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Intro While Vice City was the Miami Vice of video games, True Crime: Streets of L.A. lends itself more towards being the Colors of gaming. Just as over-the-top, but with a worse soundtrack and tendency to feel unpolished, True Crime delivers an enjoyable, if a somewhat haphazard, experience. Gameplay: 6.5/10 It's tough being a badass cop in a badass world. Just ask Steven Seagal, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta, or Charles Bronson. To fight the scum of the city, the player needs to sink to the criminals' level. Enter Nick Kang. The digital version of all the grizzled, on-the-edge cops that populate so many cop dramas, and like his real life counterparts, he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. Just what that encompasses will be up to you, the player. Haunted by stories of his father being a dirty cop, Nick is tired of playing by 'the man's' rules. Enjoying a life of suspension, he is called back into service in an elite squad to tackle some of the more controversial cases. Seeking to right his family's name, he reluctantly rejoins the force and goes out of his way to put the hurt on bad guys - and come through with a few one-liners in the process. Getting sage advice from his father's old friend, played by Christopher Walken, in a display of one of the most misappropriations of talent this side of The Hulk, players will get to cruise the mean streets of Los Angeles as they arrest petty crooks, refine their hand-to-hand and weapon proficiency, and try to find songs on the radio that aren't crappy. In essence, True Crime is a hodgepodge of the past 5 years' worth of tough-guy games. It has the slow motion of Max Payne, the combat - including the infamous 'human shield' technique - of Dead to Rights, and the freewheeling cityscapes and random violence of the Grand Theft Auto series. To give the game a little flair of its own, there are some RPG elements and branching storylines that change depending on whether the player is taking the high or low road. The RPG features come in the aforementioned abilities to brush up close combat and long-range techniques; whether that is learning attack combos at a dojo or gaining better accessories for the weaponry at the shooting range - despite being able to pull off combos without learning them, they're easier to put into memory the dojo-way and both really do add some spice to the game's otherwise 'me too' feeling. There is also the ability to shoot while driving, which includes being able to shoot out tires, which looks great and causes serious problems for the criminal, and blowing up the vehicle by hitting the gas tank. While there are actually techniques to driving, they aren't given the same treatment as the on-foot abilities. The most interesting aspect of the game is the branching storyline. There are three endings: the best (good cop), worst (bad cop), and the leftover (the mediocre cop). Keeping the balance between bad and good isn't much fun, and it's also pretty hard to maintain. Not being a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, I went with both ends of the spectrum. I watched a friend play through as a good officer, while I took the role of a bad - in our friendship, I always felt like I was Kurt Russell to his Sylvester Stallone, anyway. Bad cop points are given due to shooting suspects, instead of beating them or accepting their surrender, hurting civilians, and skipping missions. Skipping missions is a nice feature, since there are some Metal Gear Solid-style sneak levels that can get old after a while. To make up for skipping a mission, players will have to accept the negative score and also bust a number of random crimes. Random crimes seem like a good idea, and do add to the replay value if you love the game, but they also hamper someone from being a good cop - despite they being the main way to gain 'good cop' points. For example: on the way to a call in regards to picking up a hooker with a STD, I stopped to break up a mugging, but as soon as I got out of my vehicle, both the victim and perpetrator pulled out pistols and attacked me. In that kind of circumstance, there really is no other way than the 'bad cop' way to handle things; which was fine by me, but it makes the other paths difficult to pursue. When it does come time to bloody things up, dishing out pain isn't a problem. A pistol is always available, and the ability to hold another weapon comes early in the game, so players will be doing slow motion sideway jumps while blasting a pistol and an AK47 in no time. Since killing is a no-no at times, it's then that the fists come out. Hand-to-hand combat is broken down into low and jump kicks, punching, and grappling. Despite being able to learn new finishers and having a basic combo system, fights normally degenerate into button-mashing until the opponent is dizzy, and then pulling out a finisher to speed things along. Actually, the fights are much more fun to watch than to actually take part in. From a viewer's perspective, they resemble the kind of fight sequences found in cheesy movies, with tables and chairs breaking and bodies flying. After a few busts and take downs, an episode will wrap up with a few cutscenes, as well as the ability to go cruising. The cruising missions offer opportunities to gather upgrades and gain new cars. New rides will come from players winning street races; however, they can also lose their car if they fail to place in first. All cars are then stored in a parking garage that keeps them readily available for use, no matter what kind of damage they take. The vehicles aren't just there pretty dangerous as well. While there is a huge variety of cars, and they all do handle differently, they all have the same sloppy response. Because of this, those going down the path of good will find themselves getting in trouble due to accidentally killing civilians when trying to make simple turns. Although, the ability to do maneuvers, like hitting the back end of someone's car to send them spinning out of control, almost makes up for it. Almost. What
True Crime lacks in cohesion, it makes up for in variety. The feeling of
the developers sitting around going "this is cool, put it in... this too...
and this too... also this" and not really fleshing the features themselves
out permeates throughout the game, and it's this feeling of unrefined potential
that keeps it from being the definitive title in its genre. The constant loading
between cutscenes, especially for little sections that last only a few seconds,
really detract from the flow of the story and its presentation. But, with a massive
- and I do mean massive - cityscape to play in, RPG elements to pursue, and cool
sequences like escaping criminals grabbing hostages off the sidewalk, there is
also quite a bit in its favor. It really depends on how forgiving the player is
as to how much they get out of it.
Graphics: 6.5/10 Control:
6.5/10 Overall: 6.5/10 [ top ] | |||
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