If you've bled GTA dry, Nick Kang’s outing in LA will do you nicely.
You play as a witty, if somewhat cocky, loose cannon cop by the name of Nick Kang. The story’s pretty primitive at first, but then your hit with a host of strange, and in some cases, disturbing scenes, which, in a way make it unique, but at the same time, some are simply unnecessary. The game takes a strange path, as there’s a line of missions, and then two other lines coming off it. You must complete all the paths in order to complete the game, not just one, per say. The game itself is pretty easy, and you can breeze through it in about 5-7 hours. But also, you can choose to hit the streets in search of crimes, which give you good cop points if you solve them.
The game play is fun, especially the shooting. When shooting, you can do several different types of shots, such as a neutralizing shot if you want to be a good cop, or a headshot if you simply want to kill them as fast as possible. When shooting, you can also perform all sorts of, somewhat suicidal jumps, and rolls. It tends to go in slow motion when that happens, which is good, because it gives it a more cinematic feel. The fighting is good, but for the most part, you cant control the camera while your fighting in doors (happens a lot), and your forced to sometimes stare at a wall while your character gets the life beaten out of him. You also sometimes get a finishing move, similar to mortal combat, where you can perform a specialized move, and knock the opponent down. As for the driving, its solid, but sometimes the steering can be a little loose. All three of these aspects get their upgrades, ranging from better guns, to new grapples, and cars.
Now you have seen me use the term “good cop” in this review, and that’s another neat little feature that this game has, a good cop-bad cop system. If, for example, you choose to solve a crime by shooting everyone, you’ll get some points taken off your good cop rating. You can go to a maximum of 100 either way.
The sound is good... if you like rap. The game seems to focus mainly on fast paced, straight up Rap and R ‘n’ B but if you’re a fan of rock (like myself) you better turn the volume down. The voice acting is fair, but there are some totally stereotypical references which fit, but they turn out being somewhat dumb. Sound effects are pretty average, nothing special here.
Graphics are not this game’s strong point. While most of the CGI looks good, the in game graphics can look a little blocky, and the lighting can be pretty weak.
So if your looking for a weekend of fast, mindless, GTA-esqueness, look no further.