Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos Review for Xbox 360

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos box art

System: X360 (XBLA), PC	Review Rating Legend
Dev: TikGames	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Microsoft	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Jan. 7, 2009	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-4	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Despite Interpol's fairly simplistic premise and gameplay, it's strangely appealing, nostalgic feel makes playing through its entirety quite entertaining. However, this probably has more to do with its incredibly short length than how compelling the actual overall experience is. Even with its eleven different cities and multiple locations per city, Interpol will only take you between two to four hours maximum to fully complete. Since you blaze through the game at such a quick pace, the fairly weak storyline and repetitive gameplay don't really have a chance to fully set in.

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos screenshot

This, probably generous, time estimate becomes even shorter if you take advantage of the up to four player local or online co-op afforded by the game. When playing with friends, several of the games locations can be finished in less than a minute if you work well together. Still, all the included levels can be played through several times without being entirely repetitive, since the game will randomize the objects you need to find for each attempt. There are also a couple of bonus levels waiting to be unlocked that will have you finding discrepancies between two, almost entirely similar pictures.

While it is fairly short, simple, and not particularly impressive in any way, Interpol still somehow manages to be an enjoyable experience. For anyone who enjoys a good word search or visual puzzle, I would definitely suggest picking up this title. The ability to play through multiple times, searching for different items each go around should certainly help to justify its ten dollar price tag to players looking for some sort of longevity from the game as well. However, if you don't derive pleasure from meticulously combing over pictures, while looking for hidden objects, Interpol won't do anything to change your mind.

By Adam Brown
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.3

Graphics
The artwork in the game looks decent enough. If only zooming in didn't make everything terribly blurry.

3.2

Control
There isn't much to it besides moving a cursor and pressing a button. As such, it works about as well as can be expected, although detection can occasionally cause some minor issues.

3.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
You won't find any voice work and only a scant number of sound effects, but the music fits the game nicely.

2.2

Play Value
There just isn't enough to do here, even if you play through the game multiple times looking for different objects. Perhaps an additional mode or two could have given this title a little more substance.

2.5

Overall Rating - Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Tons of puzzles: Analyze elaborate crime scenes to uncover hundreds of mysterious hidden objects.

Glamorous destinations: Search for clues scattered in exotic locales around the world including San Francisco, Paris, Tokyo, Cairo, and more.

Clever mini-games: Discover bonus similarities and differences in puzzles to test your keen eyesight.

Four player co-op: Complete missions with other agents to quickly apprehend this dangerous criminal before he does more harm.