True Crime: Streets of LA

"A solid game, with a strong story, but somewhat dissapointing gameplay."

True Crime: Streets of LA is a good game. The music can be a blessing or a curse, depending on whether or not you like rap; that's the only music in the game. This game has been compared to Grand Theft Auto so many time, it's unbelievable. In that sense, however, the game is more open-ended than GTA, but the gameplay is less impressive.

Gameplay - 7 - True Crime: Streets of LA is fun game to play. The entire city of LA is mapped out in the game, and the loading times don't suffer too much from loading that much terrain for every mission though. It takes about 2 minutes to load an outdoor mission. However, some missions only take two minutes to play (timed missions). These aren't too common, so it can be overcome. Also, when I entered the freeway, I found the game slowing down so much that it became unplayable. I haven't noticed this anywhere else, however.

The controls are placed oddly on the controller, like using L to enter or exit a car, where you use R to shoot. A lot of times I find myself jumping out of a speeding car when trying to shoot an enemy. Speaking of the cars, there are only about 10 different cars in the game. The city is LA, and half the cars are little-old-lady cars that handle badly. I thought LA was a town with nice cars...mostly, anyway.

Targeting and shooting work well, but fighting is clunky and only has a couple fighting moves. The finishers are fun and make up for it.

Story - 9 - The story is that you're an ex-cop who re-joins the force, and you play through whether or not you become a good cop to be remembered, or a good cop gone bad. The cut scenes in the game are great, with good voice acting and realistic dialog. However, it sometimes feels like you're playing missions just to get to the cut scenes, where-as you should be watching the cut scenes to get to the next gameplay segment. It's still a strong story that makes True Crime compelling to play.

Graphics/Sound - 9 - The graphics are only par for what the gamecube is capable of, and the could be much better. The graphics get a 7, but the sounds are great. The sound effects are standard somewhat, but you don't want gunshots to distract you, so it's fine. The voice acting is terrific, like I stated earlier, with good acting and realistic dialog. The music is also good. The soundtrack is basically all rap, so if you don't like it you should take note. The music fits the game well, and it features popular artists, such as Snoop Dogg. I'm not a fan, but I don't really hate it either, but it sets a good mood for the game.

True Crime: Streets of LA is strong game that will keep you entertained with good replay ability (you can do almost anything). I would recommend you pick this game up if you are interested. I would really give this game an 8.5, but no fractions are allowed, and it doesn't really deserve a 9, because of the slowdown.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/03