Product Description
Experience the hard-boiled life of a Los Angeles city cop, and choose to either uphold the law or take it into your own hands. True Crime: Streets of LA puts players in the role of LA cop Nick Kang on missions to take down major crime syndicates. True Crime recreates a 420 mile area of bustling Los Angeles California cityscape, where players will be able to freely roam, or take on missions that span from trendy Santa Monica to the gritty streets of Hollywood. City activity is similar to Rockstars popular Grand Theft Auto series, allowing for police acquisition of civilian vehicles. True Crime also features deep bullet-time shootouts, and martial arts battles.

Amazon.com
True Crime: Streets of L.A. is a Grand-Theft-Auto-esque action/driving/shooter that allows you to take control of Nick Kang, a cop out to solve a strange rash of crimes and solve his fathers mysterious murder. The game treats itself like a movie, with frequent dialogue and cinematics, a soundtrack filled with some of raps heavy hitters, and some surprising voiceover talent, like Christopher Walken and Snoop Dogg.

The missions given to you tend to involve shooting up or beating up (there is a big distinction between gun fighting and kung fu) a room full of bad guys, or simply have you racing against the clock in your car. In between, you can roam around and solve simple street crimes (mugging, car jackings, etc), or earn upgrades for your driving, shooting, and fighting abilities. The upgrade mechanism is important because while its an entertaining way to add new gameplay elements several hours in, the early game leaves you with so few moves that the game is hard, or worse, boring. The game also features a Good-Cop/Bad-Cop karma system that rewards or punishes you for doing the right or wrong thing. Arrest criminals in non-lethal manner to get better endings, or terrorize the populace and have both citizens and police turn on you.

While it can be an entertaining take on the Grand Theft Auto genre, True Crime tends to suffer from hit and miss execution. For every compelling game element, theres another equally awful one. There are several mission types that are completely devoid of any fun, melee fighting favors button mashing even after the nearly-useless string of upgrades, and the controls and camera seem to work against you more often than for you. Ultimately, hardcore Grand Theft Auto fans and the infinitely patient may be in for a treat, but everyone else is advised to think twice about this game.--Jon Safety Monkey Grover

Pros:

Variety of mission types keeps game from getting overly repetitive
Karma system and plenty of alternate cinematics add to replay value
Excellent voice work and above average graphics
Cons:
Controls feel sloppy and the camera will make you want to punch out your TV
Certain mission-types are just plain boring
Melee fighting favors button mashing over thought-out, timed attacks