Genre: Action
Publisher: Aspyr
Developer: Point of View
Release Date: January 9, 2007

The Shield for PS2 seems like it should have a lot going for it. It's based on a critically acclaimed and revolutionary FX television show that's well written, well acted and much loved. The game packaging promises snappy dialogue and complex interaction between Vic Mackey and his squadmates. And really, who hasn't wanted to play a dirty cop for just a few hours, delivering justice by any and all means possible?

But I cannot emphasize just how bad, how painful the game really is. The Shield has no appeal to anyone who has more than 50 percent of his brain intact. Anyone who isn't in a vegetative state will most likely wish that he were after getting through all 15 levels of the game.

When a TV show tries to be controversial or edgy, it gets a lot of critical attention, both positive and negative. When a video game tries to do the same thing, it usually winds up clumsy and offensive. The Shield is ridiculously designed and executed in every respect, despite some interesting attempts at moral choice and innovative controls. What it amounts to, though, is a mess that leaves the player feeling completely out of control of his fate for most of the game. I found myself repeating the second area of the first level over and over again, completely bewildered as to why I had to restart it every time I completed my objective. It's this kind of awful design that makes people break PS2 controllers. The Shield's greatest use may be as a weapon of mass enragement.

The gameplay revolves around five different play styles: running and gunning, punching duels, interrogation, stealth and chasing. Running and gunning and fight mechanics usually go together, as does chasing, punching and interrogation, and neither set requires much thought or skill.

In fistfights, you can simply mash the Circle or X buttons until the gauge above the enemy's head is depleted. After that, they'll be intimidated and stand around harmlessly. Shooting is a bit trickier, and there's no definitive way to not kill your enemies. Sometimes a headshot won't kill your foes, but they'll suddenly drop their guns and kowtow to the police. Other times, you can shoot a guy in the crotch multiple times, and he'll still be alive, kicking, and firing right at you. The only guarantee is to shoot the gun out of their hands, but even careful aim will only accomplish this once in a while.

Pressing the X button near walls or boxes will occasionally cause Vic to take cover. From there, he can aim his gun and take out the few gang members who usually stand in place and shoot blindly at the wall behind which you're hiding. The environment is completely non-destructible, and enemies don't work to oust you from cover, so you can sit around as long as you like and wait for a chance to pop off a headshot.

Of course, getting a headshot will instantly kill the gang member, which in turn raises Vic's Heat Meter, a gauge of how bad of a cop he is at any given moment. The only time you really have to worry about your Heat Meter is when there are other cops around, which is very seldom. If you abuse a suspect or bystander while fellow cops are in the area, you'll find that your Heat Meter instantly fills up, and you'll have to restart the area. This is easy enough to avoid, as long as you don't pull your gun on every generic hobo you see.

You can reduce your heat by finding a way to disarm or intimidate your enemies into submission and then arresting them. Arresting them is a step-by-step process that is easy enough to pull off. Intimidated enemies will stand around and say, "Don't shoot!" while scuffing their shoes idly as you clear the area. When you feel like it, you can grab them by pressing Triangle, push them against the wall, search them with Square, and then press X to slap on one of your infinite handcuffs. Supposedly, you can also lower your heat by turning in confiscated evidence found around the different levels, but I never had to worry about that.

You'll also have to gun down gangsters with a teammate or two at some point, assuming you have the patience of a saint and managed to get past the bad level design that plagued the beginning of the game. Your teammates apparently have never heard of cover or the concept of shooting people without getting themselves killed. If you don't run ahead and take out everything for your pal, he'll be dead in less than a minute. Your health is a bit more forgiving than theirs; you have a three-tiered bar — green, yellow and red — and as long as you're alive, you'll manage to recover your health to the max of that color. If you get shot down from green to half-red, you won't be able to get above red until you find a health item. If it's confusing, don't worry. If you take more than three bullets, you're dead. Period.

That covers 80 percent of The Shield. The stealth missions include the first two areas of the game and one other segment that you can optionally sneak through. That's it. And really, I'm grateful. The first mission was the most frustrating one of all. Enemies don't even have to be in the room to detect you. You'll be crouching around and hear "S***, man. It's the poleez!" or "Five-Oh! Five-Oh!" and the mission will fail.

Then you'll have to try it again. And again. And again.

Finally, there are the chase scenes. There are about four of them, and they were the best aspect of The Shield. It's simply a high-speed run, with you leading Vic around corners and up narrow alleyways, and you'll need to press Square to hop over things or climb fences. The levels never get challenging, but they're a nice break from the monotonous shooting and punching.

Between every level, you'll find yourself back at "The Barn," Vic's police station. It's here where you'll get the choice to either turn in evidence to lower your heat or deposit your ill-gotten gains into your "retirement fund." I almost never did anything but the latter, since it's so easy to avoid heat no matter how many stereotypical gang members you feel like illegally murdering. I wanted to be torn about what to do, but the choice was always too obvious.

There's also a boatload of extras to unlock, but they're completely worthless, and after a point, you'll have no clue what's unlocking them. No one wants black-and-white scenes of rendered Shield characters anyway.

The graphics in The Shield are pretty awful. This is no God of War, that's for sure. The characters look outright inhuman and frightening. I watched Vic look slowly over at a door about a thousand times, and each time I was terrified by his cold, dead eyes. Every enemy looked the same. Each racially divided gang had a couple of character models between them, and there was only one hobo model for the entire game.

They all sound the same too. There are about four lines for every gang member to shout in every situation, including "Poleez!" and "Yo, homie why you steppin'?" The show is known for its unflinching and racially charged portrayal of criminals, but this goes one step beyond. Everyone you encounter is a hugely exaggerated stereotype who's voiced by one of three or four voice actors.

The cut scenes are decently acted, and the voices from the show sound spot-on, but the plot becomes so pointless and extraneous after a point that you'll hardly notice. The entire game, which can be completed in six to 10 hours, feels like it could have taken place in about half of an episode of the TV show, with plenty of room for extra character development and sub-plots. You'll find none of those on the PS2, unless you're running a DVD of the series.

Overall, The Shield can't be recommended to anyone. It's deeply flawed, with awful game design and mechanics marring the entire experience. The non-destructible environments, recycled character models, and repetitive dialogue only emphasize the game's limitations, and although the Heat Meter should have provided an interesting twist, it comes into play too infrequently and is so easy to avoid that it may as well not exist. I feel like a better person for having had the patience to survive the entire ordeal without destroying anything in my home, but I wouldn't recommend the title to my worst enemies.

Score: 3.0/10