True Crime: Streets of LA Image
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 33 Ratings

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  • Summary: As Nick Kang, your brutal reputation and lethal skills have landed you a nasty job: heading up an undercover task force to stop the Chinese and Russian gangs from terrorizing Los Angeles. Drive, fight, and blast your way through a massive array of unpredictable missions, using stealthAs Nick Kang, your brutal reputation and lethal skills have landed you a nasty job: heading up an undercover task force to stop the Chinese and Russian gangs from terrorizing Los Angeles. Drive, fight, and blast your way through a massive array of unpredictable missions, using stealth techniques, martial arts moves, and an ask-questions-later arsenal. True Crime features a branching storyline that gives you the freedom to complete missions as you choose and face the consequences later. The hardcore streets of L.A. have met their match. Expand
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 39
  2. Negative: 1 out of 39
  1. The shooting control takes some getting used to, but stick with it and you’ll advance through a solid plot laced with a meaty hip-hop soundtrack, celebrity voices, and…drumroll…a playable Snoop Dogg! You’ll never need MapQuest in L.A. again.
  2. 90
    Striking a balance between cinematic, story-based gaming and free-roaming fun is harder than most people realize, and True Crime manages to pull it off in a way that brings excitement, challenge, and even a few laughs here and there (some of the voice work, particularly that of one Mr. Walken, is priceless).
  3. 90
    The greatest strength of this Luxoflux game however is the integration of story and layers of game design into one cohesive package that's makes the whole thing flow more like an interactive movie than anything.
  4. 80
    A solid game that manages to be more than just a "GTA" clone. It was clearly rushed, however, and the numerous bugs and glitches drag it down to a great degree.
  5. Playboy
    75
    What does this action game packed with guns, cars and crooks have that "Vice City" doesn't? The voice talent of Christopher Walken and Gary Oldman as characters, for one thing. [Oct 2003, p.37]
  6. Lacks polish and, in some cases, feels unfinished. It makes decent attempts with its different styles of gameplay, but none of them are particularly well done, and the game's storyline doesn't tie them together in a satisfying way.
  7. games(TM)
    40
    Half the game it should have been. Whoever came up with the inventive level structuring or spent months mapping LA has every reason to be furious with the lacklustre implementation of their ideas. [Christmas 2003, p.106]

See all 39 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 24
  2. Negative: 5 out of 24
  1. RavenX301
    Nov 10, 2003
    10
    P.S---WAY better then Vice City (A.K.A- way more depth)
  2. PaulI.
    Nov 11, 2003
    10
    This game is 1 of the best games ever. exceeds gta in everyway, the blowing up cars (wiv a nicely timed shot to the gas tank) the fightinThis game is 1 of the best games ever. exceeds gta in everyway, the blowing up cars (wiv a nicely timed shot to the gas tank) the fightin sequences ....everything is amazing. u have to own this game! u choose to be a bad or good cop , u choose to arrest, kill shoot or neutralize shoot ur criminals. frisk people whenever you want makes u feel that bit more like a cop! get it!! Expand
  3. Jul 6, 2023
    10
    I played this So much growing up aged well still fun 20 years later on OG Xbox!
  4. GamerBoy
    Sep 17, 2004
    8
    I like this game because it is Huge in the citys. The game has 400 miles of map witch i think is very good for a Xbox game. but they have not I like this game because it is Huge in the citys. The game has 400 miles of map witch i think is very good for a Xbox game. but they have not a very BIG database of people that walk the streets. I think the fuuny bit of this game is the way you can stop the people and check them it's cool. Also the way that nick fight it very cool, i would gave the sorryline a 7 out of 10 because it is all the same for game of this sort! and do you not think they the "game maker" so have put in better car or for all those gta loavers out there a honda V1 bike I like this game in the whole but they may have to edit bits for the next True Crime game Thanks, GAMERBOY Expand
  5. ChrisB
    Jan 28, 2005
    6
    True Crime was one of the first games I got for Xbox. It's clearly meant to be a GTA-killer - it has many of the same gameplay elements. True Crime was one of the first games I got for Xbox. It's clearly meant to be a GTA-killer - it has many of the same gameplay elements. The problem is execution. Where GTA and GTA-VC feel like very "solid", with seamless passage between driving and on foot action, True Crime feels awkward in both. The cars don't handle well, and the fighting is more geared towards fans of fighting games. There are special moves and combos and things like that. The missions themselves are very run of the mill, and are direct ripoffs from Grand Theft Auto - kill this guy, drive across town in a certain amount of time, etc etc, but True Crime is completely devoid of the humor or originality that some of the missions in Grand Theft Auto game possess. It's also a lot shorter than any of the previous GTA games. One thing that's pretty good about True Crime is the enormous map. It's HUGE. Most of LA is in this game. It's not as impressive now that GTA San Andreas has come out, but True Crime deserves credit for the being the first game of it's kind to have a game world this big. It's a shame the huge city isn't used more by the game. The other problem is that there isn't a whole lot going on. True Crime's city doesn't seem to have as much "life" to it as Grand Theft Auto series games do. There are random crimes that you can choose to help solve, but there isn't a big variety of them at all, and they're pretty boring once you've done a few. While I didn't experience any of the crash bugs that other people have, I did find a few cutscene bugs (the wrong cutscene playing for example). All in all, it's a shoddy GTA rip off, and your much better served picking up ANY of the GTA games if you want this type of game, especially GTA: San Andreas. Expand
  6. HolleH.
    May 18, 2004
    5
    Fighting scenes are good but driving are not so great as in GTA series and shooting scenes are stupid and music sucks against Vice City.
  7. Adam
    Mar 16, 2004
    1
    Firstly I finished this game in 3 nights, and 1 night was spent trying to get my status from bad cop back to good cop, it was just crap they Firstly I finished this game in 3 nights, and 1 night was spent trying to get my status from bad cop back to good cop, it was just crap they spouted about having an option of being either of these as you cannot complete the game fully without being good. The game crashed relentlessly, my hand brake would lock on occasionally. There are very few different crimes to assist in which gets very tedious. Coupled with a bizarre nonsensical storyline and no repeat gameplay, this was and remains my biggest disappointment in an Xbox title and I've owned a few stinkers. The game was far too easy, I finished the last portion of the game without stopping or saving. LA is mundane to drive around in, most of the map is pointless some of my time was spent repeatedly failing at getting across town in time for a needless mission. Do the right thing, avoid it, or trade yours in after a week like I did. Expand

See all 24 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

57
23
#23 Most Discussed Xbox Game of 2003
25
#25 Most Shared Xbox Game of 2003