Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds is a hidden-object game based on the popular TV series of the same name. It features mysterious cases, similar to the ones in the actual show.

All of the characters from the TV program appear in the game as well. The game focuses on examining crime scenes from a first-person perspective and solving the crimes.

Once you begin playing, you'll be asked if you want a tutorial. It doesn't explain everything at once, but only once something new appears. I really enjoy this features in games, because sometimes tutorials can get boring after the first 5 minutes. The fact that you will be basically taught as you play is a very good thing.

Like in most hidden-object games, you have to search for objects that are hidden in the background. However, in Criminal Minds, this is only one part of the gameplay. There are a lot of mini-games throughout the game: a smaller version of Mahjong, puzzles and memory games where you have to spot the differences between some pictures, etc. - these are just a few of the many smaller games within Criminal Minds. Another very good thing about the game is the storyline. Each case is very similar to an episode of the series. You first have to go to the crime scene, investigate what you can. After that you can go to the police precinct and do background checks. You can also interrogate the suspect, if you find one. Over the course of solving a case you'll be able to play as more characters from the team. However nothing really changes in gameplay no matter which character you play as.

The game comes with two difficulty settings: normal and expert. The main difference between them is that in normal mode you can get hints, which will tell you what to do next. The expert mode is really for players who are looking for a challenge.

The artwork is simply amazing. Every character is drawn exactly like in the TV show, every crime scene is wonderfully made, with a lot of details. The game also features some cinematics occasionally, which look more like movies than a game. There are no sound effects for the dialogs, however this doesn't affect the quality of the game at all.

Overall it is a great game. I enjoyed it, and fans of the hidden-object genre can certainly have fun with it as well as the fans of the series.