Carmen Sandiego

Carmen Sandiego is a mystery-solving game where players take on the role of master thief Kaimen, teaming up with Acme to fight against the evil organization Vile. Players will battle the organization's henchmen around the world, utilizing various tools such as paragliders and thermal imaging cameras to find clues, track down the mastermind, and ultimately defeat the evil organization. Carmen Sandiego also offers multiple endings. The endings change as the player's research into the organization progresses. Will you be able to bring Vile to justice, or will you allow them to continue to roam free?

Features:

Solve Heists with Your Sleuthing Skills: Carmen Sandiego challenges you to solve complex heists by collecting clues and solving puzzles. You’ll engage in various mini-games, such as cracking safes and hacking into security systems, to outsmart VILE agents. As you uncover hidden details, you’ll gain insights into the crime and piece together the puzzle, racing against the clock to stop the thieves.

Track Down VILE Operatives: With each mission, you’ll cross-reference the clues you find with ACME’s dossier database. The goal is to identify the VILE agent behind the crime. Once you narrow down your suspects, issue a warrant and track the criminal to their next location. It’s a game of wits and speed as you attempt to capture these elusive criminals.

Advanced Gadgets and Gear: To assist in your mission, Carmen Sandiego provides you with an array of high-tech gadgets. Soar through the air with a glider, swing between buildings using a grappling hook, and use thermal imaging goggles to detect hidden clues. These tools will help you on your journey, making each mission a high-stakes adventure.

Meet Trusted Allies and VILE Villains: Throughout your travels, you’ll work alongside your hacker sidekick Player. Together, you’ll track down the most wanted VILE agents, including familiar characters like Paper Star from the Carmen Sandiego. Each mission brings you closer to capturing these dangerous criminals and putting an end to their crimes.

Highlights:

Solve and Challenge: The game is designed with a dynamic real-time investigation system with interactive mini-games that challenge the player’s problem-solving ability.

Tech Meets Action: The system will bring an arsenal of high-tech gadgets that allow for creative approaches to missions and evidence collection.

Global Stealth Adventure: Players will be able to experience a seamless combination of stealth and action gameplay across a variety of global environments.

World Culture Knowledge: The game will be able to provide geographical and cultural knowledge that is naturally interwoven into mission objectives and location exploration.

Historical Landmark Discovery: The system has also integrated historical events about relics and artifacts to enhance learning while maintaining engagement.

Detective Skills Training: Players will experience an increasing difficulty curve that teaches advanced detective skills and logical reasoning methods.

Useful Tips:

To balance the number of witnesses you talk to with the amount of time it takes to interview them, only talk to two witnesses per location until you have enough clues about the suspect.

Once you have issued a warrant for a henchman, it is only necessary to talk to one witness per location. Each additional interview costs you additional hours.

If you aren't sure of the next location, it takes far less time to talk to one more witness than it does to fly to the wrong location and back.

Charleston can either refer to West Virginia or South Carolina. You will need another clue if both are possibilities.

Similarly, clues about the Wright Brothers can refer to either Ohio or North Carolina.

Instead of computing the henchmen clues in the computer every time, simply hit  Esc  to return to the main screen. Computing takes away precious time, and there is really no point in submitting clues if you know you don't have enough information to get a warrant.

For male henchmen, food and music always correlate. That is, if a male henchman likes Tex-Mex food, he will also like rock music. The same applies to Southern food and Opera music, Seafood and Classic music, as well as Creole food and Country music.

For female henchmen, hair and food and sports are all correlated. If a female henchman has black hair, she will also like Tex-Mex food and basketball. The same is true with blond hair, southern food, and hockey; brown hair, seafood, and baseball; as well as red hair, creole food, and basketball.

If you only have the henchmen list narrowed down to two people and you know that you are in the same city as the henchmen, change the clues in the computer to issue a warrant for either one or the other. If you issue the wrong warrant, there are no consequences and at least you will have a chance of getting it right, while having no warrant at all will guarantee a failed mission.

If you are tracking a female henchman and you are not a Master Detective, you can be reasonably sure that you are not tracking Carmen Sandiego. Therefore, if the hair is black, the sport is basketball, or the food is Tex-Mex, you are probably on the trail of Gypsy Rose Lasagna. Similarly, a female henchman who likes gambling will be Wendy Pauper, and a female henchman who likes classic music will be B.B.D. O'Brien.

Player Comments:

Look, a solid half of the enjoyment of this game is nostalgia for all us 80s/90s kids who learned a weird amount of geography from a woman in a red hat. If you don't have that nostalgia, a lot of this game is going to lack the kind of punch that it does for us.That said, it's a solid puzzle game. There are a ton of mini puzzles on each caper that are repeated across the capers but not in their solutions, just that it's the same set on each caper. And there's pixelized ACME Files for when you're not playing the capers that's a nice nod to the original games.Some less than great things: the voice acting is wildly inconsistent (every time you move cities, there's repeated affirmations between Sandiego and Player but when you nab the goons, the cut scene with the chief is completely silent). The chief's animosity seems ridiculous after about two capers because you're doing her job for her but the plot shakily depends her thinking you're still a criminal. And there are times when you have to stop playing the main caper storylines to go level up in "notoriety" via the ACME Files--which are great little games to themselves but really interrupt the flow (especially since I have no idea if there's a top to the notoriety levels; do you just keep leveling up ad infinitum?).The 3D animation isn't smooth at all, though bouncing it off the pixels of the Files is a neat go. I know this is capitalizing on the popularity of the Netflix reboot and again, this is a good little puzzle game. But I'm not sure I'd like this half as much if I didn't have the memories of singing along to my television as a kid to carry the weak spots.

This is pretty good remake of Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?The only problem with this game is that it seems to waste your time in the beginning to unlock next missions. Even if you solve early easy missions successfully, you still don't get enough points to proceed to next mission, so you need to replay the mission to get the required level.Later missions become more challenging (geographic facts, English skill, QTE events, puzzle minigames), but then the progression seems to solve by itself.Would have been a perfect small game if it didn't intentionally waste player's time.

Final Thoughts:

Carmen Sandiego invites players to step into the shoes of the legendary superthief, Carmen, as they embark on an educational adventure to solve high-profile heists and track VILE criminals globally. Engage in a whirlwind world tour with stunning visuals while collecting clues, investigating iconic locations, and honing sleuthing skills through various minigames. Utilize high-tech gadgets to outsmart VILE agents and collaborate with allies, including the hacker sidekick Player, to bring down notorious villains. This immersive experience combines action and learning, making it a captivating journey for aspiring detectives.