True Crime: Streets of LA is a third-person shooter game for the PS2 published by Activision in 2003. You play the role of Nick Kang, a Chinese-American maverick detective who is coming back onto the force after having been suspended from duty. On his first day back, he is asked to solve a series of bombings in the Chinatown area which leads him into a vast conspiracy involving drug dealers, the Russian Mafia and the Chinese Triads. Initially seeming to be a straightforward case, Kang soon finds himself in over his head and unsure of who he can trust.

True Crime was released shortly after GTA 3, and has been accused of trying to be a clone of that more popular game. Like GTA, True Crime shares the open-world type gameplay system in which you are free to explore the city and make your own decisions to an extent. One way in which this game differs from GTA is the morality-based storyline. You can choose to be a corrupt police officer, doing whatever needs to be done to complete your mission or can play it by the book and abide by the rules. The way in which you act affects the story, as some missions go different ways depending on your choices. The controls are quite straightforward, being similar to most third-person shooter games for the PS2 and so are easy to get to grips with. Plus there is atraining sequence enar the start so you can get accustomed to the controls. The storyline is engrossing with plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested, and the fact that you make your own decisions and decide where the story goes is a nice touch. There is also a great voice cast including Christopher Walken and Gary Oldman.

The graphics are adequate but nothing special and the combat itself is nothing particularly special although I did like the combination of gun fights and martial arts that is used. Overall I'd say it was a very entertaining game that is well worth a play but is not particularly memorable.