Two new Law and Order titles coming to PC
by Kit

Wednesday, April 14 2004

Vivendi will be showing titles off at this year's E3 Expo.

Legacy Interactive announced today two new additions to its “Law & Order” PC game portfolio, Law & Order: Justice is Served and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. "Justice is Served" will ship in the Fall while Criminal Intent should ship by Q1 2005. Both titles will be showcased in Legacy Interactive’s meeting room at the 2004 E3 Expo in Los Angeles, May 12-14.

Stars from each show will lend their likeness and voices to the animated characters featured in the games. Law & Order: Justice is Served will feature Detectives Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Edward Green (Jesse L. Martin) and Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn (Elisabeth Röhm). Making a cameo appearance in Law & Order: Justice is Served, is tennis personality, Patrick McEnroe, who will be featured as himself. Debuting for the first time on the PC, Law & Order: Criminal Intent will star the exceptionally bright homicide investigator, Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio).

“Television’s longest lasting drama, Law & Order is now making its mark in the interactive world,” said Ariella Lehrer, Chief Executive Officer of Legacy Interactive. “We are very proud to be launching the third installment in the Law & Order PC franchise and are excited to be extending the line to include Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” Lehrer added. “Consumers just can’t get enough of their favorite television dramas, and are extending their passion to the PC.”

In Law & Order: Justice is Served, players are assigned to a murder case involving twenty-year-old tennis sensation, Elena Kusarova, whose body was discovered the day before the start of the U.S. Open. Players will need to search the crime scene, analyze evidence, solve puzzles, interrogate suspects and make arrests alongside Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green. After a suspect is in custody, the player will need to put a compelling case together with A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn in order to convince the jury to return a guilty verdict. New features for this third installment in the Law & Order game franchise include a new character from the TV show, Detective Ed Green; a re-designed, more intuitive interface; increased interactivity and flexibility with more characters and locations; improved performance; and unlockable bonus content from the actors on the show. With many more interviews and clever puzzles seamlessly integrated into the storyline, this third installment promises to be an even longer, more fulfilling gameplaying experience than the previous versions.

Debuting for the first time as a PC game is Law & Order: Criminal Intent. A different game engine from the previous Law & Order games, Law & Order: Criminal Intent lets the player take on the role of Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and experience the game from a third person point of view. With multiple cases to solve, the player will investigate crime scenes, search for valuable evidence and interview witnesses and suspects. Law & Order: Criminal Intent offers the player an innovative and psychologically oriented interview technique, to help with breaking down potential suspects. Innovative puzzles ranging from easy to mind-bending are woven into the compelling storyline. Before solving each case, the player must build a profile based on real-life criminal profiling techniques to help track down the killers.

After celebrating its astounding 300th episode in May 2003, Emmy Award-winning “Law & Order” is in the middle of its 14th season on NBC and is television’s longest-running current drama. Created and executive produced by the legendary Dick Wolf, “Law & Order” continues to deliver some of the highest ratings on television, scoring #3 for any drama on any network among adults 18-49 for each of the past three seasons. Filmed entirely on location in New York City, this realistic program looks at crime and justice from a dual perspective. Some cases may be simple, but most are multi-faceted. The investigations are challenging, prosecutions are complicated, and decisions about legal procedures and plea-bargaining vexing. In the arduous and complex process of determining guilt and innocence, lives often hang in the balance.

Another Dick Wolf masterpiece is “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” now in its second season on NBC. This legal drama is unique among the other franchise programs in that it offers an additional dimension, by exposing major crimes from the criminal’s perspective. The series integrates a unique psychological component into the much-lauded brand of storytelling evident in “Law & Order.” The series’ storytellers allow viewers an even more up-close-and-personal peek into the criminal justice system.

“Law & Order” is licensed by Universal Studios Consumer Products Group (USCPG), which is responsible for global licensing and retail strategies as well as building brand recognition. USCPG is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Vivendi UNIVERSAL Entertainment (VUE) (www.universalstudios.com), the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

“Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” are both Dick Wolf productions in association with Universal Network Television. For more details on the legendary “Law & Order” television dramas, check out http://www.nbc.com. For more information on the games, log on to http://www.lawandordergame.com

--- Kit