New game in Ace Attorney series - you're attorney Apollo Justice (Apollo Justice Ace Attorney (DS))

Member Name: julwhite

Product:	Apollo Justice Ace Attorney (DS)
Date:	04/07/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun game, good graphics and sound, interesting and lots of game play

Disadvantages: Shame there aren't a couple more cases

This review is for the Nintendo DS game, Ace Attorney Apollo Justice. The game was developed and published by Capcom and is a detective game where you are the attorney Apollo Justice, and have to get your defendants found not guilty.

The aim of the game is to work through and try to find all the pieces of evidence that you need to get your client off and get a not guilty verdict from the court. It's a two part process, where firstly you have to find all the right evidence, and then secondly, you have to present that evidence in court, cross examine witnesses, in a bid to get your clients off. There are four cases in the game in total which you have to complete.

For me, the court scenes were the most fun to play. You have to watch the other witnesses very carefully, trying to spot any signs that they might be lying. You can at any stage shout objection, or you can ask further questions of the witnesses. Just don't make too many mistakes, because if you make too many, the judge will automatically find your defendant guilty.

Playing the game is easy enough, with logical controls. All of the features of the DS have been used, such as the microphone, stylus and so on, showing the thought has gone into the DS release of the game, and that it's not just a straight port from another console, as is seen with some other games.

A lot of thought has been put into the various dialogues in the game, and there are a lot of them. There's a lot of humour which is imparted, and although it can be tiring reading through a lot of this, it does remain quite fun, and sufficient to want to make you carry on.

The graphics are very good and add a lot to the atmosphere, both the graphics in general and also the video scenes. The music, as with other games in this series, is also good and again adds to the atmosphere of the game. Unlike most games, there is unfortunately no multi player option, but it would require quite a game redesign to make such a feature useful, although I can see some potential in the idea of playing with others.

In terms of the negative features of the game, sometimes the game is a bit plodding and you have to do things in an exact way, rather than being able to use some initiative. This can mean that the cases do become a little dull in places, but there's normally enough going on to hold the interest.

It's a shame that there are only four cases in total, as the previous game in this series had five different cases. However, the final case in this game is superb, and works slightly differently from the others, which does add some extra value and interest to the game.

The game retailed for 29.99 pounds but is currently available new on Amazon at half this price, fifteen pounds. At time of writing second-hand copies were nearly the same price, but you might be able to find cheaper copies on sites such as eBay and Amazon. The game is rated 12+, so isn't suitable for younger children.

In conclusion, I found this a good game, with lots of pluses. There's a lot of game play to be had, and like the other games in the series, it remains fun throughout. Effort has been put into the graphics and sound, and this is definitely a good purchase for those interested in games from this genre.

Summary: A well thought through game