We like senseless vandalism and all, but this game could just as easily be painted over.
graphics are alright. no worse than GTA III, not all that polished compared to the stuff coming out today. GTA had an excuse for not looking that great, it was massive. this game isn't massive. we like graffiti, but this game is an eyesore.
music is alright. hip hop isn't our thing, but the quality is just fine as is the voice acting.
controls are a little tricky for the PC, this game was noticeably intended for console.
the gameplay tries to be varied for a linear game. couple different things. the fighting is alright, standard beat'em up style. can't complain about that. the acrobatic stuff is a little tedious, leaping around. eh... it's what one would expect out of tomb raider, that ledge hugging shimmy stuff.
though the heart and soul of the gameplay depends on tagging... and that gets old real quick. rocking the directional keys back and forth as tran sprays his way from one level to the next isn't much fun. it's not an optional thing either, you have to spray junk or you don't continue on to the next map.
been reading that this game gets compared to the GTA series, we guess that'd be accurate thematically. in terms of gameplay, this is no tony hawk gta sandbox, this is pretty clear cut liner "yo homeboy, spray four tags on this wall to earn +15 rep points" kinda gameplay. it's closer to manhunt in terms of freedom... and if one has played manhunt one knows there isn't *that* much freedom. at least in manhunt one was committing murder, not playing coloring book with the side of a building.
the tag mechanic is just too tedious to be fun and too persistent to ignore. it isn't challenging, but it slows down the pace of the game to a crawl.
the story seems mildly interesting, but all the real graffiti artists endorsing it seems lame. love all that anti-corporate, politically & socially ironic propaganda, but these artists have their own clothing lines now... they represent corporations. pretty... goofy...
guess we'll have to wait for a game that represents the flip side, where you get to play as the totalitarian system of oppression. that's got gameplay potential.