Unfortunately for EU gamers, a decent SOCOM -style multiplayer mode was cut out. Small side missions aren’t exciting either. Yep, the 12 missions can be brushed through in an afternoon, and replaying the game really isn’t worthwhile. Ranging from Easy to OMFG, you’ll be done with the game’s story within three hours no matter what. Functionality-wise, they’re identical essentially, and all suffer from sluggish control.Ģ5 to Life does feature four difficulties, but none of them are too tough, bar moments where the inconsistent A.I. But the only difference is that playing as one of two crooks allows you to take human shields while playing as the cop lets you arrest other baddies along the way. The supposedly unique element comes from playing as three different characters. It doesn’t help that weapons feel underpowered, due to poor sound effects. There is little in the way of variety, as this tiresome combo becomes the meat of the game, without anything like dramatic set pieces to keep it fresh. It becomes routine: kill, restock, reload, repeat. It almost adds nothing to those games, bar sluggish controls, and missions become a drag quickly. If you’ve played the likes of Max Payne or Total Overdose before, then 25 to Life is instantly familiar – to a fault. It never equates to a satisfying experience. isn’t too bright, as they fluctuate wildly between smartness and idiocy, such as shooting straight through human shields and standing out in the open.

And sometimes, control inputs either take time to respond or fail to respond at all, leaving a lot to be desired before you even sink into the game’s mechanics. Your character merely peeks out enough to get shot at, but far from enough to gain any aiming advantage. Aiming just doesn’t feel right, making shooting more of a pain than it should be, and while taking cover isn’t too broken, leaning out of it is. Perhaps most damning is its sluggish controls. Īs soon as you load up 25 to Life ’s campaign, it is apparent that it is flawed in a myriad of ways. T he game end s in a poor attempt at a moral message, which is rather muted by the sheer amount of police you’ ll end up killing along the way. ‘All over the place’ would be an understatement, as the story inherently lacks focus. Freeze, naturally, wants payback on Shaun, but you also take the role of Calderon himself as he is on the run in Mexico, and Detective Lester Williams, who is trying to arrest the criminals running rampant. But it’s all a set-up courtesy of Shaun, and the game then splinters into three perspectives. When a thug called Freeze wants out of his gang, leader Shaun Calderon forces him to do one last job in exchange for his freedom. 25 to Life ’s profoundly generic gameplay combined with a host of mechanical flaws, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of players. Released on European shores more than 12 months after th at of the US, it ended up launching at the tail-end of the PS2’s shelf life, and lacking the multiplayer component which drew most of its interest back in the States. To be fair on 25 to Life (and trust me, it needs all the defen d ing I can muster), it was a doomed from the start.

25 to life ps2 soundtrack