True Crime: Streets of LA

"The streets of LA, all in one small box."

So, I go to Blockbuster, my dad says that I can rent two movies, so, I say, ''ok''. I get my movies and my dad and I go to pay for them, and the Blockbuster employee says, ''You have a free rental, would you like to use it?''. I say to my dad, why don't I just go get another movie? He says, ''Ok''. So, I head towards the new releases isle and I see something that catches my eye, True Crime: Streets of LA. So, I rent it, and what I thought would be just another boring weekend at home would turn out to be the exact opposite, a fun filled action packed trip to LA!

You play as Nick Kang, a witty and yet Rogue cop. Trying to unlock the mystery behind his father's disappearance and trying to solve other crimes at the same time. The story takes many unexpected twists and turns. With 6 alternate endings, the story can go pretty much anywhere you choose. Although the storyline is overdone, it is still a good storyline, that never runs dry.

The game play is almost like that of Grand Theft Auto III, and Vice City. It is also like Dead to Rights, in a sense. So, if you like these games, I strongly recommend you at least give this a rent. I know what you may be thinking, Its just another Grand Theft Auto wannabe. Wrong. True Crime has a lot of things going for it, there are many things to do in the city of LA. Like random crimes. These are almost as run as the missions themselves. You get to hear crimes through the APB as the are committed, and you get to go arrest the bad guys, and get Karma. No, not like the GameFAQs karma. :) Karma is what you get for doing good deeds in and around the city of LA, like arresting bad guys or frisking someone for drugs on the street. Karma decides what kind of cop you are, good or bad, and whether you are a good or bad cop decides on what of the many ending you may get. The only other bad things I could think of are the rare slowdowns when driving in your car and the long mission loading times.

The Graphics is very good and detailed. All of the major LA landmarks and trademarks are there. Even the world famous 'Hollywood' sign is in True Crime. The graphics are even better than the ones in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In True Crime, you can even pass by celebrity look-alikes on the street, such as Friday's Ice Cube, he looks almost EXACTLY like him! One of the games few down sides are the glitches. Every once in awhile you will come across a glitch, such as the bad guy 'going underground' when you arrest him or her, or your game just freezing on rare occurrences. But, then again, no game is perfect, right? The glitches aren't too bad, nothing that wouldn't set you back too far, seeing as how the game auto saves after every mission.

The sound in True Crime, is very good. Much more detailed than Grand Theft Auto's sound. Like when you first get in a car, you will hear a life like engine starting, and when you get out you will hear the engine stopping. Also, one of the most funniest parts of the game is Nick's phrases. Like, Nick singing the famous lyrics to I Fought the Law by Brian Adams, 'I Fought the Law and the law won'. The sounds of the bullets sound very realistic, also. The soundtrack itself isn't all that bad, although most of it is rap. Now, I know what you're thinking.. 'I hate rap music'. Well, I do too. But, its not ALL rap. Some of the music is Rock music, but that’s about it.

The controls take a little while to get used to. After all, most people aren't used to sniping people with handguns. :) But, once you get used to it, the Controls aren't that much of a pain. The controls are also pretty innovative. I can't think of an action game that let you fire a warning shot or show your badge to scare criminals into submission, which is almost always fun to do. Now, something that I still have yet to get used to is the brawling system. The basics of the brawling system is easy to get used to, but where the problem comes in is the combos. Some are hard to remember and pull off, but if everything was a piece of cake, the game wouldn't be any fun, now would it?

Let me tell you the truth..when I first rented the game, I beat it within the same day. But, unfortunately I got one of the worst endings in the game. So, I decide to play it over to get a better ending. I hardly ever play game through to the end twice, but this game kept me coming back for more. All of LA and its surrounding areas are these dog bones. Dog bones are used to unlock the famous rapper 'Snoop Dogg'. Snoop Dogg is not just a different character skins, but he has his own car and phrases! So, the replay value is one of the best I’ve seen in a game so far.

In conclusion, if the developers just took a little bit more time to fix the small glitches and added more missions, this game would be a lot better. If you love Grand Theft Auto or action games, this game is a must have. Even if the story itself is short, there’s still plenty of thing to do in the game. Like, the random crimes or the street races.

Pros:
+ Good Soundtrack
+ Excellent replay value
+ Good game play
+ Many combos and upgrades to collect
+ Great voice acting
+ Very large and detailed map of LA
+ Great Graphics

Cons:
- Story is too short
- Some glitches
- Slowdowns
- long mission loading times

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/10/03