GameCube

True Crime: Streets of LA

Overall this game is wonderful. While the driving is easy to pick up, running around on foot is fun too with the great fist fighting engine. Gun fights are reminiscent of Max Payne with the diving in slow motion making it all very cinematic and hard to dislike. This game should absolutely not be missed. Warning to parents: there is very harsh language and some scenes within a strip club, although there’s no nudity.

True Crime is an enjoyable game if you can clear your mind of Grand Theft Auto expectations. The integration of story and gameplay is very nice, but there's a strong possibility that the majority of people won't get it at first because the tendency will be to play this game as if they already know what they're doing. The consequences of your actions and nonactions are huge in True Crime and dramatically change your level of recklessness. It's a storyline that unfolds like a criminal investigation in a good cop show but imagine that you can hop into any point in that show and interact with characters to change the outcome. Now imagine that that interacting includes a rich fighting component, a deep shooting mechanic and a full driving game and you determine when and to what extent you do what. That's what we've been given here and it's a lot of fun despite the burden of the camera system and other technical glitches.

True Crime: Streets of L.A. ist ein richtig cooles Spiel. Zumindest, wenn man über die teils nicht so hübsche Grafik und die nervenden Ladezeiten hinwegsehen kann. Das Spiel bietet jede Menge tolle Zwischensequenzen und viele witzige Einfälle. So wiederholen sich die Verbrechen in L.A. zwar auch nach einer gewissen Zeit, zwischendurch wird man jedoch immer wieder von dem einen oder anderen Ereignis überrascht. Klasse sind natürlich die verschiedenen Handlungsstränge sowie die Tatsache, dass, wenn man mal keine Lust auf die Story hat, jederzeit einfach durch die Stadt cruisen und ein paar Verbrechen lösen kann.

This is a perfect segue into the other effect, that of the Karma system. True Crime bases a certain amount of its gameplay around the idea of actions and consequences committed by the player, ranking Nick along a good cop/bad cop definition. Saving innocent lives, stopping rampages with minimal property damage and other tactically sound measures will ensure a favorable rating and ending for the game, while shooting or running over anything that moves will quickly plunge him into trouble with the law.

Bringing an M-rated game to GameCube is a gamble, but Activision’s GTA-influenced action game is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this is the worst of the three console versions of this title. Fortunately, it’s still pretty darn good.

Visually, True Crime is a solid operation with one major flaw. The rendering of L.A. is superb -- simply put, there's not a better real-world model in gaming. If you know the city at all, simply cruising is a lot of fun; I was able to hit that lousy hotel that overcharged me last E3. Character and car models aren't as nice, but they do the job. The problem is with the camera, which has some real problems in tight quarters. There are also occasional clipping issues between characters, but the camera is the sticking point.

True Crime Streets Of L.A. n'est pas la révolution du genre. Le jeu est fun, admirablement bien construit, possède de bonnes idées et un design accrocheur mais de grosses lacunes au niveau du gameplay et une certaine répétitivité l'empêchent d'accéder au sommet. En somme, vous ne perdez rien à l'essayer mais quant à l'adopter définitivement c'est une autre histoire.

While it does not have the freedom of GTA, True Crime is an engaging and exciting city-based rampage. It lacks a little polish in places but overall the impression is of a very well crafted game. Nick Kang is annoying, but there's enough freedom and action on offer here to keep most gamers very happy. Some annoying dialogue, the varying difficulty level and an underused city mean the game is only good, rather than brilliant.

In the end, it’s the little things that hurt True Crime: Streets of LA. The game tries to be everything for everyone by offering a great variety of gameplay styles, but doesn’t quite succeed at any of them. Each facet of the game has minor issues that hurt an otherwise enjoyable experience. If you have any doubts about this title, rent it first. What could have been a great game, a masterpiece even, is reduced to just a good game that’s well worth checking out.

In the end, True Crime is a game that simply lacks polish and, in some cases, feels unfinished. It makes decent attempts with its different styles of gameplay, but none of them are particularly well done, and the game's storyline doesn't tie them together in a satisfying way. Add to that an annoying lead character and a general lack of difficulty (that makes the game's eight chapters seem even shorter than they already are), and you've got a game that's worth renting but not much else.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City it is not. True Crime is an average time running around wreaking random havoc, burdened by bad controls that could've made it a B game with more polish, but just can't quite find its way out of average pitfalls.