True Crime: Streets of LA Critic Reviews

The shooting control takes some getting used to, but stick with it and you’ll advance through a solid plot laced with a meaty hip-hop soundtrack, celebrity voices, and…drumroll…a playable Snoop Dogg! You’ll never need MapQuest in L.A. again.

Make no mistake about it, this game does not trounce, destroy, walk all over, or replace "Grand Theft Auto." It is a better game though, as it is more refined and makes a nice addition for those who like the genre and are looking for more.

Delivers its own brand of addictive free-roaming fun that’s just too clever and entertaining to put down. You’ll spend hours just going through the massive environments looking for crimes to solve and mayhem to cause yourself.

The city map that you will drive is huge. It's not just Downtown LA, but also runs you through Hollywood, Century City, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, and points in between. The city is also almost exact to scale, complete with landmarks and the entire city street grid.

The greatest strength of this Luxoflux game however is the integration of story and layers of game design into one cohesive package that's makes the whole thing flow more like an interactive movie than anything.

One of the most entertaining games I've played in a long time. It has a ton of injoke humor, action, car chases, explosions, violence, adult situations and language - it's what adult videogames are all about.

There's no denying that True Crime is really just "Grand Theft Auto" in a police uniform and a badge, but delve deeper than that and it soon becomes apparent that at its core lies a much better game.

If repetitive slaughtering of the innocent by punching a few buttons is what you're looking for, then True Crime isn't the title for you. But you other guys really can't go wrong if you're looking for an action/adventure with riveting, twisting, non-linear storyline, advanced move sets, solid graphics, and a sweet audio track.

Striking a balance between cinematic, story-based gaming and free-roaming fun is harder than most people realize, and True Crime manages to pull it off in a way that brings excitement, challenge, and even a few laughs here and there (some of the voice work, particularly that of one Mr. Walken, is priceless).

This version of L.A. is a living, breathing city where your actions have a direct bearing on immediate events and could even impact the story much further than you can possibly imagine.

Lacks the one element that really made "GTA" the phenomemon it is: It's just not cool.

Too bad it's so short, but there's plenty to do in the city of L.A. once the story is over.

I think if Luxoflux could have tightened the controls, eliminated the stupid one-liners done over and over by Nick, had a more varied soundtrack and made the game a tad bit more involving for the player they really could have had a home run here.

It's a strong, individual game and when the dust settles it'll undoubtedly be in with a shout for action title of the year. I just wish there was more of it.

The Karma system, the skill training mode and the branching storylines offered promise for what could’ve established the new standard for action titles. Unfortunately, graphical glitches, fighting issues and a breakdown with the plotline feature tarnish the game from truly being stellar.

But undeniably, Luxoflux have delivered BIG on their biggest undertaking to date, and have thus elevated True Crime: Streets of LA to sequel-worthy status.

Savvy gamers can also unlock Snoop Dogg as a playable character.

You won't spend as much time with True Crime, but that time will be spent enjoying nicer visuals and a very deep story experience, as opposed to flipping cars across parking garages.

Despite gameplay bordering on being shallow, True Crime is still very worthwhile of your time because of the experience of brings. It’s a Hollywood cop movie where you’re in the driver’s seat, and it has the acting to back you up.

A solid game that manages to be more than just a "GTA" clone. It was clearly rushed, however, and the numerous bugs and glitches drag it down to a great degree.