Brief Description

Crime Life: Gang Wars is a gritty, free-roaming third-person action game with an epic storyline that takes gamers deep into urban gang culture. Players follow Tre, the up-and-coming leader of the Outlawz, as he and his crew struggle to survive the cruel streets of Grand Central City. With a focus on traditional beat-em-up fighting action, Crime Life: Gang Wars confronts gamers with choices that will effect the story as they help Tre protect his 'hood from other gangs and build his reputation, which is worth more than gold on the streets. To rebuild the Outlawz into the most powerful gang in Grand Central City, Tre must prove himself to be the toughest fighter in the city and make the right decisions that will take him to the top.

SecretAsianMan: While it would be easy (real easy) to dismiss Crime Life: Gang Wars as yet another Grand Theft Auto rip-off, one would be slightly mistaken. You can't steal cars – or any type of vehicle for that matter. Also, the focus of violence is dealt out through good old fashioned fist and foot flailing, though the player will be able to garner a few weapons along the way. Outside of that however, it does feel A LOT like GTA – which isn't necessarily a bad deal given GTA's fun factor.

Vansau: Admittedly, the story sounded quite a bit like that of GTA: San Andreas in that players assume the role of a young man, Tre, who joins up with a troubled gang and helps them take out their rival street toughs. However, there's no word on whether or not players will be able to hire prostitutes and then rile up Jack Thompson when they use a baseball bat to get their money back afterwards.

SecretAsianMan: So far the graphics represent a quality at least a notch or two up from the latest GTA title, which doesn't seem like that much of a feat, as GTA has looked more or less the same since GTA3. The characters just about hit the detail and style as seen in Def Jam: Fight for NY, which is impressive given the amount of onscreen action that will take place at any one given moment in Crime Life.

Vansau: Unfortunately, we weren't able to view/play with the most recent build of the game, so things like being able to target one's enemies with any degree of accuracy weren't available yet. We were able to see the robust hand-to-hand combat engine in action, though, and it was pretty cool. I really liked the fact that Tre's vision becomes warped and red-tinged because his adrenaline starts pumping after being in combat for a while. He gets stronger and more aggressive, making fatality-like moves easier to perform and more vicious. I definitely winced once or twice when I saw him snapping his opponents' necks like pieces of dry spaghetti.

SecretAsianMan: The game will also feature both the likenesses and 'original music' from members of the rap group D12 (wait a minute – aren't 'rap' and 'original music' mutually exclusive?) Music from UK Hip Hop artist Doom Man and voice acting from Jason Flemyng are also on tap to round out the game as high budget project.

Vansau: Apparently the rap group has been pretty heavily involved with the game's development, so aside from contributing music to the game and lending their likenesses, they will be appearing as leaders from the rival gangs (though they definitely look a lot more muscular and menacing than what I've seen of them in real life).

SecretAsianMan: While I sorely miss the old school fighters like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, it's hard to determine whether Crime Life will hit the mark of revitalizing that genre. With the free-roaming gameplay, mission based story line, and consequences for actions, I fear that the thrill of beat-em-ups of yesteryear will be all but present. Still though, it may prove to be a balanced mix of GTA style gameplay with decent fighting action that works regardless of how they market it. Coming Fall 2005.

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