James Noir's Hollywood Crimes

It may not have much replay value once all the puzzles are done, but it's a fun story with some real head-scratchers.

Overall, the game is good, though not great. The puzzles are interesting and the story is intriguing. The visuals are solid and the audio's OK. If you're into fun puzzle games with gripping mysteries, James Noir might be one to look into getting.

Although its puzzles are repetitive, James Noir's Hollywood Crimes 3D achieves to offer an interesting proposal in Nintendo 3DS thanks to its visuals, that although are not remarkable in its technical aspect, have a very particular style that some will find charming, and others will hate.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes is a bit rough around the edges, but it offers some fun, quirky puzzling.

The quality of its story and presentation might be questionable, but at the very least it offers players who like to rack their brains and test their puzzle-solving prowess plenty of tricky teasers to sink their teeth into.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes is a surprisingly well-crafted game which will appeal fans of the Professor Layton franchise and puzzle games alike. It's not revolutionary and rather bland in some aspects but the sheer amount of puzzles and the intriguing story will keep players hooked for a few hours, untile they find that unsolvable puzzle which will stop them forever.

If you're an absolute brainteaser junkie, you'll get some value out of Hollywood Crimes. It should at least hold you over until something more substantial comes along.

It could've been a masterpiece, but too easy puzzles and a shallow narrative spoil the concept.

A nice idea, and a solid story, undermined by a predictable structure and low-budget feel. [Christmas 2011, p.73]

This isn't a criminal case of shovelware, but we can't give it a full stamp of approval either… and so whether it's worth investigating depends greatly on how much you enjoy playing portable detective.

Although Ubisoft has managed to ship a solid and well rounded gaming experience, Hollywood Crimes proves unable to amaze and engage as much as many hoped and expected.

James Noir's Convoluted Title 3D makes for a largely disappointing experience. If you're a hardened puzzle nut and want to progress through a game by way of your intellectual capacity alone, it's not a total waste of your time. But if you've been thinking about dipping your toes into narrative-driven puzzle gaming and are wondering if this is the title to try, it's not.

Ubisoft's stab at claiming some of the market share from Level-5's immensely popular series could have been a positive one, yet instead whilst still enjoyable it proves to be a lacklustre alternative.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes 3D isn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. It is however a game that has been done before and done better. It offers nothing new to the genre. It can however be grabbed for less than £30 in most places and is fun while it lasts. It is almost worth it for the hammy acting alone.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes 3D has an interesting premise but requires better execution and better use of 3DS capabilities to realise its potential.

There isn't much glitz or glamour in James Noir's Hollywood Crimes, a puzzle-adventure with low production values and repetitive puzzles that even an interesting murder mystery can't overcome.

An interesting attempt at a Professor Layton clone, but one that has neither the charm nor the variety of its more scholarly inspiration.

It's a shame the puzzles aren't more varied. The structure of James Noir's Hollywood Crimes could use some work too. [Nov 2011, p.75]

3D is used to good effect in some puzzles, but the same effect could be had by staring at a lamp and walking around it, furtively searching for hidden messages before finally quitting and seeing if there's any pie in the house.

The range of puzzles on display is also sorely lacking for a game of this type. [Issue#118, p.114]