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A Good Game for any to enjoy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 57 / 61
Date: November 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

True Crimes of LA is actually a pretty good game. You get to explore a much bigger city than in GTA: Vice City, but the stale gameplay and such can easily bring this game down a notch. While more realistic in everyway, True Crime can be considered one of the more innovative games of this time!

First the graphics. The graphics in this game are ASTONISHING! They're almost realistic in everyway! Surprisingly enough the game looks like REAL L.A. (with the exception of there not being much traffic.). So as far as eye-candy goes, True Crimes does a brilliant job here.

Now the sound. Again, no mistakes here! Good sound overall, and you can't go wrong here. Sound effects are great as well as the music. Again, you're not going wrong. The only thing I can say is that if you don't like Rap, you may not like the soundtrack as much. In this case it's good that you can take advantage of the custom soundtrack that the XBOX allows you to give the game.

Gameplay is probably where te game begins to faulter. The game has a "Good Cop/Bad Cop" system which isn't a bad idea. Should you do things the way a cop in real life would (i.e. you don't kill those you capture, you only injure, you fire warning shots and only shoot people in the leg and such) then you'll be considered a "Good Cop". Do the complete opposite and you're a "Bad Cop." There is a meter that tells you on which side of the bar you fall on.

Good Cop/Bad Cop isn't too badly done, but it really brings down the difficulty level of this game. It's fun to drive around but the game is so simple to keep to one side. If you see someone rob a bank you can easily just hit them with your car and not kill them, which results in you being a "Good Cop". If you hit him and kill him, you're a "Bad Cop". This becomes simple gameplay should you approach it that way.

What also makes gameplay simple is that you can choose to redo any failed missions. Clearly you could try them over and over again until the game is done with. BUT you could continue and leave mission failed. If you do this it effects future missions. Missions are very realistic. You can go undercover and hope you don't blow it even. You can do various things that a cop would do. You can search them and see if you find drugs, weapons, etc. or you could flash your badge, which will result in a suspect running or something else.

What's not to like about the gameplay? Well, it's too simple for one thing. I already talked about how you could hit a suspect with a car and not kill them, and this finishes missions easily. The other part is that you could easily complete missions without shooting (just knock them out). The auto-aim is very nice however.

The other bad thing about the gamplay are those camera angles. You'll find yourself constantly repositioning the camera just to see some of the action. Because of the camera you could be "jumped" and never know who did it, or get shot from behind.

The game presents a branching story. The outcome depends on the missions you succeed in and whether or not you're a "Good Cop" or a "Bad Cop". There are tons of ways to go through the story but the final confrontation is the same. You "could" become a bad guy but it makes no difference.

The story is actually more like something you'd see in an action movie. You've got your average jerky character (Nick Kang) who doesn't want a partner and constantly refuses to work with his and goes at it alone. His father used to be a part of the LAPD but died working a case. Sound familiar? It should, and it's full of chase scenes, one liners, and everything else you could want in an action movie.

So while larger than Vice City by A LOT the game is actually fairly linear. The storyline is decent (although the main character takes a bit of time to like), the gameplay is nice and overall the game is pretty good.

The Good:
+Great graphics and sound!
+Though quite linear, TONS of missions
+Lots of weapons to choose from
+Branching story
+Multiple endings
+HUGE City to explore

The Bad
-Main character is unlikeable at first
-Annoying Camera Angles
-Missions are too simple

The game overall is pretty decent. You've got a lot of freedom to enjoy and a huge map to explore. A great experience.

True Crime

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 31
Date: October 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Although I will always charish Grand Theft Auto, True Crime looks like it will blow GTA out of the water. Here are some reasons why I think this game is better than GTA:

1. You play as Nick Kang, a former EOD cop ready to take on the streets of LA.

2. There is 250 square miles of living, breathing LA turf. You heard me. 250 SQUARE MILES!!!!!! That is 10 times bigger than Vice City and 7 times bigger than the Getaway!

3. Branching Storyline lets you play how you want to play. No matter if you pass or fail a mission. With random crimes going on aside from the story missions, the game is totally unpredictable.

4. Over 50 cars to choose from created from scratch, yet still reconizable car models.

5. Bullet time. What can I say? Bullet time.

6. Driving. Fighting. Shooting. All in one to give you the most immersive game of 2003.

Although there may be other reasons, this game will be AWESOME!! But GTA will always be inside of me.

Yuck!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game was so loud and obnoxious it gave me a headache. It just tries too hard to be a "street" game by dumb, wannabe "street" dialogue that is neither funny nor interesting. The controls are horrible! You run around the street trying to point your character towards the bad guy, and there is no "quick adjustment" to send the camera behind Nick (main character). It's a slow rotation--five punches at your head later from the bad guy.

It is LACKING in atmosphere. Atmosphere is what made GTA (Grand Theft Auto Series) a winner. I felt like i was in the world. With True Crime, I felt like I was playing an annoying video game.

Music: Can we fit more "F" words in a song? I mean, yes, once in a while it's fine, but it's almost as though they were going out of their way to fit as many curse words in the soundtrack as possible simply to call attention to itself. I'm not a fan of that type of music anyways, but there ARE songs from that genre (Rap etc..) that are good. Just, not many of them are in True Crime. GTA had a number of different genres to choose from, which was nice.

I would rent this game first. Don't fall for the commercials like I did (and I never will again)--let Blockbuster be your friend. If you like it--then buy it. But this is not the type of game I would blindly buy. Leave that to the GTA series....

Better than the Getaway but its no GTA

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have had this game since Monday and was able to play it. The game opens you play as Nick Kang a member of Elite Operations Division (E.O.D.) Your job is to take down the criminals of L.A. The cool thing about this game is you can either go to a crime in progress and help or you can go to your intended destination and progress to the next level. If you are killed or fail the mission you do not need to redo it if you don't want to. The soundtracks pretty good no real compilants you can also custimize your soundtrack. The game isn't too bad the graphics are nice and sound is good and the voice acting is good look out for a few big HollyWood names. Overall I like what I see thus far and I quite enjoy this one but GTA comes out in the next few days for the xbox which will you be playing?

True dissapointment.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: January 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you haven't played GTA: Vice City, get that game instead of True Crime. If you have played Vice City, don't get True Crime because you'll just be dissapointed. What made Vice City so good is the same thing that makes True Crime not so good. Detail! The map is huge, too big for my tastes as I had no idea where I was most of the time, but it does seem to be a pretty accurate map of L.A., so if you are from L.A., you could probably visit the house where you are currently playing this game. Spooky. The game basically breaks down into three aspects; fighting, shooting, and driving. Because the map is so huge, I was mostly driving. This is where the game came up short. Most of the cars handled like 18-wheelers, and their top speed would rival most forklifts. Like most driving games, there are a few camera modes, and like most driving games the first person camera is planted on the bumper. Who would want to drive with their nose six inches off the asphalt? I have been to L.A. a few times and I know that they probably have more radio stations than any other city in the world, but in this game there is only one. I logged in over 100 hours in Vice City and never got tired of the eight different radio stations. In conclusion, my recommendation is to get Vice City. If you already wore that out, wait for Driver 3 comming in March.

The good guy version of GTA.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: September 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'll admit that Vice City has more depth and originality, but personally I would rather play as a cop than sell drugs, steal cars, and kill hookers. However, if your a thug at heart, this game allows the player to be a dirty cop.

You won't get the unlimted access to drug running speed boats and helicopters as in VC, but True Crime does bring to the table a reasonable variety of vehicles which you might be required to "comandeer" in order to protect the citizens of L.A. from themselves. And don't forget this game has a customizable soundtrack, to many publishers are ignoring this feature for the X-box. True Crime delivers a great gameplay execution with a decent story mode. There is no denying that this is a GTA clone, however it does provide an excellent gaming experience.

Gigantic Map and a Good Guy Attitude

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: December 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Fans of Grand Theft Auto and The Getaway have a treat in store for them. The landscape of True Crime, set in Los Angeles, is a full 250 square miles. That's 10 times bigger than Vice City!

Unlike the GTA series, this time you're on the side of the good guys. You are Nick Kang, an Asian-American who is part of an elite cop unit. You're a rough and tumble police officer who can easily shoot, fight or drive his way out of any situation.

The 'fake' maps of the GTA series and the 'real' map of London in the Getaway were mere training grounds for the HUGE map of Los Angeles and all its suburbs. Drive from Santa Monica into Hollywood, grabbing up to 50 different types of cars along the way. You're not carjacking them - you're commandeering them for police activities.

You have a good/bad rating and are penalized if you take out too many innocents in your quest to get the bad guys. You can find training centers to improve your skills, and take on a variety of missions. I liked this game MUCH more than the Getaway in that sense - instead of being stuck on missions in a single thread, you have much more freedom of exploring the city and deciding what to do next.

The navigation is also great. The streets actually have SIGNS on them - what a concept! You also are told on-screen where you are both in suburb, a mini-map and a street sign indicator. It always drove me crazy in The Getaway that a guy who LIVES in this town wouldn't even know where he was. True Crime handles that issue quite nicely.

The graphics on the XBox are extremely impressive. Car windows reflect light and can be shattered. When you run into a sign, it crumples. There are tattoo shops and fancy botiques along the streets. And even on the massive scale they cover, the trees have branches and the Japanese sports cars have legible kanji on the back.

I didn't like the default set of music - I was much more impressed with the GTA3/Vice City radio station selection which was just AMAZINGLY fun. But on the up side, the XBox lets you load your hard drive full of music and play it randomly. Build your own radio stations and enjoy them!

There are a good selection of sub-missions from hand-to-hand fighting, to shoot-outs, to car chases, to secret tails, to stealth infiltration and much more. There are slow-mo bullet time attacks, a fun sense of humor and destructable objects in your environments. On the down side, the game does get a little ... bizarre ... near the end, but I'll let you find that twist out for yourself.

Highly recommended for any GTAVC/Getaway fan!

wow how your all wrong

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 39
Date: April 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well you need to stop acting like you know this game like you own it...you obviously don't. You are a cop, not a mobster. Sex isn't in the game at this point, at least it isnt confirmed. The game does look truly amazing. So far 21 cars are confirmed (including motor cycles) multiple types of martial arts are in...but only the duel pistols as weapons? i hope they add more before release. You can act as a bad guy and get your own fellow cops after you, but your not a mobster like in the GTA series. This game has been in development for over 3 years and it looks like they haven't been wasting their time...just like you wont be wasting your money by preordering it!

Two Weeks and still addicted

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I got addicted to this game after playing it for only a few hours. I rented it and ended up keeping it for two weeks and will be buying it when the price comes down a bit. Just for the heck of it last night i rented GTA Vice City and wanted to take it back after two hours. This game in my opinion is funner, bigger and the fighting is way better, the shooting is way better the only thing GTA has on True Crime is the driving, because you seem to be able to control your car a little better in GTA. Now Maybe GTA is a deeper game and it takes longer to get used to and it's more complex or something, i dunno, but i'd rather have a game i get right away and enjoy right away and doesn't take me a week just to have fun with it. Nick Kang is hilarious and there's some great one liners in the game. Just wish they hadn't rushed the game. It's got glitches and clipping problems galore and the car is a bit hard to control sometimes but other than that it's a lot of fun and suprisingly addictive.

It's so easy to get lost cause it's so big and i really like the fact if you want to find something just look it up on Mapquest.
how much more realistic can it get?

crime doesn't pay

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: March 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After a lot of sceptisism about this game i finally picked up a copy. I have to say i was pretty impressed. I won't bore you with the story, its the usual cop story - investigating a crime - personal friends get kidnapped etc.. I'll weigh up the games credentials.

On the plus side: The first thing i noticed about the game was how cool it was to target. Holding the R trigger in brings the camera to your shoulder and gives you a pretty zoomed view of anything in front of you and slows it down, giving you more time to target your enemies, or their vechicles. This is useful if you want to shoot someone in the leg, not that there are individual body effects (but there does try to be). The driving is quite similar to GTA, theres a variety of cars and some of the missions in the Game focus on this. You can also shoot from the car, which is helpful if you are persuing a suspect and want to shoot out his wheels- this being perhaps the best feature in the game. You can also shoot the engine - but its close to impossible sometimes. Theres a lot of missions to keep you entertained, plus you can also cruise around the city - 'policing' random crimes. the game is satisfying. Imagine the scenario. It comes over on the radio that two cars have been spotted street racing - you arrive to the scene and the cars are racing around the block, you can approach it by staying in your car chasing them - take their wheels out and chase the criminal on foot. Alternatively you can shoot at his engine - permanantly stopping his car and him! Or you can wait around the block, get out of the car and stand in the middle of the road playing chicken with the car, when he get close - hit your R trigger to aim and slow down time,aim at his wheels and take them out. Its still coming towards you out of control, quickly dive in slow motion out of the way (and if you wish shoot the driver of the car as it spins madly). Cool, i think so!

On the downside: The main quarrel in this game is the variety soon runs dry. If they had spent more time on adding variety rather tahn mapping L.A. they would have a serious hit on their hand. The majority of the map isn't used at all in True Crime, and it proves pretty pointless chasing 'Jacko Miguel' the sirenge weilding popstar around downtown L.A. then driving for ten minutes to get to to Venice just to do the same crime again. The only thing that keeps the game alive sometimes is the knowing fact that theres some missions to do. If you ever here the word stealh mentioned in this game, laugh out loud! The stealth levels can be done by running up to a guy and pressing one button. Great, Splinter Cell better be careful! The combat is good if you want to solve crimes without killing the criminal - although the moves are limited. And while you can unlock new combat moves (also new car tricks and faster targeting) you'll find yourself bashing the buttons to get it over with. I had the idea of shooting the criminal in the leg or midriff to injure and bring his life down a bit (so i wouldn't have to fight the same fight for the 157th time) then get out my fists, but it seems as soon as you pull your gun out , suddenly the criminal has one and is blasting you in the face. Why didn't he do that in the first place. It would have been helpful if you could get into a building and sometimes if your driving your car in a high speed pursuit you may decide to go through the fences between houses, crash full speed into the fence and you're through but try to get out and you cant, don't worry though - get out of your car and run towards the fence, you'll glitch right through it, and theres tons of places you'll find glitchs, including the missions.

All in all, i would recommend this game if you can get it cheap, £20 or less or rent it .......twice. I enjoyed the game (the first day i played it for 12 hours) but was left with a feeling i'd wasted my money. GTA is safe until True Crime 2 and should be the priority purchase in this genre - hopefully by then TC2 will have cleaned its act up a bit.

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