Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law
Based on Cartoon Network channel's Adult Swim animated series of the same name, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law explores the lives of characters from Hanna-Barbera's (HB) 1960s superhero cartoon Birdman And The Galaxy Trio. After the show got cancelled, that is. Birdman is now a third-rate defence attorney and faces his nemeses in court, mostly as civil prosecutors. Characters from The Flintsones, Super Friends, Scooby Doo and other HB cartoons fill in as Birdman's clients and in various miscellaneous roles. The text-based gameplay here is split into two phases. During the crime investigation phase, you simply examine everything and talk to everyone. During witness cross-examinations, you present evidence to support or contradict testimony. Whichever the phase, the puzzles presented are always either painfully obvious or frustratingly obscure, rarely stimulating the mind. More atrocious is its length. Without a game guide, it took me four hours or so - including about two hours of high-quality animation clips - to crack the game's five cases. So, I put it to you readers - members of the jury - would you pay that much money for five lacklustre episodes of Harvey Birdman that you have to slowly unlock by solving so-so puzzles? That, when you can purchase a box set of 10 fuss-free episodes at roughly the same price? Or get more "mwa-ha-ha's" for your buck with beefier text adventure titles such as Sam & Max (PC) or Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Nintendo DS). The prosecution rests, Your Honour. I believe we have a verdict.