Law and Order: Criminal Intent

Law and Order is arguably the most successful crime and justice series on television today. Not only successful in its original iteration, the series has spawned a pair of highly successful sister shows in Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent, as well as the obligatory video game titles. In Law and Order: Criminal Intent, you'll take the role of Vince D'Onofrio's Detective Goren and solve the same homicides and mysterious crimes he'd work with on the show.

So let's get to brass tacks. Most mystery titles of this sort haven't changed the basics of gameplay since before Monkey Island: Explore your surroundings, find clues or items, check other areas, etc. In a purely cosmetic sense, this could be an accurate description of this title. However, there's added nuance and other items of interest that flesh Criminal Intent out a bit more from other adventure titles. Your character will move about in most crime scenes and areas with the tried and true click and move interface, and discover clues and items along the way. These items can be stored in the PDA Detective Goren carries as evidence for building a case against suspects, eliminating others from suspicion, and the like. Although the interface is a bit marred by some odd walking paths and small errors, it will be second nature for most intuitive gamers. I enjoyed the voice work a lot, too (mainly because I've been a fan of D'Onofrio since Full Metal Jacket), and other sounds are well used.

Some other features bear mentioning. Rather than forcing you to use canned responses while interviewing candidates, the game allows you to choose the methods of interrogation, and allows Goren to use his trademark questioning skills in a more natural manner. Whether you want to use the iron fist or the velvet glove, Criminal Intent will allow you some freedom without devolving into a dialogue click-fest. The four cases presented in this game allow for a lot more freedom of gameplay than other titles in this series as well.

All in all, Law and Order: Criminal Intent is a very good adventure title, only a shade below the Recommended Buy category. This is definitely one for the mystery and adventure gaming crowds, but may quickly become a novelty for gamers of other genres.