I adored this game the first time I played it, coincidentally the same year this version of the game released, having played the original port on the PS3. Revisiting it now though, the flaws are a lot more glaring.
The story is quite interesting, the individual cases at least. The overarching plot not so much. It lacks something, like a big twist. The ending is still very rushed and anti-climatic and some character motivations don't make much sense at all. The WW2 flashbacks are very corny and a lot of those characters (specifically Courtney Sheldon) leave a lot to be desired in terms of actually caring about them. The pacing can be pretty awful at times, mainly the latter half of Homicide and most of Vice/Arson. Everything before that was paced well.
Story grievances aside, the mechanics itself make-up for it. Cases are very fun and a lot more fun when you know what you're doing. Thankfully this time around I did, racking up 5 star cases is such a good feeling. Whoever was responsible for the NPC AI in this game though I assume was let off because it is pretty fucking awful... by my understanding, you need to cause zero vehicle damage and refrain from injuring civilians to achieve most 5 star rankings on a case. It doesn't help that a lot of civilian AI literally walk right in front of your vehicle at the most inconvenient of times, some even make a habit of running straight for you... and you're penalised for it. You'd think that the siren would be your best friend, but for some reason people in this city don't feel the need to get the fuck out of the way and some will literally either turn right into you or just not move at all, very harrowing experience to say the least.
It's a good game with very obvious issues, deserve a lot more recognition but with a pretty low sense of replayability. I would not be opposed to a sequel though and I think Jack Kelso could be the perfect candidate for that.
The story is quite interesting, the individual cases at least. The overarching plot not so much. It lacks something, like a big twist. The ending is still very rushed and anti-climatic and some character motivations don't make much sense at all. The WW2 flashbacks are very corny and a lot of those characters (specifically Courtney Sheldon) leave a lot to be desired in terms of actually caring about them. The pacing can be pretty awful at times, mainly the latter half of Homicide and most of Vice/Arson. Everything before that was paced well.
Story grievances aside, the mechanics itself make-up for it. Cases are very fun and a lot more fun when you know what you're doing. Thankfully this time around I did, racking up 5 star cases is such a good feeling. Whoever was responsible for the NPC AI in this game though I assume was let off because it is pretty fucking awful... by my understanding, you need to cause zero vehicle damage and refrain from injuring civilians to achieve most 5 star rankings on a case. It doesn't help that a lot of civilian AI literally walk right in front of your vehicle at the most inconvenient of times, some even make a habit of running straight for you... and you're penalised for it. You'd think that the siren would be your best friend, but for some reason people in this city don't feel the need to get the fuck out of the way and some will literally either turn right into you or just not move at all, very harrowing experience to say the least.
It's a good game with very obvious issues, deserve a lot more recognition but with a pretty low sense of replayability. I would not be opposed to a sequel though and I think Jack Kelso could be the perfect candidate for that.