The closest thing to Kane & Lynch I've ever played, except with less story and more consistency.

It feels like a game that had a very clear vision to be a realistic and immersive urban action thriller, but somewhere along the way something happened (perhaps the publisher got involved or they ran out of time or budget), and they simplified and casualized it. Still, it remains a consistently solid experience all throughout.

Enemies kill you quick. This is essentially a cover-based shooter without the cover system that was beginning to get popular around this time with games like kill.switch (2005) and Gears of War (2006). Every shootout is suspenseful, and the level design is intricate enough to allow you to strategize and often outsmart enemies. Occasionally, when you have no such option, you have to rely entirely on your aiming ability. Headshots are encouraged, and when you manage to survive a room full of enemies, it feels rewarding. The AI is also pretty mobile. It can run from room to room, choose to rush you or wait in cover for you to come. In most cases you are also free to backtrack, jump in or out the windows, hide in toilets, etc. Using the level geometry is essential. And the levels are extremely detailed and feel like real places.

On the technical level the graphics are mediocre by the 2006 standards, but the overall presentation is perfect for what the game is trying to convey, which is realism. It's very cinematic, though perhaps not in the way most people use the term. It doesn't have a ton of scripted sequences and cutscenes, but it recreates the look and feel of mid-2000s crime action movies. And the soundtrack is great, though it's implementation is rather strange. This is probably the only game I've seen do this: the music comes out of actual boomboxes that are scattered throughout the level. And the music gets louder the closer you are to them. Meaning occasionally you don't hear it at all. And this kinda works for immersion in some levels, where you're in a neighborhood or in a mansion, but doesn't make much sense when you're in a subway or a bank.

There isn't much story here, and it's conveyed through text boxes before levels. I tried reading them at first, but soon realized I can't remember anything anyway. But for what it lacks in story, it compensates in its commitment to visual and mechanical authenticity. When you play as a criminal, you can murder civilians or use them as a shield. When you play as a cop, some enemies will surrender, and you can arrest them. There is one level here where you escape from a prison with a bunch of other inmates (another similarity to Kane & Lynch), and you can save a lot of them if you act quick. And taking over the prison genuinely feels like a triumph, because in the end you know how many people fought alongside you and how many didn't make it. In the final mission you get to play a reverse Scarface scenario, where you're invading a mansion full of enemies with a machine gun. And that final level, though the most challenging, throws at you situations that you've been training for the entire game. As a result, when you're single-handedly ambushing and defeating an entire small army, you feel like you've grown through the game and become a certified badass.

I think, if one approaches this game with expectations of it being a masterpiece, they'll be disappointed. But underneath its lack of polish is an enormous unrealized potential. If this game had a good story, a cover system, and a strong physics engine that allows for destructible environments and whatnot, it would've been amazing. But still, as it is, a hidden gem.