Lawrence.com

If games were reviewed solely on ambition, C.O.P.: The Recruit would easily score a 10. Developing a sandbox game for the Nintendo DS in the vein of Grand Theft Auto is ballsy. But while C.O.P. gets big props for effort, this game does more to highlight the DS’s limitations for open-world gaming.

You play as Dan Miles, a former street racer turned New York City Control Division officer. When your mentor is quickly locked up for possible corruption, it is your job to uncover a mysterious terrorism plot that he had been investigating. The plot amounts to a standard series of twists and turns, and both the dialogue and story feel like a throwback to NES era games like Bad Dudes, when attitude was more important than realism, terrorist groups had names like the Bomb Zombies, and your police organization had unexplained and unnecessary abbreviations like C.O.P.

For a game that mostly takes itself way too seriously, it has some goofy quirks. For example, the characters are cookie-cutter stereotypes of ’80s police movies — from the brooding, anti-authority main character to the “by the book” lieutenant —who inhabit a world where almost everyone speaks street jive.

The game is set in the New York area, with New Jersey, Queens, and Manhattan each represented. Graphically, the presentation of the city is a great example of what Nintendo’s portable hardware can achieve. However, C.O.P.’s version of New York doesn’t feel as alive as the GTA metropolises of Liberty City or San Andreas. This is largely due to the DS’s limitations, but those limitations should have been taken into account when attempting to create an open world. As a result, there is little personal reward in exploring the city, one of the pillars of GTA’s success. There are simple side missions, photograph points, and hidden barriers to collect, but the motivation to do so is nonexistent.

Competent controls are typically the difference between a good sandbox game and a poor one. C.O.P.’s are a mixed bag, and limit the amount of fun to be had. The small selection of vehicles handle decently, and the vehicle physics are unique to the different vehicle types. The sense of speed is lacking with most vehicles, but the framerate is anything but sluggish. The shooting mechanics, however, are frustrating. When engaging enemies, character movement is handled with the D-pad, while both aiming and weapon selection are controlled with the stylus. As a result, you can’t quickly turn to engage an enemy to your side, and your hand will frequently obstruct your view.

In addition, there is too much reliance placed on navigating multiple touchscreen menus to switch weapons or activate your GPS, leaving you riddled with bullets or going head-first into oncoming traffic.

Beyond the basic shooting and driving portions, there are a handful of stealth and strategy missions. They do break up the monotony of the “go there, collect this, shoot him” mentality, but it’s not enough to overcome the game’s linear mission structure. Other missions include high-speed pursuits and tailing suspicious vehicles. The former are frequently timed, and the smallest driving error results in starting over — again and again.

The game’s audio is minimalistic to a fault. There is no spoken dialogue between the main characters, and the only other voices you encounter are pedestrians screaming “Hey!” as they attempt to jump out of the way from your vehicle. The vehicles you commandeer evidently have no stereos, as there are no songs while driving. Strangely, though, a limited selection of quasi-techno-rap is constantly playing while you are on foot. The other sound effects and the soundtrack are mediocre.

Then end result of the game’s story, gameplay, and control issues is that — should you force yourself through the game — only the OCD, “must collect everything” gamer will likely play any further. Frankly, I had enough trouble playing through the game in its entirety that I can’t say I will ever feel the urge to look at it again, let alone give it an additional playthrough.

C.O.P.: The Recruit aspires to shoehorn the GTA experience onto the DS, but it just simply does not do so.

Graphics: 8.0

Sound: 6.0

Gameplay: 6.5

First Play: 6.5

Replay Value: 4.0



Overall: 6.5