Unsolved Crimes for DS

Just one of many things we're thankful to DS for is the part it's played in bringing back the humble text-based, point-and-click adventure.

The Phoenix Wright games and Hotel Dusk: Room 215 are both brilliant and it seems other publishers – such as Empire – have noticed.

The publisher has announced it will be bringing its own detective game to Nintendo's handheld. Called Unsolved Crimes, the game promises all the crime scene investigation and puzzle solving you could want, all played as a rookie detective in the NYPD's homicide division.

The unsolved crime in question is the kidnapping of an aspiring model called Betsy Blake. Your motive is to solve the crime, using the DS stylus to trace routes and write memos, while looking for clues at crime scenes and from witnesses.

In addition to this central crime, there are also eight independent cases to solve and five action games that apparently relate to the kidnapping.

"We are looking to tap into the newly expanded broad demographic of the DS," said Clive Kabatznik, CEO of Silverstar Holdings (of which Empire is a wholly owned subsidiary). "The unique art style and gritty crime storyline will appeal to Nintendo DS gamers who like both action and brain training style puzzles."

This unique art style comes from the game being set in a stylised 1970s New York. The screenshots also show it has a bit of a text-based narrative: "It's a barred door. It's not locked" style stuff, which takes us back to the heady days of the Spectrum when we'd be typing "Exit barred door" only to be devoured by goblins soon after.

Anyway, Unsolved Crimes' release date is still the biggest mystery as it's just down for 2008. We'll keep tailing it, though, and will let you know as soon as that becomes a bit more specific.