True Crime: New York City

by ACTIVISION

Product Features

• Patrol the streets to deal with all the crimes a New York cop sees -- from domestic abuse calls to gang shootouts
• Find people you can extract information from, and use it to go after the crime lords who rule the city's underworld
• Expansive melee combat with multiple options -- make Marcus a street-brawler or teach him karate
• Dangerous situations involving multiple NPCs -- avoid shooitng fellow officers and innocent bystanders or you'll become a fugitive
• Your actions will affect each of NYC's districts - The environments will change drastically to showcase the current crime level

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0009Z3HYM
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,731 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: GameCube | Edition: Standard

From the Manufacturer

Wield the ultimate power as a rogue street cop in New York City. You are Marcus Reed, a former criminal turned cop, using and abusing your authority to hunt down the murderer of your mentor while cleaning up the 'hoods of New York City, from Harlem to Chinatown. Your undercover investigation leads you through a murderous web of gangs and deceit as you battle crooks, your past, and everything else the city can throw at you.

Features:

• Street-cop life: bust criminals, take down foreign and local gangs, search and seize, extort, interrogate, and dispense justice your way--by the book or indulge in the temptations of the job.
• Rule New York City: free-roaming authentic neighborhoods, GPS-accurate streets and subways, landmark buildings, and countless interiors.
• Dynamic environments: Unprecedented environmental gameplay--use ovens, stoves, machines, coolers, pots, pans, chairs, or anything else you can grab to pound enemies. Virtually every aspect of each city block--including people, streets, and buildings--reacts and changes based on your "law enforcement" decisions and ability to combat crime.
• High-speed shoutouts: Race through the streets of New York in shootouts! Pull-off stunts with motorcycles, sports, cars, trucks, buses, and more.
• Brutal combat styles: switch fighting styles on the fly from street fighting to a variety of martial arts modes, opening up an array of moves and strategies to take down enemies.
• Heavy weaponry: use high-powered police-issue weaponry, bats, swords, and other melee weapons, or obtain black market arms like flamethrowers, grenade launchers, and more.

Product Description

Wield the ultimate power as a rogue street cop in New York City. You are Marcus Reed a former criminal turned cop using and abusing your authority to hunt down the murderer of your mentor while cleaning up the 'hoods of New York City from Harlem to Chinatown. Your undercover investigation leads you through a murderous web of gangs and deceit as you battle crooks your past and everything else the city can throw at you.Features Street Cop Life: Bust criminals take down foreign and local gangs search and seize extort interrogate and dispense justice your way - by the book or indulge in the temptations of the job. Rule New York City: Free-roaming authentic neighborhoods GPS-accurate streets and subways landmark buildings and countless interiors. Dynamic Environments: Unprecedented environmental gameplay - use ovens stoves machines coolers pots pans chairs or anything else you can grab to pound enemies. Virtually every aspect of each city block - including people streets and buildings - reacts and changes based on your "law enforcement" decisions and ability to combat crime. High-Speed Shootouts: Race through the streets of New York in shootouts! Pull off stunts with motorcyles sports cars trucks buses and more. Brutal Combat Styles: Switch fighting styles on the fly from street fighting to a variety of marial arts modes opening up an array of moves and strategies totake down enemies. Heavy Weapons: Use high-powered police issue weaponry bats swords and other melee weapons or obtain black market arms like flamethrowers grenade launchers and more.Format: GAMECUBE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: M - Mature UPC: 047875810099 Manufacturer No: 81009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "It's Raining Lead On Jesus!", August 18, 2006

By 

A. Estes (Maine) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: True Crime: New York City (Video Game)

There is nothing quite as satisfying at the end of a long, difficult day, than to come home, turn on the TV, fire up whichever gaming console you prefer (in this case, Nintendo Gamecube) and beat-on/shoot-up any pedestrian you come across. "True Crime: New York City" may have a plot, but that's irrelevant. You know damn well you're only buying this game because there is something morbidly amusing about shooting innocent civilians and crashing expensive cars. Does that make you a bad person? No, it's just plain fun.

In this game, the sequel to "True Crime: Streets Of L.A." you play officer Marcus Reed, in a rather cliche plot that has you avenging the death of your partner and busting drug-dealers who would otherwise be your friends. The game itself is actually quite fun, and the story does move rather fluidly -- my favorite part being a scenario where you have to escape a mental hospital with the aid of Beetlejuice, he of the "Howard Stern Show" fame. However, if you don't care to follow a plot and just commit random acts of violence, there is plenty to do here. I for one enjoy tracking down an arsonist and stealing his flamethrower. In the sea of "Grand Theft Auto" clones, this is possibly the best available -- and if you own the Gamecube, it's the only game of it's kind available, really.

Now, despite the guilty pleasure this game delivers, there are a few flaws worth mentioning. First off, the freezing. During gameplay, the game likes to freeze up at random moments, so make sure you save often. Also, the graphics are a little weak at times, with your view being obscured all too often (it would help if at nighttime, there were headlights for your car). But overall, it's a good game that is easy to pick up from time to time. With lots to do, a great soundtrack (featuring the likes of Danzig, Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth, among others) and great voice acting (Christopher Walken!!) it's hard not to like this game.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun game!, August 27, 2006

By 

Sam Fisherman "Sam" (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: True Crime: New York City (Video Game)

If you own a GameCube, you must get True Crime New York City. It's the next best thing to Grand Theft Auto Vice City and San Andreas. If you don't have a Playstation 2 then this is your only alternative. But it's not too shabby with a vast city to prowl around in and lots of action. You can play as good cop or a bad cop. This game, in my opinion, is highly underrated. It improves upon an already great game in True Crimes Streets of L.A. You can't miss with this one!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The sequal we were all waiting for., January 28, 2006

By 

Eric R. Hollander - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: True Crime: New York City (Video Game)

True Crime: New York City is the long awaited "sequel" to True Crime: Streets of LA (TC:SoLA). This time around, the game takes place in New York City (as the name of the game clearly indicates). If you're new to the True Crime series, you take the role of a police officer and have to solve crime related cases in an attempt to uncover parts of your past and avenge the death of someone close to you (once you get to play the game, you'll notice it's not as simple and monotonous as it sounds). You get to drive a vehicle (motorbikes are now available) around all of New York City, going from one case location to another, or simply solving random street crimes. You also get missions that involve shooting your way through a building, or simply fighting some guy until you can apprehend him/her.


Story (9/10)

You take control of Marcus Reed, a New York Police Department officer (Hence the disclaimer that comes with the box stating that the game isn't affiliated to the real NYPD). He grew up in a tough neighborhood, and was later rescued and joined the police. However, after witnessing something that impacts his life, he must question himself as to whether he wants to be a good cop or a bad cop while he tries to reveal the persons responsible for what he witnessed. It sounds a bit cliche, but it works for the game.

This time around the story isn't as lineal as TC:SoLA. The useless chapter system has been removed, and this time you'll get to choose the order in which you play the three major cases (There are actually four major cases, the first one being completely obligatory, plus an Intro and a Conclusion act), each with a variety of different sub-cases. If you fail a case (mission), you get the chance to repeat it or to continue on and later turn to the assistance of one of your informants to get the information you were supposed to get if you had passed the mission. So, you won't stray much from the main storyline.

Additionally, you can also spend time participating in Street Races to earn some extra cash (This time everything is bought with cash), taking advantage of the occasion to arrest the persons responsible for the illegal Street Race. Fight Arenas are also a new element in this game, although they are not much important.


Gameplay (9/10)

As I mentioned before, this game is mainly about driving through New York City, and having fun as you do so. Of course, while you are at this you'll have to solve street crimes if you want to clean the precincts (And if you don't solve them, the crime rate of that precinct and the neighboring ones will go up). Occasionally you'll be notified of a major street crime, which are more complex than ordinary street crimes. A variety of vehicles is at your disposal, which you can either "confiscate" for your temporary personal use, or buy at a car dealership or at the police headquarters. If you decide to buy one, it'll be added to your car inventory, and you can make it magically appear at the police headquarters or at any of the police boots throughout the city. There's one funny thing I've noticed. You buy your police car at your headquarters, assuming that it is a police car. However, you've got to pay some extra cash if you want to add the turret (thing with the red and blue lights) and add a siren to it. This kind of makes you wonder why it was considered a police car at all when you bought it. If your car gets damaged, you'll also have to pay to have it repaired.

New York is a big city. That's why you can grab a taxi cab or take the subway to get quickly (almost instantaneously) from one part of the city to another. Again, this isn't free of charge. You've got to arrest criminals and solve cases to earn points, which you later cash in at your headquarters. Solving crimes also awards you with job promotions; you can strive to become a first grade detective, which gets you better weapons, cars, and moves.

Shooting missions are quite fun, as long as you've got the proper guns. You can buy guns, each suitable for a certain situation, and they will be added to your inventory. However, if you run out of ammo, you'll need to go to the trunk of your (as in bought) vehicle to get more ammo. Guns you cannot carry due to your personal inventory being full will also be stored in the trunk of your car.

The biggest thing that improves the gameplay over that of the TC:SoLA is the ability to enter buildings. You now will be able to enter some of the buildings (Not all of them) to solve crimes or simply take a stroll. There are music and liquor stores, pharmacies, hotels, men's clubs (I'm not lying), and other different types of buildings that benefit from this ability.

The only bad thing about the gameplay is the controls. The least used button of the controller in most games is the annoying Z button. Guess what? It is one of the most used buttons in this game. The worst thing is that you are not able to change the configuration of the controls, so you'll be stuck with it. Even the programming for the game went wrong with the controls, since the manual clearly states that the down button of the d-pad is the one used to sound the horn, but in reality the horn is sounded by pressing the same button that changes the song you are listening to. Activision commented that it was a slight mistake. The response of the controls while driving also is not good, but that should not keep you from enjoying driving.


Graphics/Sounds (8/10)

The game does have very good graphics. In fact, if you had the chance to play TC:SoLA, you will immediately notice the superiority of those in NYC. While walking, you can take the time to appreciate the detail of most of the buildings and other landmarks. However, the same does not apply to while driving. One of the biggest problems of this game is the low framerate. After playing for a while, you'll notice how the game becomes very slow, and thus distorts the beautiful graphics of the game. This is an awful thing because it makes you think that the graphics of the game are not that good looking. Remember how in Streets of L.A. your license plate had your file's name? Well, this time it does not happen, since the plates are unreadable. Some things, like what I previous mentioned, were sacrificed in order to add detail to the graphics of other elements.

In the sound apartment, the game offers the ability to buy songs in Music Stores scattered throughout the city. However, this all comes down to personal taste. The game offers Metal/Punk, Alternative, Hip Hop, Rock, and Club/Dance music. The game does have some cool songs, while others are simply horrible. Thanks to the options menu, we can customize our preferences so that those songs are never heard again. You can also assign different ranks to the songs, so that some play more often than others. These songs can be listened to while driving.


Playtime/Replayability (10/10)

New York is a big city, which means that this game gets a lot of playtime and replayability. You'll spend a lot of time trying to clean up the precincts, solving random crimes, and driving from one place to another. Even after you've finished the game, you can still keep on solving street crimes much to your pleasure. In conclusion, this is one game that you won't get tired of after beating it, and you can play at any time, be it for a short or long time.


Glitches (0/10)

Glitches isn't normally a category to include in a review, but with a game such as glitchy as this one, you've got to state it somewhere (and I did not want to include it in the gameplay category). There are glitches in True Crime: New York City. If you want to compare it with Streets of LA, there are definitely more glitches in NYC. I don't know if it was due to poor coding of the developers, or if this game just skipped the testing/debugging part of its production.

Some of the glitches are insignificant, and you probably won't notice them unless you are actually trying to uncover them. However, the big glitches aren't rare. If you play this game often, I assure you that you'll encounter at least one of them each couple of days. They vary, from completely freezing the game, to not being able to enter buildings. You'll learn to save the game often if you want to keep your progress in case one of these glitches occurs. It's a shame that such a great game can be affected so much for having tons of glitches.

Oh, and GameCube owners beware, I've seen various persons complaining because the game corrupted all the data of their Memory Card. A suggestion: Use an empty Memory Card to save this game, or one that contains data that you no longer use or need. If you simply can't stand games with glitches, then this game isn't for you.


Difficulty (10/10)

This game isn't a very difficult one. However, you can manually alter the difficulty of the game by getting/not getting the different upgrades that you can acquire. For example, if you buy Rank 1 guns, you'll do much more damage to your opponents than if you use Rank 4 guns. So, if the game is too difficult for you, be sure to buy the best weapons and upgrades, but if you want a challenging game, then don't buy the upgrades.

Final Recommendation

Although True Crime: New York City does have some bad aspects, it is really a good game, and most important of all, a fun game. This is one game you will not get tired of. If you played and liked True Crime: Streets of LA, then this game is a must have. However, if you have played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, then you might be a bit disappointed with this game, since it does not surpass San Andreas. But for the GameCube, it is the closest game to GTA that you'll get. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that this game is a GTA clone. True Crime has a different gameplay and is a game you should definitely try out. My score: 8/10

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