True Crime: Streets of LA

"It's a True Crime why so many people hate this game."

I honestly do not see why so many people dislike this game. Too many people compare it to Grand Theft Auto, but this is not GTA. You are a cop, not a criminal, so you don't get to burn down buildings and gun down swarms of cops while evading a helicopter. I think it is a great game that doesn't deserve the some of the hate it's recieved.

Story: 9/10
You are Nick Kang an ex-cop that was thrown off the force and brought back to the EOD, (Elite Operations Division) and are solving crimes to find your father's killer, who was also a cop. It gets better and more intwined as the game progresses. It's a pretty good story line in my opinion.

Sounds/Graphics: 9/10 These graphics are awesome. The cars look nice, especialy some of Kang's cars that you can unlock. The movements of characters are decent, no head-bobbing like in Metal Gear Solid. Thier mouths and facial expressions look and move realisticly. The gun effects are cool, with decent flash coming from the mouths of the gun and metal shells falling to the grounds. The explosions, such as when you blow up a car, shoot a fireworks stand, or fire an explosive, are ver realistic-looking and bright. The day/night effects are realistic, but don't change between missions like GTA games do. The time of day, which varies from the faint glow of early morning, a bright afternoon, a cloudy day, a bright red evening sunset, or midnight darkness, depend on which mission you're on. Sparks fly from lamp posts when you hit them with a car, wooden slivers fly about when you crash into fences, and the fright motions on civilians as you careen down a sidewalk at 90mph are cool, too. Great graphics. Some of the best on PS2. The sound track is amazing, with at least 50 songs in the game, and they all fit the mood. When you are doing a stealth mission, the music is slow, quiet, and has a good beat. When you are in an all-out shootfest, or in a brawl, the music is fast-paced and exciting. When you are crusing the enormous city of L.A., the music is smooth, rythmatic and has a nice beat. Kang's comments are varied and often hilarious, try hitting people on the street for some good laughs, from both Kang and the civilians. Civilian voice-overs get repetitive, because some civilians of different models share the same voice-overs. And the cut-scene voice acting deserves to be in a movie, it's spectacualar, and Christopher Walken even plays the narrator. It's all very good.

Controls: 10/10 Controls are very easy to figure out, and if you find them difficult, you can always change them. The cars handle very nicely, and you won't have to worry about a stray bullet hitting a civilian because you couldn't aim right. The only part some people may have trouble is the fighting mode, when you have to push certain buttons in a precise order quickly to do special moves. No complaints here.

Gameplay: 10/10 This is a fun game. It's not quite GTA, but it's still fun. The vehicle choice isn't that great, but most of the cars are cool. In the drive-to missions, you are free to roam the some 250 square miles of L.A. It takes for ever to drive from one side of the city to the other. It's about as big as three Vice Cities plus a Los Santos combined, it's absolutely huge. During drive-to missions, street crimes will occur, at which point you will get a mission briefing and a call from the police chief on your dispatcher telling you what you need to do. These range from petty street thiefs, to brawling bums, to "dueling" chefs, to full-blown gang warfare. And you are free to solve them however you want. A couple having a violent dispute and disturbing the peace? Drive down the side walk and crash into them at 100mph to quickly end that fight. Are there street racers threatening public safety? Chase them down and shoot thier gas tanks for a climax worthy of Dan Forden. It's fun to drive around and see how many different ways you can solve each street crime scenario, I think there are more than 20 of them. The cuty is so huge, it will take forever to explore every inch of the city. And there are the 24-7 facilities, where you can attempt a challenge and if you pass it, you get an upgrade. Also, after you clear a chapter %100, you get an upgrade if you can pass the challenge. There are eight chapters in all, with about 7 missions in each. The missions range from sneaking missions to shoot-outs. The shoot-outs are very fun, with sheets of paper and splinters flying around. The missions vary, and the cut scenes are awesome. Another cool thing is the branching story lines. If you fail a mission, you can still continue the game to see what happens when you fail. One of the most fun games on PS2.

Replayability: 5/10 After you beat all of the main story missions, there's not much left to do, but you may want to pick it up again. It won't take long to beat the game %100, I took me only about a week to beat it all of the way through.

Buy or Rent: It's worth a rental, but is now a Greatest-Hits title, which means you can find for $20 or a measly $12 pre-used at EB, both of which are steals.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/14/05