Ever wanted to be a district attorney? Legacy Interactive is going to give you the chance. A young man was killed by a gang leader, and you've got to find out who did it and why. The facts are all there -- including the murder weapon. You're even lucky enough to witness the whole thing, television-style! The only problem is, the jury hasn't seen what you have seen and doesn't want to believe that the defendant could have committed such a heinous crime. Worse yet, the judge is a jerk who would rather let a murderer go free than be nice to you. You've only got one option: suck it up and be a man. Put up with their crap for now, because you'll be laughing in their face when you win the case later. But winning the case is not going to be easy.

The first time you play Pursuit of Justice, it appears as if there isn't much to the game. You point, click and rest your case. What else is there to do? If you play with that attitude, the judge will throw out the case and the defense attorney will give you an evil, "I won, you lost" glare that makes you feel like an idiot. Pursuit of Justice is a game that requires time and patience. The only way you're going to succeed is by doing everything in your power to prove that the defendant is guilty as charged. Jack McCoy makes his job look easy on Law & Order because he's on TV. They don't have several hours to show him doing all of the hard work involved with being a district attorney, so they pick and choose the most intriguing scenes instead. It wouldn't be very entertaining to watch Mr. McCoy view a bunch of interrogation video tapes, nor would it be interesting to see him examine a dead body. Believe it or not though, it is entertaining to do it yourself.

That's what Pursuit of Justice is all about. No piece of evidence should be overlooked, regardless of how small or obscure as it may seem. Sometimes the smallest pieces of evidence are the most important. A rabbit's foot was found in Tommy Wu's (the man who was murdered) pocket, however, because it doesn't have any of the defendant's DNA on it, there is no point in using it. Similarly, the defendant had an ink marker on him, but it is also a useless piece of evidence. Those are the kinds of things that you have to think long and hard about before taking action, or else you may end up being the laughing stock of the courtroom.

To present your case, you must first scan all of the pieces of evidence that you wish to use with your digital camera. Only 20 pictures can be stored on the camera, forcing you to keep your snapshots to a minimum. After you've gathered enough incriminating evidence, click on the Legal Notebook icon on the bottom right corner of the screen and construct your case. Under Case for Identity, drag the interrogation tapes into the box to call those witnesses to the stand. If you don't have any interrogation tapes, go to the Police Station. Once you've viewed all of them, scan the necessary tapes and add them to the Case for Identity. The witnesses' testimonies are probably the most important part of your case and will likely make or break it. That's a whole other aspect though. Getting the right witnesses to testify can be tough. How do you expect the jury to believe that the defendant is guilty if the witnesses' testimonies contradict each other? Or worse yet -- what if your witnesses don't even make it to the courtroom? Then you are almost guaranteed to lose.

Losing isn't all that bad though, because it gives you a chance to see Pursuit of Justice's many different endings. The ending you receive is determined by the choices you make throughout the game. Asking a witness the wrong question could kill any chance you had of winning the case, no matter how well things were going up until that point.

The Legal Notebook also functions as a super-fast transportation device that allows you to hop from place to place with the click of a button. Head to the crime scene to investigate the situation, interview jailhouse informants at the local jail and examine Mr. Wu's body at the coroner's office. Using the test order form, you can analyze the fingerprints, blood, hair and fibers of the defendant and see how they match up with the supposed evidence you have. I think it goes without saying that if the murder weapon has the defendant's fingerprints on it, you should add that to your case.

Overall, Pursuit of Justice is a game that isn't much of a game at all. Gamers who enjoy interactive movie and television show-type games will love Pursuit of Justice, but others may want to look elsewhere. However, it's important to note that I am not usually a big fan of these kinds of games, but still enjoyed Pursuit of Justice very much. If you're willing to spend eight bucks on a movie ticket and $25 on a DVD, why wouldn't you be willing to spend a measly $20 on Pursuit of Justice?

Gameplay: 7.9
It's hardly a role-playing game (as stated on the back of the box), but Pursuit of Justice is fun to play. If you watch Law a& Order every week and have always thought that you could've won a case that Jack McCoy lost, here's your chance to prove yourself. Once you let a few criminals walk free, you'll begin to realize that being a district attorney isn't as easy as it looks. It sure is fun though.

Graphics: 6
The full motion video is good, but nothing you see in Pursuit of Justice will blow you away. This isn't that kind of a game. It's supposed to be an interactive law show and that's exactly what it looks like. 3D acceleration isn't needed to run PoJ, meaning that a wider variety of gamers will be able to play it.

Sound: 5
The jury has made a decision. They find Pursuit of Justice's sound guilty of earslaughter in the first degree. It is sentenced to the mute button without parole. Seriously though, PoJ's sound leaves a lot to be desired. The music and annoying sound effects (which consist of little more than ringing phones, type writers and closing doors) can be turned off, but I would have rather had a soundtrack worth embracing over one that I wanted to run away from.

Difficulty: 9
This is one of the most challenging games I've played in a long time. Note that I said challenging and not "cheap." Pursuit of Justice may seem too difficult at first with its overwhelming amount of options, but gamers who have patience will be rewarded with a great experience.

Concept: 8 
There is no doubt about it -- Pursuit of Justice is one of the most unique PC games I've played all year. It's more of an interactive television show than video game, but for the most part, PoJ succeeds in immersing the player in its lawful world.

Overall: 7.9
You could play Pursuit of Justice for several weeks and still not have seen it all. The Law Library at the DA building is packed with information. Read up on the California Constitution, California Evidence and Panel codes, Privileged Communication, Trial Procedure and a whole lot more. My favorite part is the search feature, which allows you to look up virtually any word that has to do with the law and read information about it. I could go on and on. If Law & Order is your favorite TV show, Pursuit of Justice is the game you've been waiting for.