The only crime here is the release of this game..
User Rating: 4.7 | True Crime: Streets of LA XBOX
Call me late for this review, but I decided to wait about 2 years before I picked up this title. Thankfully, I picked it up for 8 bucks. But even for 8 dollars, I am feeling a little dissapointed. True Crime is basically a rushed rip of grand theft auto. I am not saying I hate the game because it tries to be grand theft auto, I am saying I hate the game because it fails to polish every single element of gameplay. Everything from the driving mechanics, the gunplay, the targeting system, the movement, the missions, and so on and so forth are all downright ATROCIOUS!!! The game starts off ok with some well thought humor and great voice acting by the famous Christopher Walken. However, after the game introduces all it's elements, you'll wonder how this game ever made it through testing without a laugh at it's badly done parts.Let me just list the bad and good to make this simpler. THE BAD: 1. Your character runs really goofy and often switches to a slower running stance for no reason whatsoever. 2. The targeting system requires about 4 hands manually, and always targets the wrong guy automatically. Targeting with a thumbstick couldnt be worse. 3. The humor grows old quick. It becomes difficult to enjoy intense situations with your chracter saying things like "Lets hit the road Jack..umm.. I mean Nick" and other dumb stuff that shouldnt be said while russian terrorists are attempting to gun you down while in a moving van. 4.Instead of giving you the ability to weild different weapons and purchase more ammo for them, you can only use your default pistols or, for a short period of time, use an enemys dropped weapon. After an enemy weapon runs out of ammo, it dissapears into oblivion and you never get the chance to become a postal grenade launcher weilding maniac on command like in gta. 5.The storyline. If it wasn't broken up into 300 load screens every 5 seconds followed by the need to drive for 20 minutes to reach the next local, it would be much easier to understand. 6.The combat system. The hand to hand fighting is supposed to have depth, but when you find the way to win, it's usually randomly mashing buttons on your controller. There are neat portions where you can perfrom a special move if your opponent is stunned, but you have to mash buttons to get them stunned. Lame. 7.Driving. If anything, the game seems to make the city huge to make up for everything else being bad, thus a lot of driving is involved. However, nothing in the city is noteworthy or interesting to look at and the driving feels like you are controlling an RC car in your driveway, oh wait, RC cars are more fun. 8.The game throws in some celebrities for voice talent, but it's wasted on dry humor and uninteresting cutscenes. Christopher Walken is the only plus in the voice department and Michelle Rodriguez is cast as some rarely seen police detective. If you want Rodriguez, watch her movies, don't play this game. 9. The ability to play as Snoop Dogg. I admit, it's a great concept, but he controls and feels as glitchy as the main character Nick. The only reason worth playing as him is to enjoy his darker humor, which is actually funny. 10. The overall package. I'd like this game a lot more, but it just hits you with glitches, bad camera angles, horrible controls, and moment after moment of uninteresting gameplay elements. Overall, nothing is done right and the game suffers from this. THE GOOD: 1. Christopher Walken. 2. Like Spiderman 2, there is always something to do because crime is random. 3. It's a temporary fix to crave your need for open ended gameplay if your friends are borrowing your Grand Theft Auto's, Morrowind, NARC(which is actually better I must say), or any other free roamer. My Final Thought: Lets hope that True Crime 2 will be good. I see a lot of potential for improvement and a truly spectacular game. 
