CSI: Crime City on Facebook: CSI goes social in new Ubisoft game

Although CSI: Crime City on Facebook is still officially in beta, it may well be one of the best uses of a licensed property in casual gaming. The game focuses on the original CSI series set in Las Vegas. Several characters make an appearance to help you along the way. Including Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne).

Crime City begins with a tutorial case, called "Sweet Revenge," that introduces you to the tools of your detective trade as well as the game's interface. Each case starts out with an animated scenario to set up the crime scene. The tutorial actually shows you who committed the crime, but leaves you without the motive. Later cases will be much more ambiguous, only introducing you to the characters before presenting the crime scene.

Each crime scene is laid out like a grid, with several squares that you can investigate. Typically, crime investigations like this would force your to click over every thing aimlessly. This grid system serves as an excellent guide, which helps to keep tedium down and fun levels up. Although squares may have blood, fibers or prints on them, they may not necessarily hold pieces of evidence. The game employs an energy meter. Depending on what kind of square you investigate, ranging from a blank square to a square with blood spatter, you will have to pay an energy cost. You only get 1 extra energy point every minute and thirty seconds so you will want to make your investigations count.