It’s simple. If you like the show, you’ll probably like this game.
The game mechanics and interface are nothing really new. When you investigate crimes, you view the world like you would in a Myst game. You move your mouse around and a context-sensitive pointer on the screen lets you either examine stuff or move to another area. You pick up evidence to be examined later or used somewhere else. Like all games of this type, there is the occasional pixel hunt. There is also the occasional trial-and-error “click until you guess it right” moment, and some annoying leaps of logic that will probably require you to use a walkthrough. But overall, solving the crime in the game is a satisfying experience that will keep you guessing.
Perhaps the game’s greatest strength is that it is a very authentic representation of the show. The story is very good and it has a couple of interesting twists in it. You will be guessing up until the end. I could easily see the plot for this game as an actual episode. For the first half of the game, you play as Jerry Orbach (Lennie Briscoe) investigating the crime and collecting evidence. For the second half of the game, you play as Elizabeth Rohm prosecuting the crime. All of the actors from, the show voice their parts. It’s nice to hear Jerry Orbach again. The graphics are serviceable, but they aren’t great. They are kind of muddy and outdated. Jerry Orbach looks pretty good, but Elizabeth Rohm looks nothing like her actual self.
The game takes about 10 or 12 hours to play through all the way. Once you finish it, there’s no reason to go back and play it again. It would have been nice if the game could have been a bit more open-ended and less linear, and if it had broken out of the typical trappings of ordinary adventure games. Nonetheless, it’s a very good game for Law and Order fans, and if you watch the show a lot, you can and should buy it cheap.