the show’s writers too. Each of the episodes is similarly structured to the TV show, right down to the black and white freeze frames that usually happen at each commercial break. The stories themselves are well told; there’s a nice amount of humour and the twists are about on par with what you’d expect from the TV show – so some people will work them out quite easily but others may be a little more clueless. When it comes down to it, the stories are presented very well.

NCIS 3D is a little bit of a mixed bag when it comes to graphics, though. Employing a mix of three dimensional graphics with pre-rendered backgrounds, NCIS 3D is a step above most, if not all DS games and does a good job at showing off the 3DS’s powers too, although some moments are a little bit off-looking. The actual crimes themselves are presented using 3D graphics which, for the most part are especially smooth – but the environments themselves look a little bit off. This is the biggest issue that stands out with NCIS’s graphics – the characters themselves look great, but the textures and lack of detail in the environments make the game feel notably empty and dead, which creates this really odd disparity between the character models and the environments.

The animations on the 3D models are also quite terrible too, although they never play out too often. During the investigative phases, the game uses pre-rendered graphics and artwork for characters, which is great. The 3D effect is also used quite well – although serious aliasing is noticeable during the actual 3D scenes. Generally speaking however, the 3D effect feels quite well thought-out rather than sloppily done.

NCIS’s main gameplay is very similar, if not exactly the same, as the Ace Attorney series. Players investigate crime scenes, interrogate potential suspects and/or witnesses as well as examine evidence for clues to finding out more leads on a case. One nice aspect with the inventory management is that players must commonly decide, after examining an object, which department of the NCIS to send the evidence too (i.e. Ballistics for bullet casings). The 3DS gyroscope is also used to control the camera when taking photos of evidence, which is a nice touch but generally it feels pretty unnecessary. Should you ever get stuck, the game does allow you to ask the cast members for hints, though your end-of-case report will suffer as a result. Generally speaking though, the investigations are pretty easy to get through but some of them did require a little bit of logical thinking that I admit I did have a few problems with.

Besides investigating, there are also interrogation segments which play similarly to Ace Attorney – the witness or suspect answers questions and players can “press” individual statements for more information or clarification. Should there be a statement that contradicts the evidence that you’ve collected, you can present it to attempt to scare them into submission. It’s a great system but at the same time it’s hard to give it too many points because it’s literally copied straight from Ace Attorney, except that the way the evidence case file in Ace Attorney is structured is much more intuitively laid out than NCIS is, which can lead to a bit of frustration when navigating the evidence to present. Altogether the system is pretty well done and there’s no “turnabout” typical Japanese logic that you would expect when presenting evidence, which is good.

During some of the other parts, NCIS does things a little differently and throws in a few shooting segments which are pretty well done, with an Elite Beat Agents-style where the player must tap a reticule once it reduces to a certain size. These segments do a great job at breaking up the monotony of the investigation segments but a lot of the time the game didn’t detect our stylus presses, which was a little frustrating.

In terms of longevity, NCIS is similar to most adventure games in that once you’re done with the main story, there’s really no reason to return to the game again. The four episodes that are included will take players around about six hours to complete, but your mileage may vary depending on how savvy you are with these kinds of games. It’s still quite a sizeable experience and I’ve got to be honest, this is one of the most modestly priced (at least RRP wise) 3DS game I’ve ever seen on the system, easily.

The game uses music and signature sound effects from the television series to great effect, but one of the most annoying things I noticed was that there was simply no voice acting in the game whatsoever. Similarly, the game employs text that scrolls ridiculously slowly which makes the lack of voice acting more and more apparent. The music itself is pretty good, ramping up the tension during the more intense interrogation scenes, though some of the tracks do feel like they’re missing something.

NCIS 3D is a great adventure game that manages to combine the very solid gameplay mechanics from the Ace Attorney series with a more serious and clinical form of storytelling. However, it’s similarities to Ace Attorney unfortunately highlights a few design decisions that are more than questionable – but there’s no doubt about it that this it the best adventure game on the 3DS right now, and the price is just right too.

Graphics 6.0

The character models themselves are great, but the environmental textures and the “empty” feeling they have really makes the world feel unrealistic. Animations are also awful. Pre-rendered backgrounds and character portraits are great. The 3D effect is used very well to give a very real sense of depth.

Gameplay 7.0

Utilising an investigative system and interrogation system similar to Ace Attorney, NCIS really does a good job at recreating the processes you see in the television show. The core gameplay mechanics are somewhat inferior to Ace Attorney though but thankfully the story really entices you to play on.

Sound 7.0

A nice blend of sound effects and music from the series is used with good license here, with some more intense compositions playing during the intense interrogations really ramping up the tension. A lack of voice work, combined with slow scrolling text boxes really brings the games audio offerings down though.

Tilt 6.5

This one is a bit of a mixed bag the cases are all unique and well written, and will take you no longer than six hours to complete, but once youre done theres really nothing else to do.

Value 9.0

I was expecting absolutely nothing from the NCIS game and was pleasantly surprised to find not only that it was in a genre I absolutely loved, but that it was great looking and played like one of my favourite franchises ever.

Overall

NCIS 3D is a great adaptation of the NCIS series that borrows from one of the greatest franchises in the genre, though its not without its problems in doing so. Definitely one licensed game that you shouldnt be turning your nose up at.