First Look: True Crime 2

LOS ANGELES--On the eve of the official start to E3, Activison released the first trailer for the sequel to True Crime: The Streets of LA. After a minute-plus text-only introduction, the trailer fades from black to a long-angle shot of a shadowy figure walking down a dark alley, an automatic pistol in each hand.

The figure walks over and steps into the light. It's an African-American male, sporting cornrows, sunglasses, and a badge. Definitely another badass cop--and most definitely not Nick Kang, protagonist of the first True Crime. In case you didn't get the point, the man shoots the camera with both barrels.

Then a title card reading "True Crime" in front of a badge appears. Then the viewer is treated to a montage of this same cop dealing out some rough justice a la Vic Mackey on The Shield, and at one point he even breaks a perp's neck.

"NEW CRIME" then appears on a title card, which continues: "NEW CITY," "NEW ATTITUDE," and flashes the URL "truecrime2005.com." No subtitle is given. No city is named. No landmarks appear. No dialogue is said.

It turns out this is Marcus Reed, the gang member-turned-cop antihero of the new True Crime game. And the trailer's ambiguity is no accident. In order to promote the new True Crime, Activision is kicking off a contest on Wednesday, May 18. Called "True Crime Guess the City and Win Marcus' Ride," the contest, as you might have guessed, challenges entrants to guess what city the new game will take place in.

The grand prize is a brand-new Chrysler 300, "Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl" in color. The car is tricked out with 22-inch Asanti Wheels, Billet front grille, Lamborghini-style doors, SAVV 10.2-inch headrest monitors, Alpine AM/FM/DVD/CD player with LCD monitor, MA Audio front and rear component speakers, four-channel amp, subwoofer amp, and a 12-inch subwoofer, and Xbox video game system (not to be played while driving). Ten first-prize winners will receive a Motorola mobile phone and 10 second-prize winners will receive Puma gear.

Beginning May 18 through June 16, consumers can log on to Web site and enter the sweepstakes by voting for the crime-ridden city of their choice, as can visitors go to the Activision booth at E3 from May 18 to 20.