True Crime: Streets of LA

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Description

Nick Kang is a young Chinese-American detective who has been suspended from the Los Angeles Police Department due to his extreme methods of policing and his ability to cause massive amounts of damage to property. However, Wanda Parks, the Chief of the E.O.D (Elite Operations Division), requires Nick's assistance in a case that involves attacks on various venues in the Chinatown district. At first Nick is reluctant to help, preferring the vigilante life and focusing on avenging his father's death. However, he eventually agrees to conduct the investigation, on one condition: he must do it his way.

True Crime: Streets of LA is a free-roaming driving and action game similar in concept to Grand Theft Auto III. The game's structure is mission-based; most of the missions are dictated by the story and initiate following a cutscene that advances it. Failing a mission still allows the player to continue playing through the chapter and undertake subsequent missions; in some cases this will lead to branching paths and optional missions. However, in order to complete the whole chapter the player must eventually succeed in all the main missions.

Nick can hijack any car on the street (usually with little to no repercussions) and freely drive through the 240 square miles of Los Angeles. Nick is capable of firing his weapon when driving; in an open top vehicle, it is possible to aim anywhere. The player can also opt for exploring the city on foot. Nick will be frequently contacted by other police officers and informed about various street crimes. He can then fight perpetrators, arrest them, knock them unconscious, or kill them to deal with these crimes.

The gameplay during the missions is separated into third-person shooting, fighting, and (more rarely) stealth sequences. All of these usually take place in relatively small, restricted environments. The shooting sequences involve Nick dealing with waves of enemies that appear in different places. Nick must react quickly, moving, crouching, or diving (with a "bullet time" effect) to avoid enemy attacks. A limited amount of painkillers can be found in such stages.

During the fighting sequences, Nick utilizes his martial arts techniques to defeat enemies in hand-to-hand combat. Nick can punch, kick, grapple and throw enemies. The player can execute combos by pressing various combinations of buttons consecutively. It is also possible to pick up primitive melee weapons lying around, or take them from enemies. Both shooting and fighting stages have destructible environments.

Stealth missions typically involve Nick traversing a hostile area without attracting the enemies' attention; the mission is failed if an enemy hasn't been dealt with silently, or shortly after he has discovered Nick. The player has the option of killing enemies or knocking them down; the latter awards the protagonist "good cop" points. Conversely, "bad cop" points are given to Nick for killing innocents or surrendered criminals. Depending on Nick's rating in these categories, the storyline branches during later chapters, leading to different endings.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "真实犯罪：洛城街头" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)

Part of the Following Groups

• Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
• Genre: Open world / Free-roaming / Sandbox action and driving
• Green Pepper releases
• Nintendo Player's Choice releases
• PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits releases
• PlayStation 2 Platinum Range releases
• Setting: City - Los Angeles
• Snoop Dogg licensees
• Software Pyramide releases
• Theme: Law enforcement
• True Crime series
• Xbox Best of Platinum Hits releases
• Xbox Classics releases
• Xbox Platinum Hits releases

User Reviews

There are good clones and there are bad clones	Windows	SifouNaS (1326)
I didn't even know you could top Vice City!	PlayStation 2	EboMike (3120)
The GTA and Brandon Lee's fame is blended in solid action about fight of Chinese-like officer with mafia, demons, and "red threat".	Windows	POMAH (64004)
"Nick Kang In Pursuit Of Another Dumb-Ass Criminal"	Xbox	Classic Nigel (150)
GTA with more balls!	Xbox	Jason Hamilon (3)

Critic Reviews

GameStar (Germany)	Windows	Jun, 2004	78 out of 100	78
Jeuxvideo.com	Xbox	Nov 07, 2003	15 out of 20	75
Game Shark	GameCube	Nov 30, 2003	B	75
Worth Playing	Xbox	Nov 04, 2003	7.3 out of 10	73
4Players.de	Windows	Jun 24, 2004	72 out of 100	72
JeuxActu	Xbox	Nov 19, 2003	14 out of 20	70
JeuxActu	PlayStation 2	Nov 22, 2003	14 out of 20	70
GameSpot	Windows	May 25, 2004	6.3 out of 10	63
GameSpy	Windows	Jun 03, 2004		60
GameCola.net	PlayStation 2	Jun 01, 2004	5 out of 10	50

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Trivia

Crime author Robert Crais filed a lawsuit, stating that the game's lead character Nick Kang was essentially a rip-off of Elvis Cole, the ex-cop antihero that features in nine of his novels. After some weeks of negotiation with Activision, he dropped it.

Related Web Sites

• True Crime: Streets of LA (official website)
• Beginner's Guide (IMG's introduction to playing Streets of LA)
• True Crime: Streets of LA (Official Website)
• Where Even Angels Fear to Tread (An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Streets of LA (March, 2005).)