In the 1st Degree
Description official descriptions
You take the role of a prosecuting attorney in this legal thriller. Using film of real actors, you must question the witnesses and gather the pre-trial evidence. Then you must take what you have learned into trial and question the witnesses again, this time on the stand and in front of a jury.
The game is entirely from a first person perspective. Your character is never seen. You ask the witnesses questions which plays a pre-recorded video segment, then allowing you to ask a follow-up question, and so forth. Depending on the questions you ask and how you ask them, the witnesses attitude and the way they treat you will change.
After the trial is over the jury returns with the verdict. Will it be Murder in the first degree (pre-meditated), Murder in the second degree (Spontaneous), Manslaughter (Accidental), or Not Guilty? The decision is made by your trial and people skills.
Spellings
- 殺意の証明 In the 1st Degree - Japanese spelling
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Credits (Windows 3.x version)
194 People (129 developers, 65 thanks) · View all
| Concept | |
| Design | |
| Screenplay | |
| Lead Programming | |
| Project Manager | |
| Executive Producer | |
| Music / Sound Programming | |
| Director of Photography | |
| Digital Video Processing Expert | |
| Additional Programming | |
| Background Painter & Palettes | |
| Digital Compositing & Assistant Editor | |
| Assistant Sound Designer | |
| QuickTime Architecture Specialist | |
| MIDI Arrangements | |
| Interactive Scripting Tool Design | |
| Interactive Scripting Tool Programming | |
| Application Programming Consultant | |
| Interface Graphic Design | |
| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 60% (based on 13 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 14 ratings with 1 reviews)
The Good
Excellent acting. Amazingly crisp and detailed Full Motion Video. All wrapped up in a clever, convoluted, interesting intelligent plot. One of the few mystery games with actual replay value, as it will take several tries to achieve the optimal ending. Obviously inspired by Law & Order, one of my favortie TV shows. Like that show, it portrays just how difficult it is for prosecuters to get the verdict they want, even if they DO know all the facts!
The Bad
Nothing. It was great fun!
The Bottom Line
1st person perspective and gorgeous FMV immerse you in the role of a District Attorney trying to convict an artist of murdering a gallery owner. In the pre-trial phase, you interview suspects and gather evidence. When you are ready, you go to trial, calling witnesses and cross-examining the defense's witnesses. What you ask suspects/witnesses actually modifies what they will or won't say on the stand. A good mystery and a great courtroom drama.
Windows 3.x · by Bacardi Jim (4) · 2003
Trivia
Novel
In December 1995, the game was adapted into the novel In the 1st Degree: A Novel by Domenic Stansberry.
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Related Sites +
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Electronic Press Kit (1995)
A 1995 EPK about In the First Degree from Brøderbund Software on the Internet Archive. The press kit includes an elongated trailer followed by an extended "Making of" segment, which draws from interviews with a number of those involved with the production of the game, including the Director, Peter Adair, the Writer, Dominic Stansburry, and a number of the actors, among others. -
In The 1st Degree Walkthrough
Posted on The Spoiler Centre by an unknown author, this file provides each and every step to solving In the First Degree. -
Walkthrough on IGN
Another complete solution by yet another unknown author.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by ReviewGames.Com.
Macintosh added by Scaryfun.
Additional contributors: Jeanne, Ms. Tea, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger.
Game added July 24, 2000. Last modified February 19, 2024.