"Does 25 to Life live up to the hype?"

Months before the game's release, 25 to Life was already receiving controversy of all kinds. People were upset because it promoted killing policemen and overall just promoted gang violence and crimes. Well let's look past all the controversy and let's nail one thing, the burning question all gamers ask pertaining to hot new games: Does this game live up to the hype?

Graphics - Let's start off with the graphics, arguably the thing gamers look at the most in video games. For starters, the graphics aren't too shabby. They're not the greatest, but they're not horrible. Some character models do look sort of bad, but they're not bad enough that they'll annoy you. The faces look flat and the mouths barely move when they talk, but it's nothing too bad. The environments aren't bad looking at all, either. The weapons look okay too. Nothing too bad about the graphics in this game. They get a 7/10 from me.

Game Play - Now let's talk about the game play. It's simple. Not tough to get used to. R1 to shoot/attack. X to jump, square to reload, R2 to switch weapons. I admit, though, it was a bit confusing to adjust to in the beginning. But after a few minutes, it shouldn't be too hard to adjust to. If you've ever played Max Payne, it's sort of like that game. Just a bit faster paced. Nothing really to complain about here. Game play gets a 8/10 from me.

Sound - And the sound. Sound is nice. The voices aren't that great. They're hard to understand and they're very low, even with high volume. Other than that, it sounds good. Gun shots sound nice and explosions sound fine. Nothing really to complain about besides the voices here. Sound gets a 7/10 from me.

Replay Value - Replay value. One of the most important things in a video game. If you enjoy action/shooting games, you'll probably like this game and want to play it again after you complete the game. I'm pretty late in the game as of this writing. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm on the final stage. Not giving away any spoilers, but there are certain levels I'm definitely going to play again.

So the burning question, does this game live up to the hype? I believe it does and doesn't. I'll admit, although this game is fun, it isn't as good as I thought it would be. It can get very tough and I mean VERY tough. Sometimes I'll even throw my controller in frustration. But yes this game does live up to the hype, even though I thought it would be a lot better. Would I recommend it? Yes, I suppose so. Regularly, however, video games are around fifty dollars. I do NOT think this game is worth fifty dollars. My brother got it for twenty bucks, and I think it's good enough for twenty, maybe thirty, but not fifty. Overall, this game gets a 6.5/10 from me, but since I can't do a 6.5, I'll just say a 6/10. I hope you enjoyed this review and I hope I helped you make your final decision about this game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/10/06