Cate West: The Vanishing Files (Hands-On) (Nintendo DS) Preview

Cate West is in that dream position. A none-too-successful writer - if the lack of attendance at her book signing is anything to go by - she may be, but her advantage in life comes in her sleep; she has visions. It's not long before the police (including Detective Ben Shepard, taking some much needed time off GMTV) eschew any attempt at a formal interview and embrace Cate and her magical powers into the force. Her first task is to apply her powers to help investigate some cases that are baffling them - the Vanishing Files of the name.

This translates into a new search and find game, close to the likes of Mystery Stories. Spot the difference, find items hidden in scenery, replace items...all in a day's work for Cate and her special brain. In find or replace modes, half of the touch screen is taken up by a view of how the environment actually appears, while the final 50% is made up of Cate's view; a memory of one of her visions with objects in place or details that differ from the actual view for you to spot. Find mode dedicates the entire screen to the search area.

Being police-based, these elements are tailored to solving crimes. The searching is the investigation to find clues; the difference finding to scout out crime scenes; the placing of objects to build up testimony when the case goes to court. Disappointingly there isn't actually any in-depth court action. The closest you get is being able to point out your suspect by viewing clues and profiles to work out whodunit, eliminating potential criminals one by one, much like Guess Who.

It's all, naturally, controlled with the touch screen; plenty of tapping on objects abound. You're given a time limit to fulfil your tasks, though it is quite lenient; you get 15 minutes for much of it, whereas it was taking me around a third of that time to finish stages. Tap too much incorrectly frequently, though, and you get a 'random tap penalty' with 30 seconds swiped away from the timer. On-screen buttons zoom in on the action or give a hint; the former is essential and means that you have to scroll around either by dragging with the stylus or by prodding the d-pad. There are typically about ten things to do on each stage, and some of the answers are fiendish. The hint system is welcomed.