D.A. Pursuit of Justice: The Rat Tattoo Murder
$19.95		(Win95/98/2000/ME/XP) (Retail Box) (PURSUITPR)

Publisher: Legacy Software

Game: Mystery

Ratings:

from The Adrenaline Vault

The Defendants Are Guilty. Now Prove It.

D.A. Pursuit of Justice, combines high quality entertainment with logic-based gameplay to re-create the real-life experiences of an actual District Attorney. D.A. Pursuit of Justice is designed as a series of individual criminal cases to prepare and try in court. Each one is a completely new challenge.

To prepare a case, you decide which locations you want to visit. Shifting through police reports, evidence, witness interrogations, and autopsy reports, you build your case. Physical evidence may be sent to the crime lab, and you help interpret test results such as fingerprint matching, imprint and handwriting analysis, to name a few. Eyewitnesses attempt to identify suspects in a line up and prison informants step forward with inside information regarding the current case. Each element must be organized in a uniquely designed interface, the Case Constructor, in such a way that the particular relevance of each selected piece of evidence is demonstrated.

You'll need to prove that the defendant was the one who committed the crime (the Case for the Identity) and that each aspect of the crime occurred (the Case for the Criminal Act) before you proceed to court.

When you go to court to try the case before a jury, real legal procedure is used to question witnesses, to object to inappropriate questioning on the part of the Defense Attorney, and to overcome certain motions by citing relevant case precedents. Sometimes you must cite legal cases and statutes to get evidence admitted and witnesses to testify.

There's a complete Law Library to reference, so you'll know where to find all the backup you'll need. Remember the defense wants to drill holes in your case. The possibility that the case you prepared might be dismissed due to insufficient evidence is always a threat. Prepare well. The defendant is guilty, now you have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Do that and you secure a conviction.

The Cases (NOTE: Only The Rat Tattoo Murder is included on this product)

The Sunset Boulevard Deuce
This is a simple DUI (a 502 or a "deuce" to the police) case. The defendant has difficulty with English and an old war injury, but eyewitness statements, an open wine bottle and a .17 blood alcohol content should make for an easy case, right? Don't be so sure.

The Gatsby Diamond Jewelry Theft
A young coed takes a joyride in someone else's car and a necklace and a camera turn up missing. Later that week the necklace and camera were found in her car. Did she buy them at a flea market or is she caught red-handed? It's up to you to prove her guilt.

The Rat Tattoo Murder
A friendly game of billiards turns deadly as two rival Chinese gangs clash, and young Tommy Wu loses his life. Was it pre-meditated murder or was Tommy just an innocent victim? The murder weapon and eyewitnesses are here; it's up to you to put the murderer behind bars.

Requirements:

Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP: Pentium 75 MHz or better (133 MHz recommended), 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended), 1 MB video card (2 MB recommended), quad speed CD-ROM, 15 MB hard drive space, MPC compatible sound card, mouse.

Tested OK on Windows XP in Windows 95 Compatibility Mode. The PowerVideo error message during installation can be ignored.

Reviews:

The Adrenaline Vault by Brian Pipa

"D.A.'s realism was more than I was expecting. It uses actual California law and has a searchable law database in the law library so that you can search previous cases and case histories. During the trial, you must object to the defendant's attorney at the appropriate times and be prepared to backup your objection with legal reasons. Luckily, you are presented with three choices for your reasons, so you don't have to memorize anything. While listening to him cross-examine my witnesses, I kept thinking, "He can't ask that, can he? Isn't that hearsay?" or something similar. You can't just object to everything either -- it hurts your case when you are overruled and makes you look bad in the eyes of the jury. You should know why you're objecting before doing it."

"I took a Criminal Justice class in college, and I have watched a fair amount of lawyer shows on TV, so I thought I had a decent grasp on the law. As I said, I played each case twice -- and lost every one. I built what I thought was a solid case and every time the opposing counsel tore holes in my case. It's not as easy as it seems. For example, in the DUI case, I figured it would be easy enough to convict since the defendant blew a .17 (.08 is legally drunk in California), but I failed to prove that he was driving the car. Nobody actually saw him driving. I just assumed that was a given -- not so. I'm fairly certain that I could get a conviction now since I have learned the flaws in my cases. For the average person, D.A. is no walk in the park, and all three cases were difficult for me."

"D.A. -- Pursuit of Justice is an enjoyable law simulation, and one of the best FMV games I have ever played. The acting and dialogue are good, the interface well-done, and the attention to detail when referring to the law is amazing. I've even heard that this game is being used in some law classrooms in California and students can get college credit for winning the trials. Luckily, Legacy Software didn't forget the fun factor -- it's in there, too."

Games Domain UK by Chris McMullen

The Rat Tattoo Murder: "The defendant in this case is Michael Fong, a member of a Chinese gang called the Chu Sing, who are trying to extend their influence into a place called Hal's Bar. When Michael Fong and his mates stick their head into the bar, and start causing trouble a bloke named Tommy Wu whips out his gun and tells them to clear off. Unsurprisingly, they aren't to happy about this and return later with more gang members, and put a bullet in Tommy's head. There are witnesses and Michael Fong even admits to a police officer that he did it - a straightforward case, surely? Don't you believe it."

"...Er, 'not guilty' - since the jury ruled that Michael Fong was acting in self defence. Excuse me? That judgement seems a little bit suspect to me. I saw the jury deliberating, and all bar one said positive things about the case. I'd proved that one of the witnesses brought by the prosecution was a liar, that Michael Fong had kicked his victim, that the whole self defence thing was crap, due to the path of the bullet's trajectory and I presented a load of other evidence that seemed undeniable. But he got off - talk about a miscarriage of justice. Sour grapes - me?"

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