I recently picked up a copy of the PC version of True Crime: Streets of LA. In this game, you play Nick Kang, an undercover cop trying to stop a city-wide crime wave while simultaneously trying to solve his father’s murder. Over the course of the game, you attempt to complete increasingly complex missions involving fighting, shooting, driving, and general mayhem. You are also able to take on various "side-missions" should you choose. Sound familiar yet?

Well it should, because True Crime is basically a Grand Theft Auto copy(some might say rip-off, but let’s keep this nice). This time, instead of playing as a criminal, you are playing as a policeman, but there seems to be little distinction since you are still able to steal cars, attack innocent pedestrians, and engage in a multitude of other illegal activities in the course of your investigation. The only difference is that this time the police will only chase you if you REALLY go nuts.

Despite it’s extensive borrowing from GTA, True Crime is still a very impressive game. The developers(Lux of Flux/Activision) have actually managed to improve on many aspects of the GTA gameplay. Unfortunately, they also fall short in many other areas.

The Good:

• Gunplay while driving: Unlike GTA, you are able to blast away at your enemies without ever leaving the comfort of the driver’s seat. Furthermore, you can actually stop cars you are pursuing by shooting out their tires or shooting at their gas tank, causing the car to explode in a spectacular flipping fireball of metal and glass.
• The fighting system: While the True Crime fighting system is still one of the weakest parts of the game(mostly involving random button-pecking) it still blows away GTA’s punch-punch-punch method. In True Crime, you can punch, kick, and perform various special moves.
• Great soundtrack: I’m not sure exactly how many songs are on the True Crime soundtrack, but there always seemed to be some new tune popping up throughout the game, either as the background score for a fight scene or on the in-car CD player. The music is all pretty much either rap or heavy metal with artists ranging from Snoop Dog to Alice In Chains.

The Bad:

• It’s a console port: The developers basically just ported the console version over to PC, so you’ll find all the requisite problems with this method of conversion: So-so graphics, low framerates even in simple scenes, and poor controls, which brings us to the next complaint:
• Controls: When porting from the console system, the developers obviously spent very little time in perfecting the controls. If you like to play with your mouse inverted as I do, you’ll find that this setting doesn’t seem to "take" when zoom-aiming your gun. The mouse switches back to regular mode. Furthermore, there is absolutely no way to set your forward-motion key to the second mouse button. All movement controls have to be set on the keyboard, with the mouse only used for aiming.
• Driving: While the True Crime driving system is not bad, it’s just not nearly as good as GTA. The streets on the maps are mostly blocked off with annoying fences and hedges that you cannot drive through, giving the game less of an open-feel than GTA(no ramping off bridges onto rooftops either). Also, you won’t find any motorcycles or flyable-helicopters and planes in the True Crime world, just a somewhat boring collection of automobiles.

To be honest, I don’t really know exactly what makes True Crime not quite as good as Grand Theft Auto. There just seems to be some intangible quality that GTA has and True Crime lacks. …Maybe I just like playing as a criminal more than playing as a "good guy"…

Despite not living up to the near-unattainable bar that Grand Theft Auto has set for these types of games, True Crime is still an EXCELLENT game. In fact, it’s the best game I’ve played since… well Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

I HIGHLY recommend picking True Crime: Streets of LA.