Here’s a quick test to see if you’d be interested in Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. Question 1: Do you like the Cartoon Network show of the same name? Question 2: Are you looking for a lawyer game that plays like a lesser version of the Phoenix Wright games? If you answer either of these questions in the affirmative, then you’ll be all set. Those who aren’t familiar with the incompetent, winged attorney, or who are looking for a deep lawyering experience should sit tight until Apollo Justice is on the docket.
From a presentation perspective, the game is as close to a representation of the TV show it was based on as any you’ll ever find. It certainly helps that the cartoons aren’t terribly complex to begin with; however the graphics are crisp and sharp on both platforms and match up to the TV show exactly. Ditto for the voice work as all of the voice actors, with the exception of Stephen Colbert, are around to lend their talents. The game also keeps the show’s sense of humor entirely intact which is great if you’re a fan of the show, however if you’re coming into it cold, it might take a few cases before you warm up to it. If the idea of Yakky Doodle making sexual jokes about nailguns is your kind of thing, then you’ll be right at home.
On the gameplay front, things aren’t so rosy. The game apes the style of the Phoenix Wright series almost entirely. As you move around the various locations, you use either the Wiimote or the PS2 controller to investigate various pieces of evidence that may or may not be added to your briefcase for use in court. Sometimes other characters are present for you to talk to, in order to unlock more destinations, or simply get more information about the case in question. While in court, Harvey can press witnesses for more information once they’ve given their testimony, or present evidence to catch them in a lie. Finally, Harvey has a finite number of crests that can be taken away if he presents too many bad pieces of evidence. In a move away from the Phoenix Wright series, Harvey can attain additional crests as he goes about his litigious day.
The problem doesn’t lie in the unoriginality of the gameplay—it’s more that nothing is all that well implemented. Courtroom sequences are fairly brief and often times extremely easy as the witness will end their statement by mentioning the exact piece of evidence you’re supposed to present. That’s not to say you can’t screw up, and no matter how many times you hear the line “Mentok, the crest taker” it never gets old, but most of the time it’s fairly simple to determine what you need to present to crack the case. Pressing the witnesses is a mixed bag as well, as pressing a witness on a statement garners you a canned response from Harvey most of the time. The end result is that you’ll just focus on the obvious statement that needs pressing and ignore the others, which then diminishes the already short playing time.
Finally, the game requires an inordinate amount of button pushing to simply move from one screen to the next. Every time a profile, piece of evidence or location is added, the player needs to press a controller button to acknowledge that the item was added, and then, in the case of profiles and evidence, press another button to exit out of Harvey’s briefcase. The game’s low difficulty level and short courtroom sequences make it seem like the point was to create a very streamlined and somewhat interactive Harvey Birdman episode, which is fine, however they forgot to add the streamlined part to it.
Thankfully the writing is good enough to keep you entertained during the four hours it will take to complete the game. The irreverent aspect of the show gives the writers a great deal of freedom, so if they want to have a case where Harvey ends up in jail, complete with the sleeves torn off of his prison jumpsuit, they don’t need too much plotting to make it happen. Extra movies can be unlocked by pressing the right witness at the right time, or presenting the right piece of evidence to the right person, however these clips aren’t anything all that exciting, and certainly aren’t worth replaying the cases just to unlock them.
The great voice acting and spot on writing is a lot of fun to experience, however in the end, the your enjoyment of the game will be based entirely on how much you love all things Harvey Birdman. Die hard fans of the show will enjoy it, however with no replay value whatsoever and an extremely short play time, there’s not much justification for buying it. Those that aren’t into the show’s scatological sense of humor, or those looking for a deep courtroom experience won’t find much here.
