E-Mail This Article to a Friend Don't like the drugs, but the drugs like me Midway's NARC is an edgy, flawed trip BY AARON SOLOMON
	NARC Published by Midway. Developed by Point of View. For PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Rated M for Mature.

The ads for the new Midway game NARC command you to "walk the line or cross it." This choose-your-own-adventure style of gameplay is a relatively new one, and while most titles, be they the underwhelming Fable or the regularly-whelming Knights of the Old Republic series, rely on it to advance the story, in NARC it appears to be nothing more than a gimmick – something to attract the kiddies (and we all know the kiddies will come running to this "M"-rated game).

Like many kids of the era, I learned of the ill effects of drugs from video games. This was in Reagan’s ’80s, when all we had to rely on were those Surgeon General warnings that flashed across arcade screens. That we didn’t find this juxtaposition odd, after scrolling through screen after screen of the original, brutally-violent arcade version of NARC (available here as an unlockable bonus feature) and many like it, speaks to the utter superficiality of such an agenda.

Well, there is nothing superficial about the new NARC. Its two protagonists, Detectives Jack Forzenski and Marcus Hill, bust balls with the best of them, and they aren’t afraid of a little cussing, either. As the game opens, Forzenski (voiced by my favorite Madsen, Michael) is returning to the squad after having been strung out and found in a local drug den by Detective Hill (MTV castoff Bill Bellamy). The first mission is a simple introduction to the NARC universe, and for anyone familiar with either Streets of L.A. or Grand Theft Auto, the controls should be second nature: they are of the standard one-button-for-kick-one-for-punch-one-for-grapple variety.

What NARC suffers from most is a lack of identity. Aside from the occasional overdose or addiction, this game isn’t much different from any other third-person actioner. Obviously, NARC takes its biggest inspiration from the Grand Theft Auto series, copping both the visual look and free-play feel of that stellar franchise, including the whole hidden-package gimmick (which unlocks the arcade version of the game). The use of ironic, iconic music is also liberally cribbed from the GTA universe, with standout tracks such as Curtis Mayfield’s "Pusherman," "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash, and a remix of Sublime’s "Smoke Two Joints," with added lyrics such as "I smoke two joints when I play video games and score ten thousand points." Subtle this game is not.

Playing the missions often reminded me of The Getaway – sometimes it takes two or three attempts to find the successful path – and the option of choosing a side mission before continuing echoes the same feature in Streets of L.A. As for the missions themselves, they cover all the bases, from sniping rooftop guards (which leads to an extremely frustrating photo-recon mission) to protecting charges and just simply blowing the shit out of anyone and everyone. An original feature of the game has you busted down to beat cop and beyond if your badge rating gets too low (there was a similar aspect in Streets of L.A., but NARC takes it further).

But the drugs. Oh, the drugs. The drugs are plentiful, and come in just about every medium you can imagine: pills, leaves, rocks, and even a very dangerous (and highly-addictive) drug called "Liquid Soul." It is this drug that leads you from the streets of Rockland, USA to Kowloon, China, where everybody seems to know kung fu and is twice as hard to bust as in the States (must be that damn Liquid Soul). The effects of the drugs on Marcus and Jack are illustrated through fishy camera movements and psychedelic, organ-infused ’60s music. Using the crack results in an elevated heartbeat (cue controller vibrations) and a "crack-shot" rating, but you run the risk of becoming addicted – hey, just like in real life! Try the LSD and everyone around you will grow giant Mardi-Gras heads and you’ll start hearing scary voices that probably aren’t there – again, just like in real life! Now, you’re supposed to deposit the confiscated narcotics at the police station, but Midway wouldn’t give you the option of crossing the line if they knew you weren’t going to take it. But beware: too much indulgence and you run the risk of lowering your badge number, blacking out, or becoming addicted.

When this last thing happens, an icon of the drug on which you’re hooked appears in the left-hand corner of the screen along with a slowly-filling vertical box. When the box is full, it’s tweaking time. At this point, a Madden-like meter comes onto the screen, and in order to avoid blacking out and awakening halfway across town without a kidney (not really), you need to manipulate the meter with the toggle stick. This may sound like double-entendre-laced fun, but it was actually quite frustrating. The meter also appears during arrest mode, and seems to be a feature that is, as Homer Simpson once said, needlessly complicated.

The retail price for NARC is $19.99, which seems an adequate price to pay for a game with so many technical glitches (such as randomly-disappearing characters, characters that march right into walls, and Chinese policemen who just won’t shut the hell up. I highly doubt these were included to enhance the entire drug experience).

NARC is certainly no Midway monster. It’s a fun afternoon diversion, not without its charms, and has a cheeky enough attitude to go along with its unscrupulous subject matter (and characters). For Xbox owners who can’t wait two more months for San Andreas, and for anyone else with a serious jones to fix, you could do a lot worse for your 20 bucks.

Score: 7.0 (out of 10)