Rating: - Good for fans, Agonizing otherwise
3 Dimensions of Murder is the third installment in the PC version of CSI. As a fan of CSI, I was entertained by the complicated stories, the interaction between suspects, yourself, and CSI agents, and the general feel of the game.

3 Dimensions starts to stumble with the same problems the others had. While I like having to search the scene for evidence and put the pieces together myself, getting through an hour long stage to find I missed a single piece of evidence, or forgot a test and comparison check is frustrating. Having to find that last shred before you could question a suspect or perform a test was incredibly annoying, as you could spot what was coming well before the evidence accumulated to the point that the game decided it was time to advance.

Probably the worst condemnation is the fact that there has been no real improvement despite being the 3rd incarnation. The stages are still run as point and click, and are otherwise not interactive. Its a matter of patiently running your mouse cursor over row after row of pixels to spot the few items on an otherwise static screen, and the almsot snide remarks for your fellow agents when time after time the remark "Nothing over there. Way to be thorough." While the zoom in/zoom out camera effects and "thought play" you know and love from the show are great, I would've rather had an option to walk around in a basic 3d room, crouch and stand, have a sprite hand that actually open and shut doors and drawers. Aside from the filmed sequences, the only CGI motion is from the CSI agents and suspects, which is dull. The Pheonix Wright games from the Nintendo DS had just as much motion to them as this did.

While I'd recommend this to any fan of CSI, as its a acceptable injection for those of you who desperately need a fix, almost any other mystery game I've played to date can surpass it in almost every category with the exception of movie content and voice acting, which probably got most of the budget. Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes games that go for 2 for 1 deals in the bargain bin have more of what it takes to make a good adventure mystery game.

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