True Crime: Hong Kong Eyes On

NZGamer.com had the chance to talk to Stephen Van Der Mescht at E3 today, the executive producer of United Front Games and front-man for the latest True Crime instalment. Eyebrows were raised when Stephen mentioned that his last project was ModNation Racers, but as he quipped, True Crime: Hong Hong is definitely a very different game.

In order to breathe new life to the True Crime series (the previous title was five years ago and was received with mixed reactions) United Front Games called on multiple talents. They rounded up a whole new team of creatives from a range of people who were involved in projects like Saints Row, Scarface and The Godfather. All of that experience and knowledge seems to have paid off for True Crime: Hong Kong.

Keeping in the tradition of the franchise, the main character, Wei Shen, is still a cop; this time working undercover in the city of Hong Kong. With multiple triad gangs and underground organisations in the city, you will need to infiltrate and work with the opposite side of the law throughout the game. Stephen mentioned that movies like Martin Scorsese's The Departed was a definite influence for the plot. Having a morally good character, forced to do very bad things in order for good is a theme that runs strong in True Crime. Shen will constantly be walking that thin line between cop and gangster.

True Crime: Hong Kong features an impressive hand-to-hand combat system, mixing in martial arts and balls-out brawling in a brutal, ultra-violent fashion. Shen can smash enemies into numerous objects and use the environment around him to bloody effect. One scene shown to us today involved a bad guy's face been grated off by an extractor fan.

Following on from movie references, the game also features some heart-pounding chases on foot through the city. Inspired by movies like Seven and Heat, you'll be pushing people out of the way and leaping over obstacles to take shortcuts in an effort to catch up with your target. It looked similar to the free running vibe introduced by Assassin's Creed, another strong influence for the True Crime: Hong Kong development crew.

Of course the game also takes place in the streets, with a huge array of vehicles at your disposal. Cars and bikes both make an appearance in TC: Hong Kong and players will be able to store them in garages scattered around the city. The narrow alleyways and traffic congested streets in Hong Kong lend themselves beautifully to bike transportation. When aiming and shooting via vehicles, the game features a stylish slow-mo targeting system letting you take out targets on the move swiftly and with finese. John Woo styles.

True Crime: Hong Kong has a wealth of detail thrown in. Shen can talk to anyone in the bustling, painstakingly re-created city at the press of a button. Some of which are one-liners, but many of them can give you handy information and help development the story as well. It looks like this True Crime game gets the franchise back on track and when combined with a killer soundtrack and some solid voice acting, it could give Saints Row some healthy competition. Like its competition, it features more F words than a dictionary. However, there is no multiplayer scheduled for True Crime: Hong Kong which was a bit disappointing. The only upside of this is, hopefully, a greater attention to detail and scope in an epic single player campaign.