JosephR's Full Review: Law and Order: Dead on the Money for Windows
This is a detective game based on the very popular TV series Law and Order, featuring a wisecracking detective named Briscoe. You play detective Briscoe's partner in the beginning, then you are the assistant DA trying to prosecute the suspect.
I actually did not pay for this game - I bought Justice is Served (because I'm a tennis fan) and Dead on the Money came for free. See my other review of Justice is Served if you wish - it's a great game.
I'm glad I played Justice is Served first, because if I had played Dead on the Money first I probably would have never played Justice and missed out on a great game.
DOTM isn't horrible, it's just not great. You start out at the crime scene and there about about 20 different clues you can pick up. Only about 4 are relevant. I prefer to be shielded a bit from wasting all that time. You really have to hunt for certain clues, and due to the game's linear nature, you can't progress until you find just the right pixel to click on. This is typical of almost all of the game's locations - you could pick up anywhere from 10 to 30 clues, but typically only 2 or 3 will be relevant.
For each clue, you can send the item to the crime lab and/or send it to records/research. You can interview each suspect or witness, ask each suspect or witness to undergo a psychological evaluation and do surveillance on them. The clues range from nearby objects that might have fingerprints to things like business cards that places suspects at scenes etc. - I can't say too much more without blowing the story (not that it's a great story to blow, but you know what I mean). Also, pay attention to what the suspects tell you - if you're watching closely enough you'll know who's lying right away in a few cases.
A lot of the time, when you make a mistake you don't get to go back and fix it - you have to start over! Like if you forget to ask a certain question, or think you won't need a certain clue so you get rid of it to free up space - you just lost!
The story, which in my opinion is the most critical part of any mystery, just isn't very interesting. A crooked wallstreet stockbroker got killed, and one by one all of the people she ripped off appear as suspects. It just doesn't grab your attention and refuse to let go.
Want to know something else that's drastically missing from this game???? Briscoe's wisecracks!!! He only has like 2 or 3 the whole game!
The graphics and sound are good. Each location is a room you're standing in the middle of and you just kind of rotate the room around yourself to find what to click on. Moving to the next room is clicking an arrow and then you're in the middle of *that* room, rotating *that* room around yourself. Of course when you use professional actors you get good voiceovers. Briscoe's eyebrows rendered in 3D have an almost cartoony hilarity to them. The music and the "dun-dun" sound that made the TV show famous are here.
If you're like me and manage to get this game for free packaged with Justice, definitely play Justice first - it's a much, much better game - but Dead is worth playing through if you got it for free. It's just not worth paying for on its own.
Call the shots in an original murder case Product Information Law Order: Dead on the Money is an exciting 3D game based on an original, complex murder...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Law Order: Dead on the Money from Legacy Interactive Software. This is a 2 CD-ROM Set! Rated TEEN - Mild Animated Violence. Call the Shots in an Origi...More at eBay
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