Just played "True Crime" and even though its most obvious inspiration from a gaming point of view is the ever popular "Grand Theft Auto" series. From a movie point of view, this action title seems to be a throwback to those wildly absurd, but oh so entertaining martial-arts thrillers from the 1990's.
Like Dirty Harry, the lead character, Nick Kang, voiced by Russell Wong ("Romeo Must Die") is a cop who doesn't play by the rules. He was raised in Japan, where he and his younger brother learned the martial-arts. His father, also cop from LA, was killed in the line of duty under mysterious circumstances. The police department still wonders, was he a dirty cop?
With a little help of his unwanted new partner, voiced by Michelle Rodriguez, and an old timer who knew his dad, voiced by Christopher Walken (where have he heard this before), Nick is determined to solve the mystery and avenge his father's death. But in order to this, he must survive both the Triads and Russian mob, who seem to up to something fishy in the streets of LA.
Unfortunately, midway through, the story pulls a 180 and starts to involve the supernatural that's right out of "Big Trouble in Little China". It doesn't mix with the rest of the story and seems a bit contrived. Still, as a gaming expierence, I enjoyed this title, although it's a bit brief. It involves a little bit of everything action-oriented, although it doesn't tower over the competition in any of the genre it delves in
Wong's cliched cop reminded me of the Brandon Lee character from "Showdown in Little Tokyo" and the areas in which build up your fighting skills in various dojos seemed right out of Jeff Speakman's "The Perfect Weapon". I loved the fight sequences in this game, more so than the "Max Payne"-esque shooting segments, which are also fun. Dozens of firearms and melee weapons are up for the taking and the indoor enviroments are fully destructable.
The "drive anywhere, doing anything" aspect from "Grand Theft Auto" is a bit limited, but is entertaining. You can play as good cop or bad cop, though I wish there was more variety to the random crime acts that occur. Also, the "choose your own adventure" branching storylines is welcomed and I also liked the soundtrack, which was appropriate, given that LA is a mecca of hip hop culture.
Still, as a whole, the game isn't up to the standard of Rockstar's "Max Payne" and "Grand Theft Auto" franchises. Few games are, but I felt this game was too short and the Chinese ghost story twist in the middle, was, well it was bad. But, its a hit with American gamers and I can see why, since I am one. I do hope the sequel is better and more worthy of a purchase. As far as this title goes, I think you should rent it before you buy.
I'd give it two and a half stars out of four. Not bad, but not really good, it's just fun.
