True Crime: Streets of LA

""Yeah, I'll have a coffee, black, two sugars, and...THIS GAME!""

Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun!

Oh where, oh where do I begin? What a wonderful way to start a review! Actually, no. I’ll start with this:

I’m going to go against the majority here. I am not about to sit here and tell you all just how great/crap this game is in comparison to the “almighty” GTA. Why, you ask? Simple. This is a review of True Crime: Streets of LA. This is not FOXRULES’ game comparison page. If you want GTA reviews, then I suggest moving on, and trying the GTA review section. Now, what say we get on with the review, before I get into full-blown rant mode and start going off on every irrelevant topic that springs forth into my mind.

Initial Ideas
I first knew of this game by word of mouth. Such mouth was difficult to hear, so it took me a good 10 attempts to finally here that my friend was uttering the name of this video game. So, I looked into it, enticed by the concepts of being a cop, and doing whatever my mortal will pleased. Oh how excited I was.

So, further research led me deeper and deeper into this game. We’ve got 240 square miles of the City of Angels for absolute free roaming in. You’re a cop. You can do what you like. What more fun could I ask for? Well, I later found myself asking the same question. What more fun could I ask for? What will I get out of this game?

The answer came to me in the form of 12 magazines. Free roaming, mindless destruction and/or law enforcement. Take any vehicle that tickles your fancy. Wield any two guns you want at the same time. Use martial arts techniques, drive like a lunatic, shoot like a crazed felon, and suffer no repercussions…except perhaps the odd loss of your own life, but who cares about that anyway? I felt like I was in for a TREAT. Though, I had my doubts, I must say.

After experiencing first hand the “pleasure” of a GTA game, I did often find myself wondering if it would be the same. Would I get missions, with set and restricting time limits? Would I have my fun level restricted by over-realism? Would I be butchered by local law enforcers whenever I did one thing wrong? After asking myself these questions, do you know what I did? I stabbed myself. I stabbed myself with a metal ruler. Right in the arm. I couldn’t believe that I had just made a comparison between GTA and this. I never once regretted stabbing myself either.

((Which reminds me, a special note out there to all of you rowdy rebel teens. GTA, nor True Crime, influenced me to stab myself. Nor has any game ever influenced me to repeat the actions shown in it. My stabbing of myself was the result of my utter disgust with myself at my own thoughts of comparison. Anything you do that you claim was influenced by a game, was not. It is your own doing. No-one’s fault but your own. Now, back to the review…))

So, to round things up, I was excited about the concept of this game, yet I had my doubts. I suppose the only ay I was going to find out was to purchase it and play it. Whoo boy, that’s fifty quid well spent. Find out why below.

How It All Plays Out.
Let us begin with the basics. You are Nicolas Kang Wilson, a police officer suspended from the force due to his dangerous and reckless behaviour. Cliché? You betcha, but this is a FUN game, not an uber-realistic fun-draining game. So, he’s been called into the force again, by “The Chief”, supposedly the greatest detective in all of LA. He’s been asked to join the EOD (Elite Operations Division), which is basically a be all, do all, kill/maim/destroy all allowing divisions of the local law enforcement authorities. Hey, suits me just fine.

I do not really wish to delve into the storyline, at all. I want you to enjoy the game, instead of just playing it so you can see the pretty graphics that go with the thrilling story.

You get all of LA to roam around. Two-hundred and forty square miles of your own personal playground (or crime infested city, should you be one of those goody-two-shoes types) to do whatever your heart desires in. If you’re a good boy, solve crimes, stop brawls, etc, then you will find yourself earning good karma points (reflecting your Good Cop/Bad Cop nature), and shield points. One hundred shield points earns you a shield. Shields are used to use the city’s facilities, such as car garages (where that sports car you stole and trashed gets all fixed up), health clinics (self-explanatory), Dojos (where you learn new martial arts techniques), shooting ranges (guess), and much more.

What’s more, the level of detail is amazing. While the graphics themselves are not photo-realistic resident evil type graphics (by now, around 80% of readers will not want to buy this game anymore), the areas are perfect in ways which I cannot begin to describe, and there are so many little things that you can pick out. Puddles of blood where a fight’s been going on, a dead cat in the street, knocked over trash cans where you carelessly drove your Porsche, and other such wonders. ((AOL))With such a wide area, with such fabulous attention to detail, it’s no wonder it’s number one! ((/AOL))

The one thing that was kind of a blow to me at first was the games soundtrack. Composed almost entirely of Rap music, this was the thing that came closest to perhaps causing the slight off chance that I would consider not purchasing this game. I do not like Rap. That’s all there is to it. There’s not a “but”, which will lead on to say how Rap is actually quite good and how people are wrong to insult it. No, we all have our own musical preferences. Mine do not lie in Rap, and I’m quite sure that some of you out there share the same views.

However, let’s consider this: What other kind of music would suit his game? Love music? Yes, I can see it now. Murdering countless innocents while causing immeasurable property damage, causing high levels of disturbance and civil unrest (which there just happens to be a metre for, should you go waaaaay overboard on the bad cop act, after which civilians will start trying to kill you). There he is, the vicious and destructive Nick Kang, coming down the streets in his beat up car, ready to kick some a-…wait a second…what’s this?

“Lovin’ yooou,
is easy cos you’re beautifuuu-uul…”

…and the survey says? ((CENSORED))

I think you can see my point here. While not all of us may like Rap music, it suits the game perfectly, to the bone. If you’re still being uptight about it though, just turn it off and have done with it. It’s in the Options menu. Wow.

Following standard format (far be it from me usually, but I gotta move on), I shall now delve into the wonderful world of controls. Let us first eliminate this:

“The controls are awkward and too difficult to master!”

“The controls are awful!”

Okie dokie, let’s sort this problem out right now. “Controller Configuration.” Don’t like the controls, reprogram them however you want. Sorted.

As for the rest of the controls, well, they vary, if you catch my drift. Different cars have different handlings. Other than that, they remain as the same fluent, perfect sensitivity, easy to master controls that you will easily get used to after around 10 minutes of gameplay. Perhaps a little odd to start with, but like all games, easy to grasp. That’s pretty much all I’m going to say on controls. Not much more needs to be said.

Now, in terms of Game Length and Replayability…wow. The game itself is so incredibly fun to play, and there’s so much to do in such a vast expanse of…land…that you just keep coming back for more. There are endless laughs to be had while playing this game, and you will often find yourself ignoring the mission at hand completely and going about your business of whatever you want. That’s the kind of thrill you want in a game. This also leads me perfectly into this mini-section.

We Don’t Need No Realism!

What I would hate to see right now about this game, are comments revolving around how “You’d die in a crash like that!” or “There’s no way he can hold that gun with one hand!” or even “He’d get run down and killed if he did that!”

Let me get this one thing straight with all of you people who say those things. This game is not MEANT to be realistic to such a level. Realism in games such as this greatly restricts the pleasure level, and what are video games made for? Fun. What does fun equal? Pleasure. So, by reducing the realism, we increase the pleasure. How can you have fun causing wanton destruction if you suddenly run out of ammo? Or how can you enjoy stealing a car if it runs out of petrol halfway down the road? The answer is, you can’t.

The fact of the matter is, you can grief it all you want, but this is a fun game, not a movie.

Well, I suppose there isn’t much else to cover. I’ve detailed everything significant. Conclusion time then.

Conclusion

Well, to really wrap it up, “It’s bloody fun.” Honestly, this is the kind of game that practically anyone can love, because it has the majority of gaming genre thrown into it anyway. It has wonderful replay value, moderate (yet often ignored) length, perfect visual quality for what it’s meant to be, and excellently suiting sound. I cannot help myself.

10/10

Well deserved it is too.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/03