Carmen Sandiego review – Let’s get to the bottom of this mystery

Carmen Sandiego is a mystery single-player game where you play as, you guessed it, Carmen Sandiego. The narrative is extremely simplistic, something that I expected going in. In this game, an organization called VILE has returned, and now Carmen Sandiego and ACME have to team up to take down this common enemy. She may be the world's greatest thief, but this time, she is taking the role of the hero. 

In Carmen Sandiego, you’ll find yourself searching the globe for clues. You’re trying to figure out who from VILE is behind a robbery involving a state-of-the-art plane. Once you pick a place to go, you choose a destination within the country or state and investigate or answer a question. While you’re searching, you’ll have to be mindful of a ticking clock. I have no idea what happens if it reaches zero, and it’s best not to find out. I have major issues with the game’s mobile game quality. Unfortunately, Carmen Sandiego feels like a missed opportunity.

Gameplay 

The gameplay is extremely simplistic; if you’re going into this expecting an in-depth mystery game, you’re going to be disappointed. Regardless, there are a variety of mechanics at play here that are easy to understand. Lock-picking, for example, has you rotating a lock using LB and RB to find the right combination. 

Often, you’ll have to explore a predefined area to search for clues. As you search these areas, you’ll pick up on clues and world tidbits. I like the searching aspect because it forces the game to break up the monotony of the gameplay. The art style and set design are pretty, and I honestly think they fit the game beautifully.

Sometimes, you’ll have to eavesdrop to pick up on clues that you later use to put together the mystery. This goes hand in hand with the searching, and once you start gathering enough clues, you can put things together to try to find a suspect. 

Once you do each gameplay element, you have to prepare yourself to do it on repeat. Normally, this doesn’t bother me because this is the nature of the game, but Carmen Sandiego is boringly repetitive. It doesn’t help that there is minimal voice acting, and the characters are one-note.

One big missed opportunity 

Carmen Sandiego is a mobile game that will cost you $49.99 on Xbox, with the DLC included. It is a direct port of the free-to-play Netflix game, and that is quite a shame. You can play this game for free on your phone, and it explains why the art style and music are the best parts of this game. 

The game itself is fine. It is not the worst mobile port I have ever played, but neither is it the best. The game is strictly mid; I would caution spending money, especially for the complete edition of this game. There is a lot that is left to be desired. Gadgets are all locked into mini-games, so you can’t use them freely. Even crouching and following a suspect is limited; it is not something that happens often as you explore the 15 locations of the game. 

The gameplay is not very engaging and it’s because of how repetitive and simplistic it is. Even by the standards of your typical Gameloft game, this is the simplest one I have played yet. The areas you explore are small, and often, you only need 1 or 2 clues to complete the area. I got bored and had to hand the game off to my niece, who still found things too easy, and she is 10. 

That being said, there are some educational moments in here that I enjoyed. Much of the information is real, and my niece and I had fun discussing the various facts and cities that we got to visit. At its core, Carmen Sandiego is a family-friendly game that is not made for your average gamer, and that’s fine. 

My issue comes with the lack of effort. Movement, specifically turning, feels sluggish. As I have said before, there is minimal voice acting, and although I am not familiar with Carmen Sandiego in depth, the dialogue falls flat for every character. The animations are not fluid either, and that makes sense, given that the game is a direct mobile port. 

The Deluxe Edition 

First, this edition of the game includes an art book that is a complete joke. It feels like something that was included to try and justify the price. The normal cost of the game is $29.99, while the deluxe edition is $49.99. Trying to view it is a mess; there are 18 pages of art, and every time I open this thing, it bugs out. I can’t zoom in, sometimes I can’t flip the pages, and one time it froze completely. 

Next, I want to talk about the soundtrack because while I did like the music in the game, none of these songs appear within the game. You can listen to them on YouTube for free. Next is the included caper. In this one, Carmen is a suspect, and while it was sort of fun, it is also largely forgettable. Finally, you get 2 costumes, while there are 3 total in the whole game. 

Final Thoughts 

Carmen Sandiego falls short on everything it tries to do, aside from the music and art style. There is nothing of substance here, and while the game can be fun for younger audiences, the pricing model leaves a lot to be desired.