The Law & Order Video Games You Forgot Even Existed
Imagine a TV franchise so iconic and popular that it spawned multiple spin-offs. Enter the world of Dick Wolf's "Law & Order." The '90s "Law & Order" set everything in motion and shaped the legal drama and police procedural genre. Its successors helped continue that legacy, including "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and the newest addition to the family "Law & Order: Organized Crime."
With fans all over the world, it's no surprise that the crime drama franchise also inspired a successful video game series. Five games were released in total, and they featured a wide range of fan-favorites from the entire franchise. In a 2018 review, IGN praised the first installment "Law & Order: Dead on the Money" for its detailed cut-scenes and realistic graphics for the time it was released — 2002. The video game outlet also highlighted the featured crime and its overall structure, though they critiqued its short run-time.
Metacritic gave the video game a metascore of 70, and it has generally received positive reviews online.
More Law & Order video games that will make you feel nostalgic
A year after "Law & Order: Dead on the Money" was released, Legacy Interactive dropped "Law & Order II: Double or Nothing". In this PC game, players must solve the murder of a geneticist. There was a lot of controversy in the UK surrounding its release, per Engadget, because a scene included a photograph of a real-life kidnapping in the background. It ended up being pulled off of shelves.
Screen Rant reports that 2004's "Law & Order: Justice is Served" was top tier. While the others focused on multiple plot lines and crimes, "Justice is Served" zoomed in on one central story. Its premise revolves around the murder of a famous tennis player. According to the entertainment outlet, part of what made the game work so well was its commitment to making players go through the entire legal process.
Screen Rant also acknowledged that while the video game adaptation of 2005's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" incorporated engaging mysteries, its many technical glitches made it hard to get into.
"Law & Order: Legacies," the final installation in the video game franchise, was released in 2011. Both Metacritic and GameSpot reviews deemed it a hit-or-miss. In a Reddit thread, fans shared their final opinions on the game. The original poster named the overall gameplay as its best quality, but wasn't a fan of the closing case and the fact that the original voice actors from the series were missing.