They were the Santa Monica-based studio that developed the original True Crime games (Streets of LA, and New York City), among a few other things. I make specific note of the True Crime titles, because I'd be curious to know what happened to the old game code once they shut their doors forever. True Crime: New York City almost feels like a prototype already, and I've heard that Activision was to blame for rushing the game to shelves for the holiday season, but who knows. There are so many unfinished aspects still lingering in the game (even the debug menu can still be accessed without even hacking it), and many gameplay features are completely broken or useless (the slow mo dive, for example). Despite this, it would be interesting to see earlier builds that show the transition between it and Streets of LA. It's fairly obvious that they were built on the same engine, but NYC definitely feels like an entirely different game. So, I was just wondering if anyone knows the story. Did any developmental software survive when they went under?
Sorry, I can't help you, but were the True Crime games as bad as everyone says? Boring, bug-ridden, and a largely empty playing area (too few cars or pedestrians to be interesting, so I've heard)? Are they worth playing, would you say? I doubt they can be as bad as The Getaway or it's sequel, on the PS2. The Getaway looked fantastic in the previews, it was GTA 3 set in England, and I was really looking forward to it. And it should have been great, as it obviously had a lot of effort and time (and money!) put into it, what with it having real cars, a good representation of both the city of London and the British motor traffic system, as well as some very good interior locations and set pieces. Then I bought it and found out it was very disappointing. Unfortunatley, it features some game ruiningly bad design decisions, such as no targeting cursor in the third person on foot sections, no on-screen map on the driving sections, long unskippable cutscenes, no real time adjust-the-camera controls, and no definable controls to counter the badly thought out ones the game ships with. I'm sure there was more about the game I hated (it's maybe the most disappointing game ever, to, and I've played Perfect Dark Zero, Doom 3, Daikatan, and (shudder) Superman 64), but it's so long since I played it I can't remember. I remember that the sequel, The Getaway: Black Monday (I think it was called, can't be bothered to check) was slightly better but still suffered from enough of the prequel's faults to make it unplayable to me. Regarding Luxoflux, they made Vigilante 8 and Vigilante 8: Second Offence, on the N64, which were two good vehicle combat games, fun and well written, and with consideration made to re-playability (the game modes were somewhat configurable, which I really like). I don't know if I've played any more of their games.
Yeah, I played Vigilante 8 as well, and remember them being very fun. However, I may have just played the demo versions (weren't they on the PS1 as well?). The True Crime games are kind of hard to recommend, depending on the player. For me, I only owned a Gamecube during the sixth console generation, and since there was no Grand Theft Auto on that console, True Crime was the only alternative. I remember being stoked by the Streets of LA commercials, thinking that there would finally be a sandbox/GTA style game for Gamecube, so I got it during Christmas that year. I never played The Getaway, but the first True Crime definitely had its share of issues, as well. For the free roaming aspect, it was a far cry from GTA, and while Los Angeles was gigantic, it was very repetitive, and like you say, fairly empty and dull. I first played True Crime New York City on Gamecube, and while I definitely wouldn't say that the first True Crime had many fatal bugs or technical issues, the sequel certainly has its share. I've only played the PS2 version of New York in recent years, and the difference in frame rate from the Gamecube build is really quite substantial. On Gamecube, it probably averages on 15-20 FPS while travelling through the busier sections of the city. The only time it holds steady is when there are very few buildings on screen. This made the game nearly unplayable for me for a long time, but eventually, I grew accustomed to it, and somehow it became one of my favorite sandbox games. It was a big eye opener when I played the PS2 version, however, and learned that the frame rate issue is almost non-existent in comparison (something I wished reviewers would have noted years ago), along with a dozen other problems I had with the Gamecube version. Still, it's a very buggy, unfinished game regardless, but most of the glitches are more comical than game-breaking. Most of it has become part of the game's charm for me by now, and the PS2 build is actually quite beautiful graphically despite some visual flaws. Unfortunately, the PS2 version tends to crash more frequently than the Gamecube one, but avoiding 16:9 mode seems to help. Anyway, sorry to turn this into a short story, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I would definitely recommend New York City over Streets of LA, despite being more unfinished. The cop angle makes the game really unique, if you actually abide by the rules (taking down criminals non-lethally, making arrests, collecting evidence). I actually find the cop gameplay to be much more satisfying than the now-typical "gangster-badass" approach of GTA and Saints Row. You can definitely play True Crime that way, but it's more challenging to play it with the restrictions of a "good" cop. Also, there's a lot going on in Luxoflux's virtual New York: definitely not bland and empty like the first game. For anyone planning to play the game, however, I recommend saving often!
