This preview originally appeared in The Inventory – an online magazine for adventure gamers that can be downloaded monthly at Just Adventure. It has been edited for content and updated material has been added.

The first Law and Order game - Law and Order: Dead on the Money - was a great concept; based on a popular television series, it was probably the first adventure to allow you to control a lawyer in a courtroom. It did, however, suffer from a few flaws - a dreadfully short time limit imposed by the game being the biggest and, in fact, a patch was eventually released to slow down the timer. Legacy Interactive is now returning to the adventure scene, by producing a sequel: Law and Order II: Double or Nothing. Hopefully, this new installment will avoid the mistakes of its predecessor and present a ground-breaking TV series conversion.

Well, let’s begin by stating the best news: there will be no time limit in the sequel. Just this piece of information alone should make most of those who played the first one eager for the sequel. Apparently the parts that were done best in the first game have been carried over to the sequel. The game will again feature 3 of the show’s actors - Jerry Orbach, L. Epatha Merkerson and Elisabeth Rohm - that were also featured in Dead on the Money and the story will be an original case written by a Law & Order television writer.

The story is about an esteemed scientist found shot in his car in Midtown Manhattan. The plot will revolve around financial improprieties, love affairs and most importantly the scientist’s secret project. Like Dead on the Money, the game will be divided between the investigation and the court room. So in the first half of the game you will try to uncover clues to identify the murderer and then take on the role of Assistant District Attorney to build a case to convict the suspect in court.

The interface will be similar to the first game. In the lower part of the screen there will be options for Map, Case File, Cell Phone and Main menu. The map will be used to travel around the city, the cell phone will be used to receive messages from colleagues and the main menu will be used to do the usual save, load etc.

The case file, as you may remember from the first game, will be used to gather evidence (lab tests, witness testimonies, records, reports) and forms that will help you establish your case against the suspect. According to Legacy Interactive, there will be additional space in the case file so that the player can hold more evidence, which was somewhat of a problem in the first game.

The case file held too many items in the first part, and after a while the inventory (because this is what the case file really is) became a mess with too many papers and objects gathered together on one screen. If Legacy manages to organize the case file better - i.e. create different sections for lab tests, witness testimonies, and items gathered - this could work well, otherwise it could be even more cumbersome than it was as more items will now be gathered in one section.

One interesting feature that has been improved is the ability to re-interview witnesses if the player is not satisfied with the outcome of the interview. This was a drawback of the first Law and Order, and the fact that they are fixing it (as well as removing the time limit) shows that player feedback was heard. Also, the player will be able to pause defense questioning movies during the trial and you will have more time to object.

We are also promised twice as many puzzles this time. Mentioned so far are an encryption puzzle and the use of a crane magnet at a metal scrap yard to find the hidden murder weapon. Law and Order II will introduce a new skill in place of the efficiency one, called case organization skill, which will provide hints to the player as to what pieces of evidence to use in order to get warrants and issue subpoenas.

Oh, and if you did not play the first game, fear not as there will be an interactive tutorial to guide the newbie through the primary gameplay functions.

The graphics promise to feature improved animation quality through the utilization of motion capture and better lighting effects, while the celebrity voice-overs should be amazing if they are anywhere near the quality of the first game.

It seems as though Legacy Interactive paid close attention to the feedback that they received regarding the first game. They have already removed the most glaring flaw - the time limit - and hopefully by retaining what was right as well as removing the bugs of the first one will produce a top-notch product. Look for Law and Order II late this September as this is one game you will want to add to your docket.

View a trailer from Law and Order II.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

• WIN 95/98/2000/ME/XP
• Pentium II 400 MHz
• 96 MB RAM
• 12X CD-ROM drive
• High color, 16 bit capable 8MB video card