move over S.W.A.T. there's a new arm of the PD and its got a no nonsense way of "negotiating" .
The story takes place around a gang war between the local PD and a gang known as "the burners". you play nick mason a member of the police's brand new gang warfare unit called "t zero" (obviously standing for tolerance -zero). the games story takes several unique twist and turns without feeling predictable or slow.
the game play consists of using assorted weapons ranging from pistols, rifles, explosives, and a tazer and riot shield to do a large number of escort quests and enemy clearing scenarios. the games use of the shield and tazer are so well done they alone make the weapon list amazing, the shields persistent damage and the ability to paralyze people with the tazer or bash with the shield make them the most innovative weapon in a console game in a long time. very often levels end in a standoff with a hostage situation. you use the shield to block and then fire in the bullet time intervals.
the game is free of quick time events, and the taunting enemies are an amazing change of pace from the: foreign language mercenaries, and the silent voiceless generic henchmen you typically find in other games, hearing "I'm gonna burn your whole f@cking family" from an enemy is reason enough to make him choke back on a bullet. the game has lots of unlockables and they all require use of a particular weapon or method of victory to obtain.
multiplayer isn't its strong suit and is often nothing more than a 3 second trigger finger showdown on a very tiny field reminding me a lot of the old shogo: MAD multiplayer. so id avoid this topic completely as its not even available for the ps2 edition.
no game however, is free of its problems and here they are: the games difficulty curve is almost impossible to notice as generally they all resort to the same tactics anyway. the games constant abuse of the standoff sequence can get annoying and its storyline though well put together treats the whole atmosphere and situation with kit gloves as it tries not to make it seem as dark as some would like it, its a bit like a power rangers storyline minus the over the top action and stereotype characters.
so in the end this is a brilliant singleplayer experience with lots of game time in it, but poor multiplayer and rehashed mechanics keep it from perfection.