Parents' Guide to

True Crime: New York City

By Aaron Lazenby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Gritty tale of crime and redemption -- adults only.

Game Xbox 2006
True Crime: New York City Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 1 parent review

Foley Wickson
Foley Wickson Parent of 16 and 17-year-old
June 28, 2014
age 13+

Not so bad!

Although there might be bad language, I believe 13 year olds use this language all the time when we're not looking. Yes I do agree about the sexual content in this, but with all the technology in the world, their going to be looking at it soon enough we all know that (We don't want to admit it, but we know it's true) There is some violence in this game but almost all games that boys play have this type of violence in it people killing, shooting, bar fights (don't see this very often, but some games have it), and more. There might be the option of being a bad cop in this but there's also the option to be a good cop. Most Boy games don't have good messages in it anyway, it's mostly for entertainment. In the drugs area, this may be going a bit over board on it. I do believe this isn't a very good example. I believe that this game should be in the 13 or 14 year old range.
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What’s It About?

In the second entry in this mission-based, cops and robbers game, True Crime continues to revel in graphic violence, explicit drug culture, tawdry sex, and a slippery moral terrain. Players control Marcus Reed, a murderous ex-gang member who was saved from the streets by the tough love of a caring cop. When his mentor is ambushed and killed, Marcus (now also a police officer) is enlisted by the FBI to crush the crime syndicates running New York and help get to the bottom of his advisor's murder. Armed with an arsenal of heavy weaponry, Marcus cracks down on street crime -- he also runs errands for his gang lord father, does favors for informants, and tries to determine whether he's a good cop with a criminal past or an undercover thug with a badge.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (9):

Players' decisions earn points that determine their prevailing tendencies toward good or bad. Unfortunately, these choices don't do much to alter gameplay. The game misses a great opportunity to explore the complicated moral world of law enforcement, basically throwing out the good cop/bad cop classifications as soon as gameplay starts.

While the game includes meticulously reproduced streets of New York, gameplay can be very frustrating. Common technical glitches mean cars will at times float in the air, or sound effects will get caught in annoying loops. Graphics are fuzzy and frame rate is slow. All in all, skip this title.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the mature material. Does the violence and sex serve the story, or does it cross the line to become gratuitous? Is it more fun to play by the book, or dabble in evidence tampering, extortion, and excessive force? Do you think doing "bad things" in a video game can be a healthy release -- or can it lead to real life bad behavior?

Game Details

  • Platform: Xbox
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Activision
  • Release date: January 30, 2006
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • ESRB rating: M for Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs, Intense Violence
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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