If you had not played or seen Capcom's Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney series you
could not be faulted for thinking High Voltage Software's Harvey Birdman
Attorney at Law is one of the most creative and innovative ways to revive the
point-and-click adventure games that were so popular on the PC in the
1990's. This entry however, also published by Capcom, comes after Phoenix
Wright has already brought justice to the long forgotten genre, and as a result
the developers could quite easily be charged with counterfeit for their
efforts.
Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law is exonerated by being the
exclusive representative of the formula on the PSP and by its use of the art and
characters from the Cartoon Network series of the same name. Each of the show's
voice actors lend their talents to the game with the exception of Steve
Carell. The graphics look even better on the PSP than they do on TV. While
fans of the series will get more from the experience, a familiarity with the
characters is not required to beat or enjoy the game.
Playing as the
half-man, half-bird lawyer you must investigate crimes and prove in court
various outlandish schemes. Usually the suspect and means are more obvious than
the manner in which you must prove your case in court. As in Phoenix Wright you
gather evidence and question subjects and witnesses. If you fail to collect key
evidence or exhaust each question you will not be able to proceed to the next
step. This is often frustrating as it is not always clear what you need to do
next.
When questioning subjects you have the ability to press them on
their their statements and present evidence that can potentially trap them into
a contradiction, in turn, forcing them to change their statement. While the
outcome is generally obvious the pleasure of execution is not diminished, much
like lining up a row of dominoes just to watch them fall one by
one.
Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law is by no means a poor man's Phoenix
Wright. It is a game that is just as entertaining, just as challenging and
perhaps even better paced. A worthwhile purchase at the bargain price at which
you can now attain it.
