The art of graffiti never looked so good.
The protagonist is Coltrane Crowley AKA Trane, whose main objective is the get his name out. To go from being a toy banger to full fledged All City King. This is no easy task as Trane must contend with law enforcement, and a rival tagging crew called the Vandals of New Radius (New Radius is the fictitious setting that the story takes place in--I know, I think the name sucks too). The story winds up taking a more sinister turn when government cover ups enter the narrative, creating an engrossing storyline that delivers plot twists, but not at the expense of gameplay.
Graphically, the game does not disappoint. The graphics and scenery look well textured. The city's drab urban decayed look is actually what helps the game in the area of believability. The game just wouldn't look good if New Radius looked more like Vice City.
Gameplay has some issues. The controls are a bit wonky. When you want Trane to climb up on something, sometimes he doesn't. If you want Trane to go right, he'll move up or left. So, the controls take some getting used to.
The highlight of the story is of course, the tagging. The tags look beautiful and well illustrated. There are a multitude of method used for hitting up turf. This includes markers, spray cans, posters, wheat pasting. and murals. When applying a tag, the player has a time limit. The player is rewarded for getting the tag up without drips (nasty drips), if the tag is big, within the time limit, and if the tag is in a hard to reach spot.
While the story is air tight for the greater part of the game, the game's ending is a real let down. It seems rushed and anticlimatic. The game is considerably long, so after going through the entirety of the story mission, it's kind of a bummer to see a new character jammed into the narrative and to see the conclusion rushed. It felt like the writers (namely Ecko) couldn't think of an ending and just hackneyed one together at the last minute. Plus, there's no credits--well, there are credits, but you don't get to see them at the end of the game, you can watch them in the options menu. How weak is that?
The voice overs are done very well. Initially, I was a bit skeptical about Talib Kweli voicing Trane. Hey, I like the guy as a rapper, but I wasn't too sure about his acting. Well, he didn't disappoint. The music is great and captures the raw feeling of Hip Hop culture from an underground perspective--free of all the superficial "bling-bling" nonsense.
There is a moderate degree of replay value with this game. The game is fun and offers a lot in the gameplay mechanics, which includes stealth (but in all honesty, it could've been beefed up a little more). Get the game, cause now it's $19.99. You won't be disappointed (except for the ending).