True Crime 2 under fire

By Ellie Gibson Published 27 September, 2005

From NYPD commissioner.

Activision's forthcoming Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox title True Crime: New York City has become the latest game to face harsh criticism for its representation of police officers.

Speaking to New York's Daily News, NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly said: "It's an outrage. I think it disrespects all police officers and it's done in extremely poor taste."

True Crime: NY follows the adventures of Marcus Reed, a former gangster turned cop, as he fights to bring order to the city streets and avenge the death of his mentor. The police officers in the game are shown breaking into apartments, often without a warrant, and assaulting and intimidating suspects. They're referred to as employees of the "PDNY", however, rather than the NYPD.

Ex-New York policeman and former NYPD Blue executive producer Bill Clark is acting as a technical advisor on the game, along with fellow ex-officer Tom Walker. Commissioner Kelly has openly criticised their involvement, describing it as "Totally inappropriate."

"It's a tough job, a dangerous job, and this undermines what police officers try to do. I'm saddened that even some former members of the department are linked to that videogame," he said.

Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch has declared his support for Kelly's comments, and demanded that the game's Hollywood stars - who include Christoper Walken, Laurence Fishburne and Mickey Rourke - return the payment they received for their performances.

Clark is said to have responded by saying that police union officials should stop focusing on videogames and spend more of their energy on "Getting cops more than a $25,000 starting salary.

"It's a game, not a training video for the NYPD," he told the Daily News.

But Lynch hit back at Clark once again, saying: "The cop who worked on this videogame should look in the mirror. He [makes] it harder for everyone working on the job."

True Crime: New York City is out in November.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • vegard #1 6 years ago

    and it's still (probably) going to be a shitty game. good thing the publisher has people like mr. lynch here to blow up some PR for them.

  • jellyhead #2 6 years ago

    yawn, videogames are the new evil, ban this sick filth, yadda yadda yadda.
    I just hope it's a good game.

    edit: So it is True Crime that they parody in GTA then? heh, it'll be guff and this is great publicity to help shift more copies then.
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/05 @ 16:18

  • myiagros #3 6 years ago

    the last one sold terribly (deservidely), i expect this one to be as bad and hope it does nothing against other expectidely much better games coming out over the same time period.

    As for the issue, notice that films and TV programmes which portray the same type of attitudes with regard to the police, recieve nowhere near the level of scrutiny and abuse as the games industry.

    I think people like the NYPD single out the games industry as they percieve it to be smaller and less able to defend itself.

    Hopefuly some point in the near future the games industry will recieve the recognition it deserves and be left to govern itself like most other creative industries (rather than being targeted by groups and politicians trying to enhance their status and moral standing).

  • Mirkan #4 6 years ago

    "True Crime: New York City is out in November."
    lol

  • Scurrminator #5 6 years ago

    Oh no, entry without a warrant!?! How reckless!!!
    What next, cops eating doughnuts!?! It's an outrage!

  • w00t #6 6 years ago

    This guy is right!

    All members of the NYPD are angels with feathered wings, flowing hair and burning swords of justice who have never broken a law in their life! Paragons of virtue, each and every one!

    This is a poor excuse for a police training simulation!

    Whatever next!?

    /realises it's a game

    /goes back to sleep

  • Kiigan #7 6 years ago

    Wait until he sees "The Shield"...

  • Tiger_Walts #8 6 years ago

    True Crime : SoLA had a lot of good things going for it. Sadly each area of gameplay was flawed in some way with the exception of the driving sections, which found a surprising symbiosis of physics based control and arcade-style special moves.

    I hope that True Crime : NYC manages to resolve the niggles that let it's predecessor down.

  • VibratingDonkey #9 6 years ago

    "Real plumbers don't do mushrooms and kill innocent turtles with fireballs! This is an outrage!"

    ....polease.