25 to Life

Cheat Code Central

The online portion of 25 To Life isn't bad; it's not deep by any stretch nor does it look particularly wonderful, but you and your pals can run around the city and shoot each other online and I bet some of you will really like it.

eToychest

It's not completely without merit, especially if you are able to find a few friends online to play with.

Game Informer

You know the drill: extremely linear level designs that stitch together corridors, open areas, and dull objectives with all the refinement and subltlety of a drunken quilting circle. [Mar 2006, p.100]

GameSpot

A lifelessly generic shooter that, at times, feels like "Max Payne" without the fun.

My Gamer

This game simply cannot be recommended to anyone: the controls are busted, the AI is pathetic, and even with online play you will grow tired of it within an hour.

Gaming Horizon

Despite a decent online offering, it’s not enough to save one sorry game. Avoid this game like the plague.

Gamer 2.0

The boring graphics, the (mostly) garbage sound, and the obscenely boring story will leave you in a non-marijuana induced daze.

Yahoo! Games

It's only January, but we already have an early favorite for 2006's Worst Game of the Year award. In terms of graphics, gameplay, sound, and most other categories, 25 to Life is so low on the totem it's underground.

PSM Magazine

As sure as Boyz n the Hood led to Malibu's Most Wanted, "Grand Theft Auto" has given us 25 to Life, a third-person urban shooter that reminds us that everything's better with an AK. [Apr 2006, p.72]

Worth Playing

It's Max Payne without the bullet-time, the control, the atmosphere, or the fun. Avoid at all costs. Don't even try to get it to have a good laugh - you'll still end up apologizing to yourself.

DarkStation

After being delayed, Eidos finally outs their GTA-inspired actioner. We say don't bother as it is plagued by sloppy controls, disjointed plot and dull visuals.

PSM2 Magazine UK

The action is linear and unexciting, and while it tries to incorporate verying submissions, it all feels samey. Pray it never comes to the UK. [Apr 2006, p.64]

TotalPlayStation

Nothing about 35 To Life makes it stand out -- save for perhaps the fact that we had to sit through a delay to get this product. It's not terribly fun, the storyline is pointless and the gansta tone is utterly unnecessary.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

You have to struggle with touchy controls and flaws in the game logic. For example, if you hang onto a human shield for too long, the cops will just shoot your hostage to get him out of the way. How is that fair to anybody?

GameShark

25 to Life does include a somewhat entertaining multiplayer aspect, but not enough to keep your attention for very long.

GameSpy

25 to Life is almost like a dirty joke -- You're laughing at how bad it is and feeling guilty at the same time. Don't waste your time or money on this game, it'll make your think-bone hurt.

IGN

The single player is boring, arrestingly conventional and entirely forgettable. The multiplayer is slightly better, though mostly because of its options and not because of its gameplay.

1UP

Pandering to every college student and aspiring rap artist's deep-seated Scarface fantasies, 25 to Life is a 3D action-shooter that not only fails to innovate on any level, but rolls back design and technological advancements to the early PSone era.

Detroit Free Press

This street thug game lacks everything that would make it new, innovative or just plain fun. The graphics are really muddy and sub-par. The controls seem to be a bit confusing.

ZTGameDomain

The controls are busted, the AI is pathetic, and even with online play you will grow tired of it within an hour of game time.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Insert "cruel and unusual punishment" or similar prison-term jokesterism here. Bonus points for working in the words "salad" and "toss." [Apr 2006, p.82]

Edge Magazine

If there’s one thing that 25 To Life gets to do right, let it bring an end to this destructive preoccupation with the cross-media lure of gritty, crime-flavoured urban violence, and the unacceptably low standards it so often brings with it. [Mar 2006, p.89]

G4 TV

The gameplay isn’t remotely interesting or entertaining and neither is the subject matter. It’s crass and juvenile, but not in a good way. There’s no way to rehabilitate this piece of garbage.