Devils Attorney game Review

Devils Attorney Review Score:

Devil’s Attorney, a turn-based strategy game with a litigious theme, has been released by 1337 Game Design and is now available from the app store. Chock full of humor and RPGish elements, Devil’s Attorney is cleverly entertaining and a real treat for mobile gamers.

Devil’s Attorney Review Pros:

• Polished cartoon presentation with a great courtroom vibe; influenced by ’80s style and packed with humor
• Soundtrack is outstanding, intro song is infectious, and voice work is terrific
• Controls are simple to use
• RPG elements add great depth

Devil’s Attorney Review Cons:

• Love the game, but hate the name
• At times, it feels a little too easy, but the experience trumps the challenge

The attorney in question is Max McMann, a charismatic defense attorney charged with helping his clients beat the system and regain their freedom after they find themselves in all manner of hot water with the law. Whereas most turn-based strategy games take a shoot-first, ask-questions-later approach, Devil’s Attorney takes a more cerebral, questions-only approach as you launch judicial-specific attacks (interrogating the witness, tampering with evidence, epic speech, etc.) to wear down the prosecution’s case and take advantage of justice’s blind eye. Additionally, you can make moves that strengthen your own case or mitigate the damage caused by your opponents. Cases play out over the course of several rounds, starting you with 9 Action Points to purchase the tactics needed to poke holes in the opposition’s case, eliminating pesky witnesses, damning evidence, and slimy lawyers one by one.
 Once you’ve used up your AP, the prosecution inflicts damage to your case. You go back-and-forth until one side claims victory. If you win, your client gets off and you receive a tidy sum of money for your troubles (including bonuses for quick dismissal), which you can use to purchase new duds or swanky items for your apartment. After all, that’s what it’s all about, right? These living quarter upgrades and personal improvements give you new skills to use as you battle it out in front of the bench for subsequent scofflaws. Personal gifts also enhance the tactics you’ve already acquired.

Graphically, the cartoony presentation is terrific, clean and appealing. Your tactics appear in a scrollable list on the left half of the screen, with a short explanation of each item’s effect and the number of Action Points required to use it. Your AP total is at the screen bottom, and your case strength appears at the screen top. The opposition is listed on the right half of the screen, with credibility ratings at the left of each item and a damage indicator listed underneath.
If you can reduce the credibility to zero, they drop out and bring you one step closer to winning. Reduction of damage and the elimination of damage enhancers is key to swift victory. There is little animation other than some funny cut scenes with goofy banter between McMann and the prosecutors.
The soundtrack is catchy and the voice work is outstanding. The intro song is a major highlight and a bear to get out of your head once you’ve heard it. Humor is plentiful, providing levity and quirkiness that permeate throughout the game. Controls require you to tap on a tactic to select it, then tap on a prosecutor, witness, or piece of evidence to attack it.  A small pop-up indicates how much damage is inflicted, as most attacks have a value range that’s broad enough that you never know whether or not an attack with have a significant effect or not.

Replay value is somewhat low, as there really isn’t any need to replay cases that you’ve already won, nor does there appear to be any way to go back and do so. There are a ton of cases to work through, and deciding which upgrades to pursue and which gifts and accessories to accept can create varying experiences that should bring you back for more. It’s a surprisingly deep, superbly polished, and devastatingly addictive game that took us by surprise. A universal app for $2.99, Devil’s Attorney is a fantastic 5-Dimple stud.

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