GDC 10: An early look at True Crime

The open-world genre is getting a kick in the pants with the new True Crime from developer United Front Games. We’re used to this type of game being set in the United States, but the new installment of the series is taking us across the ocean to Hong Kong.

This is the third installment of the open-world franchise from Activision, but it’s being “treated as a new IP.” New features are being introduced and the art direction goes in a whole different direction from what you’re normally used to.

Follow on through the break for an early look at the new True Crime.

True Crime (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [previewed], PC)
Developer: United Front Games
Publisher: Activision
To be released: Fall 2010

Our preview time with True Crime was a pretty brief controlled demo. There was no hands-on time, as the game was in a pre-alpha state. Normally, that isn’t an issue, but it’s really hard to gauge an open-world title when you’re given a very straightforward demo.

Regardless, there were some neat things shown off. You’ll notice right off the bat just how much color is in the world. Just look at some past sandbox games, and you’ll see lots and lots of gray. True Crime, however, embraces color — the entire section of the city we saw looked and felt very vibrant and alive.

Another highlight of the game was the combat system. United Front Games actually spent time developing a good-looking combat system rather than shoehorning one in after the fact. The real Hong Kong is a city where guns are few and far between. So Triads typically use machetes, knifes and any other sharp objects they can get a hold of as their main weapons.

Detective Wei Shen, the main character of True Crime, will basically remind you of Jackie Chan. Wei is good at going toe-to-toe with foes and taking advantage of whatever is around him. You can execute environmental attacks as well, resulting in Wei tossing bad guys into dumpsters, slamming fridge doors shut on baddies heads’, and many other violent attacks.

The driving system is arcade-based as opposed to having a simulation feel, so you should be able to pick it up right away. One really awesome driving feature is called the “Action Hijack,” where you ditch your vehicle and jump on top of another car. In the mission I was shown, Wei was riding a motorcycle and chasing after a Triad gang member who was driving a stolen cop car. As soon as the player was close enough, Wei jumped from the bike and got on top of the cop car. The player then let himself into the car and got the Triad to stop.

There’s more in store for True Crime, but we won’t get to see that until a later date. What I saw was interesting, but again, it’s hard to judge an open-world game when you’re being shown a small vertical slice of gameplay. So far, things are promising, but I’m holding my breath until we get our hands around the game for ourselves.

Also, this happened at the True Crime party the following night:

Yup.