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NCIS PlayStation 3
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Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critics What's this?

User Score
3.5 out of 10

Generally unfavorable- based on 4 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: NCIS is now available for the first time ever on your home consoles and PC.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. Digital Chumps
    Nov 15, 2011
    58
    This isn't a bad game, but it's not good either. Some die hards might find something rewarding about experiencing a new set of stories. But from what I can gather, most fans would be embarrassed that this low level of writing has the NCIS name on it to begin with.
  2. Worth Playing
    Dec 2, 2011
    55
    It's difficult to not view the NCIS game as a blatant cash grab. It may be available at the lower price point of $40 ($30 for PC), but the four cases only take about four hours to complete and there is zero replay value.
  3. IGN
    Nov 14, 2011
    45
    At the close of NCIS: The Game's final episode, I didn't feel as though I'd gained any insight into investigative procedure. The minigames are entirely too easy to qualify as a learning experience.

See all 4 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 2 out of 3
  1. JPoppaWUSC
    7
    Your level of enjoyment in playing NCIS will largely depend on two factors - 1) what kind of NCIS fan you are, and 2) what kind of gamer you are. If you're not a fan of NCIS, you might as well stop reading now and find something else to play, unless you already love detective games or pixel-hunt games like Mystery Case Files and Cate West. Otherwise, NCIS is a game made for its fans, featuring all of the major characters from the series (although few of them are actually voiced by their respective actors), and the game's case scenarios were written by the same people who script the TV show. And in case you haven't noticed, Ubisoft published the game to appeal to the same players as its CSI games, but NCIS actually improves in this area, as development was shifted from the Chinese company that handled CSI to an internal Ubisoft studio that would better understand the property. All-in-all, NCIS pulls off everything that it tries to do in a reasonable fashion. Motion controls work well with the Move (though much more basically than a game like Heavy Rain), and Dual Shock analog controls are quite manageable if you prefer a standard controller. The cases are relatively compelling, and some of the storytelling is genuinely interesting. Graphics won't knock your socks off, but they're functional. The sound matches many of the show's mainstays, from the "thump" sound with its black-and-white snapshot at the beginning of each scene, to the opening theme and other tracks pulled straight from the series. Gameplay is varied, allowing you to pixel-hunt for evidence, photograph crime scenes, move bodies, help with autopsies and other forensic analyses, and even interrogate suspects. That being said, the simplicity of each task, combined with a completion meter, make it impossible to mess up, and once the 5 hours of crime-solving is done, there is little reason to play again. On the flipside of this, if you're looking for some quick trophies (including a guaranteed platinum), NCIS is a pretty easy way to get them, and the game retails for $39.99 instead of the usual $60. So, if you're a fan of the show and enjoy video games on a casual level, NCIS is a decent purchase. However, the most discerning NCIS fans and hardcore gamers will find a lot to b**** about here. As I have already mentioned, the characters are not voiced by their actors, aside from David McCallum for Ducky and Robert Wagner for DiNozzo's dad, neither of which perform as well as they do on TV. Ducky even comes off as seriously creepy without the support of NCIS's on-set chemistry. The character models don't always look great, either. DiNozzo looks nothing like Michael Weatherly, McGee and Ziva look good from some angles and bad from others, and Abby probably would've been okay if her body movements weren't so unbelieveably stiff. Gibbs fares the best in his appearance, but his voice and lines are so non-Harmon that it's annoying. Everything about the game could've been more ambitious, especially considering that NCIS is the highest rated scripted show on television and has climbed in viewership every year for nine seasons. CBS could've taken a paltry $10 million out of the show's multi-billion-dollar revenue and really contracted something special from Ubisoft, but instead, they made something that's only slightly better than the other games of its type. In that way, NCIS is a missed opportunity, but it will still hold some interest for casual fans of the show or of detective gaming. Could be worse...… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. Tarbun
    4
    I picked this up as I heard it was an easy Platinum. Well it really is! 2.5 hours to Plat with no missables. The game itself it like a poorer CSI game. Find evidence, process evidence, question people...all with stupidly easy minigames to find out whodunnit. Got to say the story is not too bad but is far too short. It also makes half decent use of Move which is a bonus and adds a little to the experience. In conlusion: Easy Platinum on a bareable game. Not worth £40 but worth a rent if you want a fun change of pace with some easy trophies… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. mxmlln
    2
    A satisfactory crime / mystery game, but only 4 hours of gameplay. Also is now the easiest platinum trophy ever with no missable achievements in the campaign.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes

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