Games for Lunch: Harvey Birdman

In a nutshell: Lawyer of the absurd
4/10/2008 1:11 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

0:21 I can't possibly detail all the crazy stuff that's going on in the cut scene-heavy back-and-forth, but I will mention that a 911 recording from Gigi seems to have come well after the fire was actually set.

0:23 Peter just now remembered that he sent Harvey a prenup with Gigi... which he just happened to forget about until now? Didn't he think that might be IMPORTANT?

0:26 After some baffling "twists," in the end, the case comes down to the "P.P." on the lighter actually being a "G.G." if you turn it upside-down, angle it and squint. I'm serious here. The judge ends up picking "eeny meeny miney Birdman" as the winner. The randomness fits well with the show, but not necessarily with the drama of a courtroom game. I feel like I'm being dragged along through an interesting episode, interrupted by somewhat meaningless "interactive" sections.

0:31 After a somewhat clever epilogue, it's on to Case #2, which is introduced with a quintessential piece of Birdman writing for an automated greeting: "Welcome to Sebben and Sebben After Hours. The building's completely deserted, so if you're here to deliver a package and/or rob us there's no one to sign for it-slash-stop you. Have a good night!" If you found this line kind of funny, you will find the game kind of funny. Likewise for the opposite.

0:32 Harvey's desk is gone. Because we were robbed. They WEREN'T here to deliver a package. But Peanut's computer is still there. Hmmm. Anyway, the interactivity has ramped up slightly with a pointer-based hunt for clues around the office. Finally.

0:34 I find a bag with some boxers in it in front of the building. My choices at this point are to "Listen to the bag," "Taste the bag" and "Smell the Boxers." What other game would give you such choices? I ask you!

0:39 "Inch-high Private Eye" is tied up in a corner of the office for no apparent reason. If you know who that is, there's a very good chance you will like this game.

0:41 I stumble upon Secret Squirrel! I loved his cartoons as a kid! He's being arrested for robbing Harvey's office. "No! Wait! I don't do well in tight spaces with lonely men," he says as he's taken off. So long cherished childhood memories.

0:45 "X the Eliminator" lost his death ray -- the huge, desk-sized death ray sitting in front of my window. This is a running gag on the show, but even if you haven't seen it's kind of funny.

0:48 Magilla Gorilla is also connected with the crime through a discarded coffee cup. Also: Secret Squirrel is a convicted flasher. More as it develops.

0:50 Secret Squirrel's boxers have acorns on them. More as it develops.

0:51 Through an odd turn of events, Birdman is going to try both Magilla and Secret for the same crime. I have to keep telling myself to stop expecting legal accuracy here. This isn't "Law & Order," after all.

0:53 Due to some wacky, well-written shenanigans, I'm now defending both Secret and Magilla against the charge that they robbed my office. Whatever.

0:56 My first stumper. I have to pick out the evidence that clears Secret Squirrel, but everything I have seems to implicate him or be relatively useless. I only get five wrong answers before ... I lose the case? I don't know what happens when I run out of chances, actually. Maybe we'll find out.