dyaballikl's Review of NARC

Great story, acting and concept, with mediocre execution

User Rating: 7.1 | NARC PS2

By dyaballikl | Review Date: April 29, 2005

NARC, being only $20, is a good value, but you really get what you pay for. NARC is so loaded with bugs, that I actually lost a controller to the game (those of you who also have anger management issues know what I'm talking about). You'll see missions where it just glitches up and won't progress, or you'll see a lot of people pass through walls, you'll try to attack a criminal, but accidentally attack an innocent civilian, just thousands of little things, getting very annoying. But don't get me wrong, this game is fun. I'm in the police academy and this game probably hasn't done me any good, but I did enjoying living on the bad side for the few short hours this game lasted. It's fun to do the drugs and battle the addiction, and also to bust people for their looks with no p.c. (probable cause). Of course, I'll never get away with any of this in real life, but it's fun in the game. Another high point worth mentioning is the great voice acting. The cast includes Bill Bellamy (big in the 90s on MTV Beach House and The Bill Bellamy show), Micheal Madsen (Sin City, Kill Bill 1 and 2, and many others), Ron Perlman (Hell Boy, Blade 2, others), George Cheung (Starsky and Hutch), André Sogliuzzo (has done voices in many big name video games including Star Wars Kotor 2, Everquest 2, Doom 3, and Final Fantasy X), and Michael Wincott (Alien Resurrection, The Crow),. There is also pretty good music in the game, although it can get repetitive. Unfortunately, along with the bugs, NARC isn't visually impressive. Featuring graphics that would have belonged on a first run PS2 or Xbox game, the $20 price tag seems a bit more understandable. However, there are 3 or 4 short CGI scenes that look pretty decent, but those make up only about 2 minutes of the whole game. The fighting is ok in the game, you actually get a decent amount of attacks, ranging from shooting, rifle butting the suspect, punching, kicking, stradling the suspect then punching and pummeling them, and throwing them and using special marine moves when you've charged them enough. You also get to handcuff suspects, although it takes a little time, especially later on in the game. There are only two environments in the game, USA and China, although each feature a fairly large free-roaming environment with no load times between areas. The game could definitely be longer though, you'll probably be left a bit unfulfilled by the end. On the flip side, some of the missions feel like they become repetitive. So, NARC might be a game to buy, if you would like to expand your collection for only $20, but odds are, you won't play this one twice. If you've played most of the good games in Blockbuster, you should probably check this one out, though.

NARC

Great story, acting and concept, with mediocre execution

Pretty good

ultimately fun & over the top. definitely not as bad as it was made out to be.