True Crime: New York City [PS2]

The original True Crime was Activision's surprisingly successful attempt at a piece of the Grand Theft Auto pie. Set in a painstakingly recreated Los Angeles, you played a cop with the freedom to run amok and jack cars or play it by the book and arrest perps. As Activision's freshman attempt, it had some rough edges, but managed to sell well enough for a sequel. This fall, the franchise relocates to New York City, where dynamic weather actually means something (there's nothing dynamic about Los Angeles weather).

In additional to occasional bouts of rain, New York also gets a day/night cycle. Producer Sam Gaglani demonstrated this to us by strolling into the garish washed-out Times Square of noon and then using a cheat code to advance time. The neon lit up, making it clear how far the game engine has come and how well it serves its new urban setting.

New York City has an entirely different style than Los Angeles. "I'm from New York and I'm like, 'Wow, they really nailed it, man!'," said Gaglani. "They went to New York and recorded cab drivers and liquor stores owners. They got the rights to their voices and used them in the game."

Even in daylight, it's obvious that True Crime looks a lot better. There's much more character in the environments, particularly using what's called "grit factor," which is a visual representation of the crime rate. In each precinct, you can solve random crimes, which will literally clean up the neighborhood. As you reduce the crime rate, there are fewer abandoned buildings and less trash on the street. There isn't so much graffiti anymore. Liquor stores and porn shops convert to more respectable businesses.

"Do you have pride in your city?" Gaglani asked. "Do you want it to be clean or messy?" This sort of choice is the core of the True Crime series. As you play, you'll be faced with other choices, such as what to do with confiscated evidence. Do you turn it in for career points or do you sell it for money? Career points will let you rank up in the police department. This will unlock new weapons and vehicles. However, if you sell evidence, you can use the money to buy things from the black market.

"There are advantages to police weapons, like the shotgun or automatic pistol," said Gaglani. "But the black market lets you use RPGs and flamethrowers. There are different cars available from the two sources. You can also use different technologies. The police have more advanced technology and can do things like driving on two wheels, but you can get armor for your cars if you go to the black market."

You can accost anyone in the game and press them for information or money. There's an interrogation meter in which you manage two forms of abuse (strike or gun threat) or reason (negotiate or demand). You're trying to balance a meter and build up exclamation point icons that will break your victim. You can then arrest him or knock him out and steal his money.

Ultimately, where you fall on the morality scale will determine which game ending you get. But as you do bad things, you'll attract other policemen who will try to bust you. Get your rogue cop rating high enough and a SWAT team will come after you. If they take you down, you'll end up in a blue uniform walking a street beat, where you'll have to solve 10 random crimes before you can resume the storyline.

In the New York installment, you play a new character with no connection to the previous game (although Christopher Walken's unmistakable voice as an FBI agent feeding you information is a hint that there will be some continuity from the original). The game is divided into four chapters, each telling the story of a different crime syndicate: the Magdalenas, a South American drug cartel; an Asian gang called the Tongs; a black gang involved in the record industry called the Presidents; and the classic mafia of the Palermo family. Each chapter will have five extended story missions.