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True Crime: Streets of LA (2003 Video Game)

The "True Crime" was paying full-price for this piece of crap

[17 March 2004]

Some comments already referred to this game ripping off GTA, and that's basically its only appeal. It's missing a lot of the things that made GTA great, though. The radio only plays rap music, there's no humor, you only get one gun (unless you kill somebody and take theirs, but then it's only until it runs out of ammunition--then you lose it), and the story is really lame and hackneyed (so are GTA's, but there the references are at least tongue-in-cheek). Also, the game was pretty clean-cut and had this stupid Karma system that punishes you for breaking the law. "He's a cop. He's supposed to always obey the law." Well, ok, but that makes for a really horrible game premise. The whole thing seemed a lot like Activision was trying to capture the GTA market while avoiding the backlash from religious groups and over-the-edge "WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN??" housewives that Rockstar received for their games. Unfortunately what resulted was a huge piece of boring, bug-filled **** that was just barely interesting enough to let the plastic on the Vice City CD cool off for a week.