Law & Order II: Double or Nothing (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.1 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Alex Navarro
• Reviewed on: 10/14/2003
• Released on: 09/30/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Law & Order II: Double or Nothing (PC) Review

The level of success that Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise has enjoyed is actually pretty staggering. The original series launched in 1990 and since then has become one of the most beloved crime dramas on television, spawning two successful spin-off series and helping to make household names out of actors like Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston, Benjamin Bratt, Angie Harmon, Jill Hennessy, and Michael Moriarty. Last year, the franchise branched out into the realm of PC gaming with Vivendi Universal and Legacy Interactive's Law & Order: Dead on the Money, an interactive mystery that let you take the reins of both the detective in charge of a murder and the prosecutor charged with putting the perp behind bars. At its core, Dead on the Money was a simple adventure game with some irritating structuring problems and decent, though uninspired, presentational aspects. The follow-up to Dead on the Money is Law & Order II: Double or Nothing, and, for better or for worse, the sequel has a style and methodology that are similar to the original. However, a far more engaging storyline and a less-intensive reliance on the player's knowledge of legal procedures definitely makes Double or Nothing a better game.

Like its predecessor, Law & Order II is structured exactly like the show. The game opens with the seemingly random shooting of a famed scientist on a busy New York street. Initially, your task will be to partner with longtime Law & Order mainstay Detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach's character) so you can put the pieces together as to what happened. You'll need to collect evidence at the crime scene and send it off to the crime lab for analysis. You'll then have to interview witnesses, as well as perform background research into these witnesses. Periodically you'll have to place surveillance officers on their tails. Once you've done some digging, you'll then have to collect your evidence and put together search and arrest warrants.

With a suspect in custody, the game's focus then shifts to the prosecution. You'll take the evidence collected in the first half and try to make a case against your suspect by subpoenaing witnesses and deciding what evidence you'll need in court. Once you're in court, you'll have to question experts and witnesses, trying to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your case is as solid as possible. The defense will try to cross-examine your witnesses, and, in so doing, they will attempt to undermine your case. Here's where things may get tricky, as you'll have to know when to object to questions asked by the defense. Objectionable questions are wide and varied, but they are usually made obvious by notable shifts in tone from the defense attorney. Likewise, the defense will object if you ask the wrong types of questions. You'll also still have some investigative work ahead of you, as not every aspect of your case will come together properly. This means that you'll periodically have to find new evidence, as well as new witnesses.

Each of the tasks ahead of you can be made simpler by selecting from a list of skills at the beginning of the game. Skills include teamwork, which provides you with hints from your superiors about what direction you should take your case next; interview skills, which eliminate unneeded questions from your available selection, making interviews more expedient and to the point; case organization, which gives you tips on which pieces of evidence and testimony are key to getting a needed warrant or subpoena; and evidence collection, which prompts a magnifying glass icon over your cursor to signify items that might be worth collecting. You'll only have two to choose from, and, unfortunately, you may find yourself partially into the game when suddenly you realize that you didn't choose one of the skills you need most to help you. Sadly, the only way to switch skills is to start the game over from the beginning.

Continue reading