Ubisoft today announced that it is prepping a third PC game based on the hit CBS TV crime drama CSI. After a brief dalliance with the Johnny-come-lately spin-off CSI: Miami, Ubisoft is returning to the original Las Vegas-set series for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: 3 Dimensions of Murder.

　　Reviews for the last few CSI games were tepid at best, but Ubisoft has made a change that could help buck the trend. Development on the series has been taken out of the hands of 369 Interactive and entrusted to Telltale Games, which most recently put out the first episode of a planned franchise based on the indie comic Bone. The new development house has also announced an episodic game based on the anthropomorphic hijinks of Sam & Max: Freelance Police.

　　One might think, especially given Telltale's expertise in developing episodic content, that it would be a natural choice to apply that to a game based on the episodic TV series. However, Ubisoft seems to be taking the opposite tack, promising "longer, more immersive stories," as opposed to those featured in previous CSI games. Other new features touted by the publisher include a real-time 3D engine and improved character animations.

　　CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: 3 Dimensions of Murder is currently slated to release in spring 2006.