Being a big fan of the Harvey Birdman cartoon — and Adult Swim in general — I was pretty jazzed about playing with this one. The game gets started looking exactly like a typical episode from television. That's cool; I like the episodes. Then I got a brief bit of play that plays like a scene from "Phoenix Wright," only instead of something remotely serious, I had to defend a hippo who my wife is accusing of burning down my home. Through some witty dialog, I prove her testimony to be a big pile of horse manure, while at the same time preventing her from cashing in on my huge insurance claim.
That's the first mission. It was quick; it was funny; it was enjoyable. But that's all the "real" enjoyment I managed to get before the game decided I had reached my fun limit and decided to play hell with my patience.
Mission two begins with a long string of static screens in which gameplay consists of systematically cycling through all interactive items and examining (clicking on) them to see if they go into the evidence bag or simply cause Birdman to spout a witty one-liner. Once satisfied that everything has been examined at least once, it's time to move to the next screen and repeat. This happens over and over until finally the gameplay goes back into the courtroom.
OK, good. The evidence gathering was crap, but at least it's time for more courtroom fun, right? Wrong. This time, things aren't as fun, because suddenly nothing makes any freaking sense. The game repeatedly expects me to present some bit of evidence that will move things along, but because it's Birdman, it's rarely obvious which one of the random bits of garbage I should choose. And if I get it wrong, one of the crests I begin the game with get taken from me until I'm out of them and have to start from the last place I saved.
It doesn't take long before I'm slipping into post-traumatic stress and having flashbacks of bad Sega CD games because of how many times I have to watch the same bits of conversation take place. It's not much longer, and I'm wondering how many throws it would take me to put my controller all the way through the television and into the wall behind it.
Finally, somewhere into the third mission, I look up a walkthrough on the Internet and go through the rest of the game as if I'm watching a few new episodes on Adult Swim ... which I enjoyed.
Quick summary: Don't buy Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law if you want a game. It's not. It's an interactive DVD. The humor and feel of the series is masterfully preserved, but it's not "fun," so don't try to play it like a game ... unless, of course, you like television repair and drywall replacement.
