Adventure Corner ~ Carmen Sandiego

Welcome to Adventure Corner, a column where members of the RPGamer staff can give their thoughts, impressions, and pseudo-reviews for various adventure titles that don’t come under our usual coverage. Adventure Corner aims to deliver opinions on a wide range of titles including visual novels, point-and-click adventures, investigative mysteries, and so forth.

In this edition of the column, we take a look at Gameloft’s adaptation of the Carmen Sandiego on PlayStation 5.

Carmen Sandiego

If you grew up in the 80s and were fortunate to have a computer, there is a chance you’ve encountered one of the Carmen Sandiego games. Since 1985, this iconic, red-jacketed thief has stolen the hearts and minds of “gamers like you.” As one of the longest-running educational franchises in the world, players have crossed the United States, globetrotted the entire world, and even jumped back in time to track her down. The game series even spawned a successful live action game show that was completely funded by PBS and opened with the insanely catchy tunes of Rockapella. Fast forward to the late 2010s and Carmen Sandiego saw a resurgence with a popular Netflix TV show for kids, which is what this particular game, Carmen Sandiego (2025), is based on. While the game pays homage to the educational games of the past, Gameloft swings and misses as this iteration lacks the charm and camp of what made those games such classics.

Taking on the role of the World’s Greatest Thief, Carmen Sandiego, the game begins with the Chief of ACME (Agency to Classify and Monitor Evildoers) contacting her regarding some V.I.L.E. (Villains’ International League of Evil) crooks out on the loose, who are committing large-scale thefts, including objects like bullet trains and supercomputers. With the help of her computer genius friend, Player, and her ACME handler Hyde, it is up to Carmen to solve these mysteries, travel around the world, and set everything right. There’s not much to the overall storyline, as it’s mostly just fluff to get Carmen from point A to point B. While there is a fair bit of dialogue, it’s more corny than campy, with most of the jokes either consisting of villainous puns, which the series is known for, or cringe-worthy dialogue that makes the player want to skip through it. This is a shame given how much of this game is based on reading clues and learning about the locations Carmen is traveling to. It also doesn’t help that there are so many clues that are awkwardly written and difficult to decipher. Considering the game is targeted at children, the lack of clarity in the writing is a huge misstep.

Gliding controls leave a lot to be desired.

Each caper has three storylines to work through, with the following ones accessed by either completing the previous caper or building Carmen’s notoriety level. While tracking down V.I.L.E. operatives, Carmen will have to work through varying puzzles and minigames to receive clues as to where the culprit is going and what they look like. Some of the minigames are fairly straightforward, such as untangling wires from an electrical panel or following a specific pattern of nodes to hack a device, but then others are fiddly at best. Chasing operatives down with the grappling hook is an exercise in frustration, as the pattern moves very quickly and isn’t consistent. The hang gliding feels like controlling a stiff shopping cart. The worst offender is the tailing minigame, where it is beyond easy to scare off the perp because the player has to hold X to move and let go when they want to duck into cover. It’s fine to borrow from games like Assassin’s Creed and Batman: Arkham Asylum for some of these minigames, but what these minigames lack is the simplicity and directness that those games provide. They are often more frustrating than the games they borrow from, as there’s no real sense of validation, especially if it’s the reason one fails the caper.

Every single caper is timed, and as Carmen moves between places, she will gain more clues about the person she is looking for. Their locations are marked in a handy notebook, and perp clues are searchable through ACME’s database. The database is interesting because the player can use the clues to work down the number of potential suspects. The problem with this is how much time can also be lost if one goes through every single rumour they get, and doing any kind of recon before issuing a warrant can waste a huge chunk of time. The player must weigh the pros and cons of the clues they are receiving, but given a handful of them are not clear or very confusing, players will also find themselves doing a lot more Googling than perhaps they’d like. It also doesn’t help that there is only a handful of locations, and players will be hopping through the same twelve or so locations over and over, there isn’t much variety in the overall clues.

Look out for Fast Eddie B! He pushed over his brother, Fast Eddie C.

Additionally, it’s just not a nice game to look at. A lot of the character models look cheap and share identical facial expressions. The 3D in the main campaign for each area is detailed well enough, but there’s too much clutter in each location and makes it easy for Carmen to bump into things. Even designs for a lot of the V.I.L.E goons are uninspired, dull, and often do not match the punny names that they are rocking. There is also very little music and voice acting, and what is there is beyond unremarkable. The game also preys on nostalgia through the addition of the ACME Files, which are quick capers that the player can repeat for more notoriety, especially if they need a small amount to open the next main caper. Quick capers are done entirely in pixel graphics, just like the classic PC games. However, when Carmen is interrogating others for information, they are displayed with their uglier 3D models, which destroys the pixel nostalgia and breaks immersion. Players will still repeat a lot of the minigames and puzzles, just on a much smaller scale.

Even if Rockapella’s amazing tunes graced gamers in Carmen Sandiego (2025), it wouldn’t be enough to save how clunky and uninspired this game is. Even worse, upon completing the game, I was treated to the fact that the last caper was labeled as “Coming Soon,” which is beyond unacceptable for a full forty-dollar budget title. As a huge Carmen Sandiego fan and grew up religiously watching the game show and playing the PC titles, this game attempts to prey on nostalgia and fails spectacularly. This Carmen Sandiego game needs to be ejected into space and forgotten in time.

Disclosure: This article is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.