QB EXPRESS' REVIEW OF DETECTIVE ACADEMY
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Kentauri's latest game lets you play the detective. Do you have what it takes? 

At A Glance
Can you pick out all the clues? That's exactly what Detective 
Academy(DA) helps you do. You can train in practice mode for 
the academy, and obviously, once mastering the practice mode, 
you can play in academy mode to unlock new scenes/scenarios. 
The concept, as mentioned, is rarely done, and in the world of 
QB, an original game is hard to come by, so this definitely excels.

Without delay, here is the review...

Graphics
Wow is all I have to say. Sure they aren't the worlds greatest, but 
for the game, they really bring out the surroundings. The colours 
for the game, in my opinion, should have been slighly darker, since 
you are investigating a crime scene. The lighter the palette, the 
happier it seems. The amount of possible details were very good, 
though. I enjoyed looking at specific details, only to find out 
that indeed, I was looking at the wrong things. The amount of details, 
and variety of them make it difficult to pick out "important" ones, 
and, in a real academy, you would be told what you are looking for 
and have more background information.

Suggestions:
-Darken the palette
-Create a more plausible amount or details/clues 

Sound
Ouch! I'd rather just skip it. There was a small amount of sound 
added, which should have just been left out. That's all.

Suggestions:
-Don't put in last minute sounds 

Gameplay
The concept of this game is highly original, as you memorize small, 
seemingly pointless details, that could reveal how a crime took place. 
There is no storyline, unfortunately, so you are not solving a specific 
crime, or visit more than 2 scenes for each scenario. The game could 
have been improved by creating a level editor, with themes. Kentauri 
has not released any such program due to the amount of detail that 
is put into one level, and I am unsure if such a program was created. 
Again, there is no story line, other than "you have to find all the clues 
in some amount of time." There is also a face memorizing mode, where a 
head briefly goes across the screen, and you must remeber the features. 
Then, you must reconstruct the face, with 50% or more of the features 
correct. The harder the difficulty, the faster the face goes across the 
screen.

Suggestions:
-Release source code for others to add their own levels and themes.
    or
-Take the pain-staking time to create multiple levels and settings. 

Replay Value
The challenge the first few times is very strenuous, but after that, 
the gameplay becomes too repetitive, and boring. There are about 
15 clues for each scenario, that change slightly (such as colour, 
or amount), but when you get the general gist, the challenge goes 
away.

Suggestions:
-Create a senario editor/creator 

Over All
My opinion: Good game. Definitely worth the playing, but not 
something I'd just sit and play every day.

Positives:

> Original Concept

> Fair Graphics

> Good Memory Test  > The palette is too bright for the theme

Negatives: 

> No story line

> Sound, if enabled, was very pointless

> Few levels  

Reviewed by Oz