True Crime: New York City

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True Crime: New York City
Developer(s) Activision
Publisher(s) Luxoflux
Release date(s) November 15, 2005 (PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
March 24, 2006 (PC)
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature (M)
PEGI: 18+
BBFC: 18
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows
Media DVD

True Crime: New York City is an urban adventure video game published by Activision and developed by Luxoflux for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube consoles. It was released to Windows-based computers on March 24, 2006. It is a sequel to True Crime: Streets of LA.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in True Crime: New York City

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Story

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Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The storyline follows Marcus Reed, a gang member who inherited his father's criminal empire in New York City when he was taken to jail. After several years of being in control of what his father established, Marcus is betrayed by a friend and assumed dead after an ambush. Covered in blood and injured, Marcus shows up unexpectedly at the betrayer's house to exact revenge. After a bloody, running gunfight with gang members that want nothing more to do with Marcus, he corners the betrayer in a building basement and guns him down. Dropping his empty Uzi, Marcus is almost shot and killed by a gang member that was hiding during the fight before he is saved by a detective in the NYPD named Terry.

Isaiah Reed (Marcus' father) and Terry have been friends for a long time. Terry tells Marcus that he should be ashamed of the level he's sunk to. Although Marcus willingly offers to allow Terry to arrest him, Terry refuses. He says that he's going to cover up Marcus' involvement in the shoot-out, but this will be his final chance to clean up his act before he's left to the mercy of the NYPD. Marcus agrees, and shuffles off to tend to his injuries. As he does so, Terry sighs and says, "Merry Christmas."

Flash forward five years and Marcus is now an officer of the NYPD, having worked the beat for four years to become one of the precinct's best street cops with Terry's mentoring and guidance. At the urging of Terry, he applies to test for his Detective's badge and a transfer to the Organized Crime Unit. After passing the test with flying colors, Marcus is issued his badge and is now a part of the OCU as a plain-clothes detective. To celebrate, Terry takes Marcus out onto the streets to teach him some of the basics of his new job. After completing a few tasks and breaking up a bar fight, Marcus and Terry go to the jail cell where Marcus' father is incarcerated. There's some animosity between Marcus and his father, but Isaiah and Terry get along quite well. The visit is cut short by a phone call to Terry. A contact for a case he's working on has called a meeting in another part of town. Marcus and Terry hurry to the contact point. Before getting out of the car, Terry instructs Marcus to come in guns blazing if he's gone for too long. As Terry walks into the building with a briefcase (it is not specified if the briefcase carries cash or drugs), Marcus leans over to pick up some of Terry's cigarettes that have fallen out of the glove box. A heartbeat later, a massive explosion sends the undercover squad car flying through the air.

Back at the precinct, a somber Marcus is informed that Terry was killed in the explosion. Due to his lack of experience, and with Terry no longer there to help him out, Marcus is transferred back to the Street Crime Unit under the command of Lieutenant Deena Dixon. She informs Marcus that he will be going back out on the street as a plainclothes cop while the department investigates Terry's murder. As Marcus resumes his duties, he is contacted by a member of the FBI named Gabriel Whiting, who requests a meeting in a parking garage downtown. When Marcus arrives at the garage, he is greeted by Whitting. The FBI agent informs Marcus that a member of the OCU is a mole and likely organized Terry's death. Whiting does not know who, but does know that the mole was working with four major crime syndicates - The Magdalena Cartel, The President's Club, The Palermo Mob, and the Shadow Tong. Whitting wants Marcus to investigate these four crime groups to track down Terry's killer. After being given a folder with information on the Magdalena Cartel, he sets off on his mission of revenge while attending to his street duties at the same time.

[edit] Endings

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Good Cop Ending Victor Navarro comes to Grand Central Station to find Marcus and Gabriel Whitting waiting at his locker. Gabriel tells Navarro that he has a warrant and tells him to open his locker. Victor does so... revealing a clothes bag and some golf clubs. As Victor taunts Marcus, however, the bag falls down, revealing millions of dollars in cash. Whitting arrests Victor on the spot. As Navarro is carted off, Whitting tells Marcus to get some rest. Down in the subway station, however, Marcus is greeted by the one he least expects: Terry, alive and well. Marcus realizes the truth at last: Terry was the mole. He knew Gabriel was on to him, so he faked his death and framed Victor for his crimes. When Marcus arrested the crime heads, he had unwittingly protected Terry from gang vengeance. Terry attempts to get Marcus to join him and enjoy the money in Mexico, but Marcus is angry with Terry for tricking him.

Annoyed by Marcus's self-righteous attitude, Terry produces a folder filled with pictures of Marcus's rampage five years ago, threatening him with them if he ever thought of revealing Terry's actions. Marcus defiantly replies that he would "do his time standing up, just like his pop", and ordering Terry to surrender as he escapes onto a subway car as Marcus follows in hot pursuit. Chasing Terry, Marcus corners him in the back of the car. Terry unhooks the cars and starts to make his getaway. Angry, Marcus shoots wildly at the train car, striking one of the wheels and causing it to flip over. Marcus runs desperately toward the back of the train, barely escaping with his life. Later, Marcus talks with Whitting and Dixon as Terry's dead body is pushed away on a stretcher. In return for catching Terry, Whitting promises to give Marcus' father another chance with the D.A. Marcus walks out of the station, wondering if he did the right thing.

Bad Cop Ending Victor Navarro comes to Grand Central Station to find Marcus and Gabriel Whitting waiting at his locker. Whitting tells Navarro that he has a warrant and tells him to open his locker. Victor does so... revealing a clothes bag and some golf clubs. As Victor taunts Marcus, however, the bag falls down, revealing millions of dollars in cash. Whitting arrests Victor on the spot. As Navarro is carted off, Marcus taunts Victor, saying, "Don't drop the soap." Infuriated, Victor grabs a gun from one of the officer and shoots Whitting, killing him. Marcus chases Victor onto a run-away subway train. After a brief gunfight, Victor ambushes Marcus and knocks his gun off the train. Marcus and Victor have a fistfight, and Marcus wins by throwing Victor off the train. As Victor's body is carted off, Dixon comments that Victor may have been an asshole, but she never would have pegged him a dirty cop. She tells Marcus to get some rest.

As Marcus sits on the bench, Terry shows up. Marcus tells Terry that he's known it was him since he took down the last crime syndicate. Terry asks him why he killed Victor. Marcus replied that he hated Victor's guts. Terry congratulates Marcus, saying that they are alike, and tells Marcus to come with him to Mexico. Marcus, however, is furious at Terry for using him like a tool. Terry hands Marcus a bag full of cash, saying "Merry Christmas." Marcus replies, "Motherfuckers with no loyalty don't deserve to live.", and shoots Terry in the forehead. The ending brings the story around full circle, with Marcus using his line from the beginning of the game: Marcus starts to walk away with the cash, but stops and sits back down on the bench, staring at his badge with shame.

[edit] Features

[edit] New York City

Times Square as depicted in True Crime: NYC
Times Square as depicted in True Crime: NYC

True Crime: New York City features a GPS street-accurate recreation of the New York City borough of Manhattan and its many landmarks.

A major difference from previous free roaming games is that many buildings are accessible to the player besides just the locations related to the game's story. These include restaurants, hotels, apartment buildings, pharmacies, clothing shops, car dealers, dojos, record stores, and more. Besides shopping opportunities at some locations, the random streets crimes found in the first game now can and often occur within building interiors as well. Players can also purchase food (which increases health) from New York City's many hot dog stands.

The Flatiron Building
The Flatiron Building

Bridges such as the Brooklyn Bridge that lead off the island are present but blocked off. Parks such as Washington Square Park and Central Park are accessible; the Statue of Liberty is not but can be seen from Battery Park. Using the debug menu to access the debug camera reveals that the statue's tablet bears the same inscription as in real life.

Times Square features the familiar bright neon lights, and the Naked Cowboy can be found playing his guitar. Grand Central Terminal is the only major landmark that can be entered any time by the player, but the actual subway stop there is inaccessible for most of the game. In the game's story, the other major landmark that is featured as a setting is the American Museum of Natural History.

Other landmark buildings such as the Empire State Building, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the United Nations headquarters, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the Chrysler Building are present but cannot be entered, and a few areas, particularly in northern Manhattan (such as the Columbia University campus), are not recreated exactly as in real life. The World Trade Center site is depicted in its 2005 condition: cleaned up and closed off.

[edit] Transportation

At West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. (Note the street signs with actual street names)
At West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. (Note the street signs with actual street names)

Besides traveling on foot or driving vehicles as in the first True Crime game, the player now has the ability to use the extensive and accurately recreated New York City subway system. Though both the Brady Games strategy guide's subway map and the printed map that comes with the collector's edition show the various subway lines using different colors as in real life, the player does not need to transfer to different lines in the game to get to the various stations.

The stations themselves are all presented in the same basic set-up, but the signage at each station does change to reflect whichever station it is supposed to represent. The station at Grand Central Terminal is inaccessible during most of the game (although it can be seen past the gates that block the stairs), but it is featured as a prominent setting for the game's finale. Unfortunately, Manhattan's high population density is not recreated in the game, and this extends to the subway stations and subway trains, which are completely empty except for the final train mission at Grand Central.

Players can also get a ride from the iconic yellow NYC taxicabs that drive around the island (the taxis can still be commandeered like other vehicles if the player scares off or incapacitates the driver).

Both new modes of transportation require a minimal in-game fee.

[edit] Differences from True Crime: Streets of LA

The New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange

True Crime: New York City includes all of the features of the previous game, namely a "sandbox"-style of gameplay, option to fight crime, the choice to be a good cop (fight crime, take down perps non-lethally, etc.) or a bad cop (kill innocents and fellow officers, using lethal force, damaging property, accepting bribes, and causing chaos in general), and different endings (though simplified to either a good cop or bad cop ending instead of the previous game's branching storyline). Also, instead of allowing the player to proceed down a different mission path upon mission failure, they have the option of doing an informant mission to get back on track with the main storyline.

The game is also said to have upgraded old features and added new features, along with better graphics and sound including the use of motorcycles and new weapons. The player can no longer dual wield assault rifles and shotguns, but the game has a much improved aiming and auto targeting system. Additionally, players are now able to customize their own arsenal of melee weapons and firearms, instead of being limited to a single, upgradeable pair of pistols.

True Crime: New York City also has noticeably more blood and gore than the first title. For example, the player can take a Katana and completely dismember an innocent civilian on the street. The civilian screams horrifically and, armless and legless, falls to the ground bleeding excessively. The limbs will still sit on the ground bleeding and the player can pick them up and use them as weapons, with blood still spouting out the top. The player can also completely decapitate people and use their skull as a weapons, or slice the top half of their head off and visibly see the brain inside. Also the player can zoom with his/her shotgun and literally blow someone's head into pieces. Even the eyes are visible.

The game also features much more profanity (especially from civilians) than Streets of LA.

[edit] References to popular culture

  • When Reed is chasing a mobster and the mobster phones for help, he tells the person on the phone to bring everyone and shouts "EVERYONE!" another time - a reference to Norman Stansfield, a corrupt DEA officer played by Gary Oldman in the 1994 movie Léon.
  • In one mission, while Reed is driving a cab, the passenger he's carrying gets a phone call from "Paris" who apparently informs him about "another tape" - this is most likely a reference to Paris Hilton's famous sex tape.
  • When you first meet the taxi driver and start his mission Reed will remark "Next thing you know I will be driving remote controlled cars and shit." This being a reference to the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where the player was given a series of missions based around controlling remote controlled aeroplanes to kill enemies.
  • The Motorola logos can be seen as graffiti or on billboards in various parts of the city and on Reed's Cop Outfit radio. And the one source of mobile phone communication in True Crime: New York City is possible Motorola phones, on account if you listen to people talking on the streets you can hear "Hello Moto" ringtone when someone's cell rings.

[edit] Reception

True Crime: NYC received mixed reviews from critics. IGN and Team Xbox scored the game a 7.8/10[1] and 8.4/10[2] respectively, while GameSpot marked the game a 4.6/10[3]. Some reviewers admired its vast depiction of Manhattan and improvements in gameplay, including the innovative transportation options that set it apart from previous free roam games. Others derided its story, bad frame rates, and technical issues that seemed to have resulted from a rushed release for the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. Its sales fell short of Activision's expectations[4].

Many fans were disappointed that the game failed to depict all five of New York City's boroughs, opting instead for the 24 square miles of Manhattan. In comparison, True Crime: Streets of L.A. depicted 240 square miles of Los Angeles. New York City has a total land area of 303.3 square miles, and with the absence of Staten Island's 59 square miles, the remaining area would have been 244.3 square miles. However, New York City's skyscrapers and overall density would have taken high demands from the consoles available at the time of the game's release, as seen with just the complaints from choppy frame rates with the finished product's Manhattan.

There were also complaints of game-stopping glitches that prevented some players from continuing the game using the game's on-screen instructions, although work arounds were found by other players. One such example frequently reported with the Xbox version occurs during a mission where the player must throw an enemy over the side of a container on a ship. For some reason it becomes impossible to throw the enemy from the container using the controls specified by the on-screen instructions. There is a way around this glitch and others present. [5]

In contrast to the console versions, the PC version released in March 2006 suffered from very few glitches.

[edit] True Crime 3/True Crime:NYC Part 2

Though pre-release interviews with game developers revealed that True Crime: New York City was to have been the first part of a two-part series, no additional news about the fate of the second part has been revealed since the game's release. Luxoflux has since announced that it will focus solely on the next-gen consoles Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 for future projects. It currently has at least one upcoming multiplatform "Action / Adventure" title in production, but whether this project is True Crime 3 or part 2 of True Crime: New York City is unknown. Rumors of sequels depicting other cities abound. Most frequently Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans. [6]

[edit] Original score

True Crime: New York City has a new feature in the audio department. An original score produced by Sean Murray brings out the urban sound of New York. It sets apart the licensed tracks in the game.


[edit] Soundtracks

Original tracks
Licensed in–game tracks

[edit] External links

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