True Crime is one of those games you hear far too much about before it's released. Every site and magazine had features on this "GTA-killer", so naturally everyone's expectations are really high. Unfortunately, creating huge expectations is one of the best ways to make a pretty good game feel a bit disappointing. Don't read this wrong, True crime is good game, but it doesn't beat or kill GTA. The things it takes from GTA are not as good as in Rockstar's hit games, the feeling of freedom in True Crime isn't as big as in GTA most of the time.

What True Crime does have speaking for it is a good storyline. You play Nick Kang, a suspended cop that gets his badge back because the city needs him. It's nothing we haven't seen in lots of movies before, but True Crime really gives you the feeling you're playing the part of the gritty cop in one of those movies, which is very nice. It also has a branching storyline, which means that if you can't get past a certain mission, you can skip it and end up playing different episodes and get a different ending. The more missions you finish, the better the ending is.You behavour also affects your game ending, killing everybody will decrease your "Good Cop" meter, being nice and shooting in arms in stead of heads increases it. How does this all fit together while playing? Read on and find out.

Graphics:

One of True Crime's biggest selling point is it's size, this is also the point where the game lives up to the hype the most. The title says Streets of LA, and by that it really means all of LA's streets. The surroundings are not the best you'll see in a game like this, but every neighbourhood has it's own distinct feel to it. Bel Air and Hollywood are filled with large estates and Venice and Santa Monica are the beach communities you know from the movies. And just like in the movies, the streets are filled with muggers, hookers, street brawlers, car thiefs and a few innocent civilians for you to interact with as you please. The character models and animations look extremely good, especially Nick and the other main characters are done very well. The models are used a bit too often though, it's not rare to see three identical twins walking past each other on the streets. The characters and the great lightening effects make up for the low detailled trees and buildings, but it would've been nice if your surroundings had the same quality as the people that filled them.

Sound:

Not only does True Crime have a story like a crime movie, it also has the voice talent to back it up, Christopher Walken does the voice-over like only he can. The rest of the cast do a really good job as well, their voices really fit the characters. The jokes Nick Kang makes are mostly very bad though, after a few gunfights you'll grow tired of him saying things like "maybe you guys just need a big hug!" all the time, and rightly so. The sound effects are nice too, all the guns and cars you'll be able to use have their own matching sound. Shooting a shotgun wouldn't feel as good if the bang and the reload click wouldn't satisfy, the effects really help to get the movie feeling across. The music also helps but not as much as the effects. The soundtrack is quite impressive, it's filled with stylish hip hop tracks and a few rock songs. The hip hop songs really set the mood, but the rock songs feel a bit out of place. The fact that you hear the same song each time you retry a mission isn't the best choice they could've made, but the soundtrack still stands pretty strong.

Gameplay:

Gameplay is where True Crime is most different from GTA. Even though True Crime gives you plenty of freedom in places, most of the missions don't allow you to just drive around and do what you want. You can go back to any mission at any time, but the loading times between missions are quite long, so continuing the storyline and waiting for a new free roaming mission is what you'll usually do if you want to fool around. Another big difference is that in GTA most of the gameplay is based on driving cars and shooting guns. True Crime also throws in stealthy sneaking, indoor gunfights filled with bullet time and fistfights complete with throws and combo's. If you stick to the storyline missions you'll have a pretty varied experience; one minute you're tailing a criminal's car, the next you'll be kicking his ass beat-em-up style. There's so much to do that there's almost too much to tell about the gameplay. Apart from the story missions, you're also able to respond to random crimes you hear on your police radio, participate in training missions that give you new moves and stats or just frisk every civilian you come across in hope to find hidden drugs or guns. If you finish an episode without failing a mission, you're in for a bonus treat. You enter the free roaming mode in which you can drive around a bit or go to a bonus challenge, which unlocks a new guns, car or throwing move. If you fail a few missions there's still nothing to worry about, you can make up form them at the end of the episode by solving a few random crimes.

Playability:

With all the driving, running, shooting and fighting Nick has to, there's a lot that could've gone wrong with the controls. Luckily though, not a lot went wrong here. The driving and shooting bits feel nice and tight, the stealth and the fighting controls a bit more loose. There are just a few little problems that can frustrate you more than necessary. You see, the game often switches between fighting stance and normal stance by itself, and it's never good to kick a civilian to the floor when you're just trying to frisk him. A minor problem with the controls is that there are a lot of buttons to remember. In fighting stance you use X to throw someone, in normal stance you use it to frisk a civilian or arrest someone if you're holding Z as well, that's quite a lot for one button! If you get used to the controls they make the game a lot more fun though. If you need to arrest a criminal, you can do so by flashing your badge (hold Z and press A) or firing a warning shot (hold R, aim up and press R again). If the criminal is impressed he'll surrender and you can slap your handcuffs on him (hold Z and press X). He can also run away or start shooting at you in which case you can beat him up (with A, B and Y), kill him with a headshot (hold R, aim for his head and press R again), shoot him in the arm or leg (hold R, aim and press R again), just blast him away (press R rapidly) or even drive over him with your car. As you can see, there is a lot to do and the controls help you do it all without too much trouble.

Lifespan:

True Crime has one of the biggest play area's you'll come across in a long time. Driving from one side of the map to the other takes you about 15 minutes, if you have a fast car and don't crash that is. It doesn't add very much to the lifespan though, because after you drove through most of the neighbourhoods the fun of exploring the city wears off a bit. What does extend True Crime's lifespan though is playing through all the branching missions. The story outcome and the episodes you'll get in the different branches are very different and all equally entertaining. The main branch has the most surprising plot twists, but the others are fun too. If you still want more to do after finishing all of the game's missions, you can start looking for Dogg Bones to unlock the Dogg Patrol mode in which you get play none other than Snoop Dogg. Or you can use the cheat we published earlier this week of course, but don't tell anyone you did!

Final Say:

True Crime looks and sounds good, plays allright and lasts pretty long, so why is it still a bit disappointing? Probably because the game gives you so much to do and so many places to go, you won't get the chance to get used to it all. It's great to have so much in one game, but in the end you'll play Burnout 2 if you want to race and Soul Calibur 2 if you want to fight, not True Crime. It's very nice to see a game that really gives you the feeling you're playing in a B-movie crime story though, not many games have done this better than True Crime.