Devil's Attorney Review

There are a lot of good attorneys out there that are sincerely trying their best to help those in need of legal advice and who uphold the legal system. Then there are attorneys like Max McMann. He’s a smooth-talking, criminal-defense attorney that uses his skills to get all his clients off without so much as a slap on the wrist. Devil’s Attorney is all about helping the lovable, protagonist Max win cases to increase his skills to buy nice things for his apartment. I must say, this game is one of the most original and clever games I’ve played this year.

Devil’s Attorney is a turn-based strategy game that has players teaming up with the devious Max to free his “innocent” clients. Every client has a unique story of why they need to appear in court and each story is so cleverly absurd that I found myself chuckling out loud after reading some scenarios. The client’s wrongdoings range from bootlegging VHS tapes to smuggling lizards in their pants.

Max has certain skills, like his deep voice and swagger, which he utilizes to win his cases. The gameplay is pretty simple and there is a good tutorial that helps players understand how the game works. Max is allocated a certain number of “Action Points” each round that he uses to diminish the prosecuting attorney’s case. Once the Action Points are used up for the round, it’s the prosecution’s turn to attack. The Action Points are then reset for the next round. If Max doesn’t take out all witnesses and evidence with his skills before the prosecuting attorneys diminish his case, he will lose. Players really need to strategize in order to use their Action Points wisely each round to be able to keep their clients’ stellar reputations untarnished. As the game progresses, Max earns money by wining cases that he can use to buy furniture for his apartment and new clothes. As he buys more things, he gains more skills that can be used in the courtroom.

From the start of the Devil’s Attorney theme song at the beginning, (yes, the game has a theme song) it’s apparent that a lot of work went into the game. The artwork is very polished and the storyline is original and witty. There is a lot of funny banter between the attorneys at the beginning of each round and it’s almost as if the developers hired a screenplay writer to write all the content. With all this unique content I felt like I was watching a TV sitcom at times. The game is a little short but all of its positive attributes certainly earn a verdict of two thumbs up in my book.