Whether our government wants to admit it or not, gangs are all the rage in America. In fact, they are one of the nation's fads that simply never went out of style, much to the chagrin of good upstanding folks who need to keep in mind what color clothing they bring with them whenever they travel (I'm pretty sure pink is free game). Therefore, because people are fascinated by the gang culture several videogame publishers have/are cashing in on the "craze", most notably Konami, which has decided to insert a hip-hop themed and extremely violent gang simulator into its portfolio. Crime Life: Gang Wars will supposedly immerse you in the gang culture like never before, providing you have an Xbox and enjoy giving people their just desserts (AKA, a bullet to their stupid faces).

Ah yes, Grand Central City. It's rough, it's dirty, and it's no place to raise a child. Just ask Crime Wars' main character Tre, who's not only a member of the Outlawz, which just happens to be a gang, by the way, but he was also cursed with having a name that sounds just like tray, which is that piece of plastic I place my Quiznos sub (a Black Angus...so tasty) onto. He's soon to become the leader of his crew, and a whole new set of challenges have opened up before him. This, of course, is where you come in. Playing as Tre, you must survive in his cruel world and make the right choices (and by choices I mean "choices") to keep him alive and his gang at the top of the food chain.

Crime Wars is a third person shooter, much like Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and THQ's upcoming Xbox 360 title Saint's Row. The object is to become the biggest bad @$$ in the entire city by earning respect, which is gained by successfully protecting Tre's hood/turf. This includes getting into fully automatic skirmishes with other gangs as well as entering underground fighting tournaments, which help to hone Tre's skills and make him a more efficient killing machine. Also, much like BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series, the story (which is supposedly rather involving) features branching paths, so there will be numerous times when you'll need to make decisions, with some of the wrong ones having grave consequences.

At this point, I'm not sure whether Konami will be able to seriously differentiate Crime Life from GTA or Saint's Row, but the publisher's certainly trying. In the game the top dogs are a gang called The Headhunterz, a group of thugs who are responsible for pushing the Outlawz out of the way and taking over the city. All of the major players in this group are members of the rap group D12, who have lent their likenesses to the developers and are recording tracks for the game. Naturally, they all play fictitious characters, but it's just something Konami's doing to put the game out there and make it unique, but D12 aren't the only stars lending their talents to the game. Hip hop artist Doom Man and Jason Flemyng (from the films Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) will also voice characters in the game.

Konami hasn't released a lot of gameplay features, but based on screens it appears that you'll definitely run into the police on more than one occasion, and like in most games of this type, they won't be happy to see you. There also appears to be a pretty big emphasis being placed on these fighting tournaments, and, much like in the Grand Theft Auto series, there's always a map onscreen that instructs you where to go, except that in Crime Life it's been placed in the top right corner of the screen.

Even before seeing this game I knew what it was going to look like, meaning that I either have a fantastic imagination, or I've simply watched too much HBO America Undercover specials. Run down and abandoned buildings, graffiti adorned subways, and bars are the norm here. Actually, the only time that I saw something that resembled suburbia is the screen shot of the guy stealing the TV out of a house! As for the character models, the developers have really done an excellent job making the main players look unique. They've got baggy clothes, tats all over their body, various hairstyles (love the lighting bolts that have been shaved into one dude's head), and naturally, lots and lots of gleaming bling-bling. I'm also fond of the blood particles that explode as a fine mist whenever someone takes a fist to the face. In all, Crime Wars probably won't impress you like Doom 3 did, but it still manages to hold its own on the Xbox. Hopefully, the frame rate will remain consistent.

Much of what I know about gangs comes from watching Geraldo, so I'm looking forward to seeing what Konami brings to the table. I'm going to keep a close eye on Crime Life: Gang Wars and I'll be back with an in-depth preview as the game nears its Fall 2005 release.