True Crime: New York City – GC – Review

When True
Crime: Streets of LA was released, it was one of the few ways GameCube
gamers could experience – in a small way, anyway – the
free-roaming-do-what-you-want-on-foot-or-on-wheels gameplay made popular by the
Grand Theft Auto series. While It wasn’t a bad game it wasn’t a true
GTA clone either, but Activision hoped to change that with its sequel. True
Crime: New York City for the GameCube has you cleaning up the various streets of
NYC.

Much like
Grand Theft Auto: San Andrea, Streets of LA wasn’t a serious take on
the city of Los Angeles even though its various streets were GPS-accurate down
to the most obscure little streets in Downtown LA. New York City, on the
other hand, covers a lot of the city from Hell’s Kitchen to lower Manhattan and
that’s saying a lot right there. The streets of NYC are alive with pedestrians,
the majority of them walking stereotypes (the major stereotype being that all
New Yorkers are often flipping each other the bird and yelling profanity in
their “native” tongue). There are taxicabs everywhere and the police are
overwhelmed by the crime in the city.

You play
Detective Marcus Reed who, in the beginning of the game, was a gangster thug who
just so happened to have had a guardian angel watching his back … a guardian
angel with a badge, actually. Determined to set himself straight, Reed joins the
NYPD but there’s an unresolved problem that rears its ugly head. It seems that
Reed’s family friend and father figure is killed during a mysterious run inside
an old building. Determined to find who was behind his friend’s death leads him
into the criminal underworld he was once familiar with long ago. Worse yet the
events could have something to do with Reed’s crime lord father who is behind
bars.

After a brief
training run and an introductory level, Reed is free to explore the massive city
on his own and much like Streets of LA you can “commandeer” any vehicle
that happens to be parked or dumb enough to stop in front of you. NYC’s streets
are packed and you’ll encounter an assortment of vehicles from SUVs to
motorcycles. Like the first game, you’ll also hear of random crimes that occur
throughout the game and you can choose to respond to them or ignore them
completely and head for a main objective. The good cop/bad cop ranking is back
so every crime you commit leads you on the path of a dirty cop. You can even
shake down storeowners, extort money from bad guys and accept bribes in return
for sweet freedom. Unlike the first game, though, you can enter various locales
like restaurants, clubs, stores and hotels.

The small petty
crimes that occur while exploring have you breaking up a fight between
restaurant waiters fighting over a tip or catching a serial rapist. Domestic
violence disputes have you going into the apartment room and making arrests
while stolen vehicle reports have you chasing down the carjackers. Reed’s
mission, though, is the only way to advance the story and your quest will have
you consorting with an FBI agent to a number of other figures including a Madam.
The story is the game’s biggest strength and unlike the first game it doesn’t
stray into the world of the supernatural.

The good cop/bad
cop choices add more depth and variety. If you go the bad cop route, you can
arrest a suspect, confiscate the evidence and choose to sell it in certain
places. You can walk into a store, grab the storeowner and press your gun to
their temple to extort money from them. There’s even an extortion meter with
choices on how to get money from the storeowner. Knock a suspect down until
they’re barely clinging to their strength and you can ram their heads on the
pavement for a little excessive force.

Unfortunately,
all the first game’s weaknesses are back and some have even gotten worst.
Whether you’re grabbling with a suspect or slapping the cuff on them the game’s
glitches will often have you grabbing at air. Sometimes even suspects disappear
completely during skirmishes or you’ll be handcuffing an invisible suspect.
Targeting your gun is still handled poorly so you’ll be thankful for the
precision aim feature you can upgrade. Driving is still not as smooth as it
should be and sometimes hitting other cars on accident leads to the other
vehicles falling to pieces or the driver will somehow eject from his or her seat
and die instantly. You can always take a cab to certain locations but what’s the
fun in that?

New York City
is not a
bad-looking game when it comes to rendering the city in all its glory. The
buildings will seem familiar in some places but it looks and feels like the Big
Apple. Yet when the game gets to the vehicles and characters that’s where the
game starts to look a bit on the awful side. My biggest gripe, however, is the
game’s framerate that drops to an annoying twitch. Oftentimes things or people
will pop up in the most unlikely places and the game will flash halves of
buildings.

At least the
game’s sound offers some relief from the so-so graphics thanks to a great
assortment of tunes that have a wide range of musical genres from alternative to
good hip-hop. What other game mixes in Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the
Reaper” with Bobby Womack’s ghetto classic “Across 110^th Street?” The
voice acting, provided by some talented actors like Christopher Walken (from
“Pulp Fiction” fame), Mickey Rourke (from “Sin City” fame) and Laurence Fishbone
(from “The Matrix” fame). The voice acting works well but some of the dialogue
just doesn’t sound right. The sound effects are decent but nothing to write home
about. Then again, when it comes to car crashes this game does it right.

True Crime:
New York City
is a game that could have been a great GameCube substitute for the Grand
Theft Auto series but it falls flat thank to some serious glitches. It’s a
game that is still better than Streets of LA but with so many problems I
really don’t see a purchase – unless you can ignore these annoyances. A rental
is certainly in order, though.

Gameplay: 6.5
The game is
plagued with enough bugs that it breaks up the game’s otherwise decent flow.
Movement is hindered by awkward controls and often times you’ll be slapping
cuffs on invisible perps. The good cop/bad cop element is back and better than
ever but driving is still just as bad as Streets of LA.

Graphics: 5.5
New York City
as a whole doesn’t look as bad on the GameCube and there are plenty of details
to make the Big Apple look alive. The characters look a bit odd and the cars are
not as easy on the eyes as they should be but at least high-speed crashes look
gruesome. The framerate drops considerably and there are visual stutters and
“phantom” sign posts that pop on screen.

Sound: 8.5
A massive song
list has everything from good hip-hop (Run DMC and Redman) to an assortment of
even better rock tunes (The Ramones and Iggy Pop and the Stooges). The sound
effects are even more detailed than the visuals and there’s some good voice
acting from actors Christopher Walken and Laurence Fishburne.

Difficulty:
Medium
The game’s
biggest challenge is wrestling with the camera and targeting that often has you
grappling at nothing. If it wasn’t for the precise aiming feature you’ll
probably shoot innocent bystanders. The kung fu in the game is helpful against
multiple opponents and there are times when enemies will try to overwhelm you.

Concept: 7.0
Like the real
Big Apple, there’s a lot to see and do and you can even walk into various
buildings within a block. The good/bad cop routine allows you to extort shop
owners and the story isn’t half-bad. Like the first game, there’s a nice secret
to unlock. You can even get a haircut like Mr. T’s.

Overall: 6.9
Despite its
various faults, True Crime: New York City is a slightly more enjoyable
game than the first offering. The series is still weighed down by its poor
driving and shooting parts but compared to Streets of LA the game has its share
of really fun moments worthy of a weekend rental.