25 to Life

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25 to Life
Protagonist(s): Freeze Shaun Calderon Officer Williams Genre(s): Third-person shooter Platform(s): Microsoft Windows PlayStation 2 Xbox Release Date: NA: January 17, 2006 EU: June 1, 2007 (PS2) AU: June 7, 2007 (PS2) Developer(s): Avalanche Software Ritual Entertainment Publisher(s): Eidos Interactive Country: United States

25 to Life is a 2006 third-person shooter video game released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game was developed by Avalanche Software and Ritual Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive. The game allows players to play as both a cop and a gangster. Despite having a North America-exclusive, the game was initially banned in Germany a few months after its original release, even way before PlayStation 2 version would get its eventual PAL release just a year after its initial North American release.

Plot

Andre Francis gets involved into the life of gangsters and crimes & tries to find redemption.

Why It Should Be Sentenced

1. The game was clearly made to piggyback off the success (and controversy) of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
2. Very horrible controls on consoles.
3. Really generic gameplay.
4. Derivative story, completely filled with generic dialouge.
5. Uninspired rap soundtrack, despite still being good.
6. The protagonist's house interior is a rip off of the Caligula's Casino office in GTA San Andreas.
7. Average and outdated graphics that look more like an early PlayStation 2 title (or Counter Strike 1.6) than a 2006 game.
8. Single Player is really short, extremely lacking and unpolished overall. Explanation for this is that originally the game was supposed to be a multiplayer project about law enforcement and criminals, but due to the huge success of GTA: San Andreas, at some point developers decided to add campaign in it (according to some information, they were forced to do it by Eidos, but it's up to debate), and because of time constraints, it came out pretty rushed in both aspects.
9. Thus, Multiplayer feels unpolished and lacking, too. Maps are too small, and some mechanics suffer from a lack of balance and various flaws.
10. Playable characters (with exception of Officer Williams) are really unlikable.
11. It was very overpriced at the time. With console versions costing 40 dollars, which is an extremely high price for such game.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Multiplayer could still provide fun, though these days no one is playing this game, aside from devoted fans of the game's multiplayer.
2. As mentioned in WISBS #10, Officer Williams is at least likable.
3. The voice acting is passable.
4. Good soundtrack, despite the soundtrack being uninspired.

Reception

The PlayStation 2 and PC versions have a Metacritic score of 39/100, while the Xbox version received 41/100.

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