Call in the CSI!
With only 60 minutes on the clock, can you find the killers? One survived and one died during the shooting and you will find the truth as the mystery unravels!
This review is for CSI: Mafia Murders ONLINE, click here if you’re looking for CSI: Mafia Murders Physical Room
We were on a bit of a blitz going through the Panic Room’s online games and CSI: Mafia Murders was the second on that list (after CSI: Grounded) so we had a good idea of how the interface worked and we had a good idea of what we may encounter.
CSI: Mafia Murders was actually very familiar to us as we had already completed this game in the physical escape room that inspired it in the Panic Room’s Harlow location. So it is worth noting that our time was potentially a little quicker than it probably should have been because the puzzles in this online version were pretty much the same as they are in the physical room (one or two minor tweaks).
If you’re in the UK and are in to escape rooms then there is no doubt that you will have heard about The Panic Room. They operate in two locations and have (I think) over 15 physical escape rooms you can play – if you get a chance, get to Harlow and play Carnevil, it’s lots of fun. It seems like The Panic Room want to keep this reputation as having the most experiences and they are churning out their online games at quite a rate!
The premise behind this game is that a crime has been committed and you have to identify not one, but two suspects! One suspect died on the scene and the other got away, now it’s up to you to work out who is who.
CONCEPT/EXECUTION
The Panic Room have gone with the same setup across all of their online experiences (that we have played to date), and it works. It’s nothing fancy and has a lot of clicking then entering a password, but it works and is a decent system for a purely online game.
We use Macs rather than PCs so we make sure when we play these games we use Chrome as it seems to be the most stable platform, and this experience was smooth on that. Trying to get immersion in an online game is not easy, but Panic Room have tried to assist with that by offering a soundtrack that you can play at the same time as your game.
There’s nothing to write home about the concept of this game, the build is solid and we didn’t encounter any glitches so what more could we want? They have built the game on a standalone website and there were clear instructions on how things worked, and a good use of videos and imagery to set the scene and take you through the experience.
For some people time is important, but there is no in-game timer here so if you want to know how long you have taken then make sure you start your own timer.
PUZZLES
CSI: Mafia Murders had a linear (each step led onto the next) game structure and there was no way to work on different things simultaneously, but they were challenging enough that I’d imagine a good size team would probably be kept entertained.
The puzzles were a good variety and had lots of observation, a fair amount of reading in various places, and the final puzzle was a big logical deduction puzzle. One or two of the puzzles were a bit sneaky in what you needed to look at to solve it so make sure you look at everything contained on the page.
When we did the physical version of this room there was one puzzle that we didn’t agree with as it was very misleading. Fortunately, in this online version that was no longer an issue as they fixed it and it improved it no end. Saying that, there was one puzzle in this online version that we didn’t like, we got it, but it felt like a bit of stretch to us.
If you’ve played the physical room then it’s probably not worth doing the online version, especially if you have good memory and remember the puzzles and the final solution.
CLUE SYSTEM
The tried and tested method for online escape room’s clue systems now seems to be established, and we quite like it. In this game, if you need a hint you simply click on a button and the first cryptic clue appears. If that’s not enough, click on the next button and get another one that is slightly less cryptic. Finally if you’re still not getting it you can get the solution. Nothing fancy, but it works.
FINAL THOUGHTS
With lots of evidence to work through, decent puzzles, and a solid ending; if you want a game that will make you feel like a detective, then this game is a good shout.
TOOLS REQUIRED
- Device with internet connection (desktop/laptop running Chrome, Firefox or Edge provides best experience)
- Pen and paper for note taking (optional)
Final Rating:
Puzzles | |
Concept/Execution | |
Clue System | |
Value for Money | |
Enjoyment |
Team: 2 players
Time Taken: 30 mins, no clues – but we have played the physical room in Harlow
Website: https://thepanicroom.net
*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review.
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