[Trickless]

Miami Law

System: DS
Release: June '09 US (Out Now)
Developer: Hudson

Official US Site

Just finished this game and I thought I'd give a shout out to it.

As you can tell from the name, the game is set in Miami. You play as two protaganists, Law Martin and Sara Starling. Initially you are to investigate some illegal drug trafficking that's been going on, but obviously being a videogame they start to uncover a much bigger plot.

The game contains both 'adventure' and 'action' elements. The 'adventure' elements is your standard puzzle solving, talk to people etc. The 'action' is mostly shooting and driving. The action parts only require you to do simple stuff, for example the driving segments usually only require you to go left and right to avoid cars. When exploring and talking to people, the game uses menus in first person ala Jake Hunter and Phoenix Wright



The one thing that stands out from this game is it will ask you to choose one of the two protaganists, and from that moment onwards you will progress through the story from that character's perspective. Not only does this affect the storytelling, but it also affects the gameplay depending on the scenario. Choosing Law Martin would usually lead to an action sequence like a gunfight, whilst Sara Starling is usually the one doing the puzzles.




There are a few bad points in the game that I didn't like. There really isn't that much freedom in the game, it doesn't give you much chance to explore the game's locations and characters as I would have hoped. The game is also on the short side, but the character switching does add to the replay value. By the end of the game you'll be curious as to what would it be like if you had chosen the other character for that particular scene. I've seen some screenshots that I haven't been through before, so I know I'll definetaly play through it again. I've not confirmed it, but I do feel like the game may have multiple endings too.

The game has a good mixture of gameplay, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you interested. Not a must buy, but maybe something to check out for the adventure gamers here

[Melanie68]

That sounds fun! I'll have to see if I can get it here in the US.

[fov]

I'm going to be reviewing it for AG shortly - Mel, you might want to wait for that.

Don't want to give away too many of my impressions yet since I still have to replay as Law (the first time through I mainly selected Sarah, to experience the adventure elements) but I wouldn't necessarily rank it up there with Phoenix Wright. On the other hand, it has some cool unlockables that give you good reasons to hang onto it after playing through the story.

Okay, that's all I'll say for now.

[Melanie68]

Thanks Emily!

[fov]

Review's up. I ended up giving it 2 stars...

[Marduk]

I had high hopes for this game....