Product Description

In True Crime: Streets of L.A., players assume the role of rogue Elite Operations Division (EOD) operative Nick Kang, a no-holds-barred badass, whose brutal reputation and lethal skills have landed him the nasty task of taking down the Chinese Triad and Russian Mafia cartel that has turned the City of Angels into a war zone. Take part in explosive gun battles with double-fisted firepower, devastating martial-arts brawls and high-speed shoot-outs across 250 square miles of accurately recreated LA. In car or on-foot, the unique branching missions include locating hostile witnesses, searching for case-cracking clues, taking out evasive informants and busting the heavily armed and deadly bad guys.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13648 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: ACTIVISION
• Released on: 2003-11-21
• Platform: GameCube

Customer Reviews

Crime....it's true.
True Crime had very high expectations set for it. It had to deliver, but many critics were saying it would be a huge letdown, and that it was looking ropey with only a few months to go before release. They were wrong. True Crime is incredible, and just roaming about 240 square miles of real LA is enough to content most people, just planning a route from Hollywood to Bel Air. it really is amazing, and only the branding is missing. The game features action packed shootouts including Max Payne style slo-mo dives. Generally, these gunfights are pleasing, but the main character, Nick Kang ex-cop screw up, is slow to react during targetting, and instead of holding down the relevant button to shoot, you have to wallop it for all your worth to pump lead into your enemies. There is also the inclusion of Kung Fu fighting in the game, but it hardly feels graceful like in The Matrix trilogy, and it usually comes down to button bashing that is likely to nacker your controller than anything else, but doing a slo mo mid air monkey kick ala Trinity in The Matrix when your opponent is dazed gives you a cirtain feel of satisfaction.
By far the best part in the game, aside from doing just about anything you like, is the driving. High speed chases are fantastic, as you have 360 degree shooting for your car. Its just feels brilliant.
Also, cruising down the Freeway in the evening with some nice music banging out of your radio is enough to make you wish you were there.This is an incredible game, and a must have for all console owners, especially if you liked GTA, as you can be on both sides of the law, for eg. if you kill too many civilians, you have a 'bad' rating, and have car chases and gun battles with the cops and eventually, the SWAT. Stay good however, by progressing through the missions and solving random street crimes coming from your police radio, you can earn uprades for your car, such as driving on two wheels like James Bond, and even brand new sports cars to wreck around in, upgrades for your Kung Fu skills such as new grapples and combos, and shooting upgrades like better and faster aiming, and unlockable guns, eg. you start off with some crappy little detective revolvers with short barrels and low range and a seriously limited punch, but after time you can upgrade to .50 pistols with far greater firepower. You have to have this game.

A good attempt, but a little short of the mark.
In True Crime Gamecube owners finally get the city roaming GTA type game we've wanted. The soundtrack tops GTA in my opinion, but you might not like it if you're not into that kind of Westside thug thang.

Activision have genuinely tried hard here to add lots of new features but, I'm sorry to say, these don't work the way they should.

1. The "kung-fu" element is pretty tragic - look at your opponent to see if they are crouching and either kick, punch or fly kick until stunned. Pull off a simple three button combo. Repeat. Even when there are as many as 5 other opponents they all seem to stand back and watch you give their mate a slapping.

2. Generally the AI is pretty thick. As well as the above problems with hand-to-hand sometimes you race to a crime and either smoke some bad guys - bounce them off the bonnet or beat them up and cuff them. You get your bonus points and as soon as you get in your car another mugging happens randomly right across the street. This happens whether you're running around filling up the local mortuary or the jail cells.

3. TC has a mode called "bullet-time" where they slow down the action while you attempt to find a "neutralising" point on your perp. Great idea. I've had so many different results from this from shooting people in the feet until they die, shooting one guy in the head and him putting his hands up. Maybe I'm missing something here - but I'm sure that one shot to the foot or balls would stop most people running away. Usually I get frustrated and run them over with an ice-cream van if they don't lie down after the third bullet connects with their leg.

4. Driving is pretty good - all the cars handle differently and lots of the time you'll want to repair you're latest stolen BMW 3 series. The manorevers you learn are also quite good and it's always fun to try and roll them on their roofs. The only criticism I have is that it can be too easy to kill civilians with them. I’m in a car speeding towards them with the siren going 80. What do they do? Just wait for me in the middle of the pavement to turn red and slushy. I find it quite useful to fire off the odd round and this usually makes them move.

5. Stealth mode? Rubbish. It’s too hard to sneak around corners pulling up behind them at the last moment. You’re usually better off charging at top speed and tapping “A” occasionally to give them a quick judo-chop. They should have thought this one out more and made it easier to make Nick Kang crawl about inside air vents or something.

In summary. Yes - get it on the cheap. It's great fun mowing down civilians and trying to get AK47 armed gary boys to chase you - or even to listen to the comedy dialog by following the story (Walken's interjections are brilliant – funny, cheesy and cool) and being a “good cop”. But don't expect to be challenged and expect the AI to leave you speechless as the crims do the dumbest things. Don’t get me wrong – this is a fun game (although not for the kids – the language is pretty bad as well as the general theme), but I was expecting something a little better thought out and tested. This could have been great if they'd spent some time making polishing the game up properly we’d have ended up with a masterpiece.

Sublime
I have never played gta apart from the old school versions from a top down perspective (those were the days), but I heard this was gonna be a poor rip off of it. To be honest it does seem to be treading on the gta territory, but True Crime really is a prime example of how incredible games are getting. I'm going to keep this short though because who wants to read some guy bang on about a video game?
-You're nick kang, a loose cannon cop guy and basically, how you act and how well you do in the game determines which story you follow over the rest of the course of the game. I think there are 4 different endings so get in the game, drive through LA (240 square miles of it..... or something ridiculous like that) and have a laugh. Attention to detail here is great, which really absorbs you into the game. I really recommend this title.