3DS Critic Reviews

Delightfully cheesy and not afraid to try new things. It's short but fun while it lasts. [Feb 2012, p.96]

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.

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 bit rough around the edges, but it offers some fun, quirky puzzling.

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 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]