In the late 1980’s the nation's drug problem seemed to be in full swing. Kids everywhere were packed into gymnasiums and forced to sit through their schools weekly “D.A.R.E.” program, and even had their Saturday morning cartoons interrupted, where it seemed like a “Just Say No” ad occurred more frequently than a He-Man, or GI-Joe commercial. Point being, it appeared that no medium was safe from Nancy Reagan and her anti-drug campaign, not even the world of videogames.

When Midway released the original NARC for the arcade back in 1988, it rather took the industry by storm. Even though it featured some of the most violent action and risky themes to date, the anti-drug front it displayed somehow kept it from drawing attention to itself and being overly criticized by the media. Somehow, blowing away hundreds of trenchcoat-clad drug dealers and junkies seemed to be just fine with Congress, as long as you plaster ‘Just Say No” images all over the game, therefore letting kids know that when it comes to the war on drugs, the anything-goes attitude is the correct one. Well Midway, with this year's remake of NARC, is at it again. However, this time around, you’ll find little resistance when it comes to the use of drugs; in fact, you’re almost encourage to do so. In the end, it's decisions like this, that end up decimating what could have turned out to be a decent remake.

The story in NARC starts out on a fairly decent note, but unfortunately, it’s not long at all until you absolutely stop caring. It seems that Jack Forzenski (Michael Madsen) and Marcus Hill (Bill Bellamy), the two main characters in the game, have somewhat of a storied past. Apparently Forzenski has had a troubled life, and for several different reasons, took to using drugs as a way out of his problems. Hill, on the other hand, is the upstanding citizen-of-a-cop, and his ex-partner's (Forzenski) drug use has persuaded him to join the DEA in hopes of cleaning up the streets. Enter Liquid Soul; the new drug of choice for junkies and crack heads everywhere. So, what’s the big deal with this new drug? Well, for starters, it turns you into a super-junkie, or super-crack head if you desire, making you nearly impossible to take down, which has the police force scrambling for an answer. As you might have guessed, the answer is you - Jack Forzenski. From here on out, it's up to you and you’re fellow partner (Hill) to singlehandedly take down the makers of Liquid Soul, and bring the crime syndicate to justice. While the story seems to be better off than most crime dramas on television, the overall production values and poor pacing keep it from becoming anything more than a distraction.

NARC tries to prides it self on its open-ended gameplay, but its half-hearted effort to join the ranks of the GTA series falls mistakenly short. NARC offers gamers the ability to roam the streets freely inbetween missions, but the problem is there just isn’t anything to do. You’ll spend most of your time walking around the city, which usually consists of a couple square blocks, looking for criminals to bust, and believe me, you’re search won't last long. It’s almost as if the developers intentionally put the brain-dead citizens right out in the open, therefore making them very easy to find. You’ll frequently witness a drug deal going down right in front of you, (you will know they are drug dealers by the indicator above their head … seriously) or a couple of thieves trying to break into a strategically placed police car, and even a few thugs mugging a helpless old woman. In fact, there are basically only two types of people roaming the streets, the criminals and the victims, which definitely takes away from the quality and realism of the game.

Flashing your badge hundreds of times pretty much sums up the gameplay experience"

The badge-system (which determines your overall progression throughout the game) also comes into play when attempting to bust the various racketeers found so abundantly throughout the city. Every time you see a criminal, you can do one of two things: flashing your badge will either force the criminal to give up and allow you to easily arrest them, or you can take the less estimable route and go for sheer police brutality, therefore causing a scuffle to ensue. The awkward, but simple fighting mechanics do little to help NARC's cause. Fights usually consist of grabbing a perpetrator, and then beating on him until his health is low enough to make the arrest. While violence is always an option, being too rough with the general public will decrease your badge rating, and if you’re not careful, will result in you’re demotion to beat cop.

This system sounds much better than it actually plays out. The whole process is way too forgiving to be taken seriously and you never end up being fully held responsible for your actions. I honestly murdered (this number doesn’t include the wounded) around 30 innocent bystanders on one of my many exploits through town … um … I mean city, before I received my demotion. Wait, it gets better. Once there, you’ll only have to perform a handful of good deeds, like the overly corny “drop your confiscated drug stash into the night drop at the police station” act, in order to regain the status of detective and continue with the story. Let me sum it up for you - Run around town, shoot and murder anything that moves, steal the drugs found on the bodies, and finally get demoted, or promoted, depending on your actions. What’s great about this is I haven’t even mentioned the best part of the game yet. The Drug use. (Sigh)

“Most characters models look astonishingly similar”

The developers, in some morally lacking decision, have decided to make drug use a central part of gameplay. Much like Mario and his mushrooms, player can now take a hit from a various drug anytime they need a boost … yes I'm being very serious. For example, take a hit of Speed, and your character will now be able to run, fight, and shoot faster than the rest of the population, well, everyone except other Speed freaks that is. Taking LSD causes you to hallucinate, Crack makes you a “Crack-shot,” and finally Pot slows the world down, but allows you to perform as usual, therefore giving you an advantage over other people in the city. See kids, drugs can be useful sometimes. No, but seriously, this attempt to cash in on the “Mature” theme that has been so prevalent with today’s games has gone excessively far. What made games like the GTA series, and even the overachieving True Crime great, is that despite all the mayhem, the superb gameplay ultimately overshadowed the violence and ended up being the best part about the game. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here. Take away the violence, drug use, and the foul-mouthed voice acting, and you’re left with some very stagnate gameplay that fails to stand on its own.

I didn’t think it was possible, but the visuals in NARC seem to be just as bland as the rest of the game. Having the story take place entirely at night should tell you something about the visuals. Though I’m sure Midway would like you to think they did this for artistic reasons, it was more than likely done to help hide some of the major graphical flaws that run so rampant throughout the game. As stated earlier, each of the three cities you encounter during the course of the story feel much more like small towns and are very limited in scale. They really are only about a couple of square miles wide, and fail horribly to match up to other games in the genre. Each city you encounter lacks diversity and almost all the people roaming the streets look the same. In fact, every person, vehicle, and building you encounter while in these cities lack any type of visual polish and the environments suffer from it greatly. Even the cutscenes that help unfold the story have been approached with little passion, and absolutely scream out ‘budget title.” Taking away the “budget title” status of the game, and putting forth a little more effort in the production values could have served this game well. As it stands, the visuals in NARC are extremely lacking, and end up hampering the overall package because of it, “budget title” or not.

 
“The gangs today are so fashionable”

I really hate to keep sounding like a broken-record, but even tracks like “Hits From the Bong” by Cypress Hill, “Pusherman” by Curtis Mayfield, and “The Professional” by DMX can’t seem to salvage a poor showing from the audio department. Don’t get me wrong, NARC features some fairly decent songs, but the problem is they keep repeating themselves over and over and over again. I honestly think “Pusherman” repeated itself around 20 times in the first hour alone. The audio that plays during the cutscenes is also disappointing. It seems that the dialogue was recorded extremely lower than in the rest of the game, which forces you to adjust the sound occasionally. Despite having some notable voice-over talent (Madsen, Pearlman, Bellamy), their respective voices seem to be oddly misplaced, and offer just another reason not to enjoy the game. The various noises that radiate from the streets are actually somewhat adequate. Sound effects like weapon fire, police sirens, and random citizens chatting are a nice start, but definitely not enough to overcome the wasted potential that seems to plague this game, and the audio department is no exception to this.

I’ll have to say when news of a remake was fluttering around I became extremely excited about the possibilities. After all, the original NARC offered up some intriguing gameplay (for the time period) not yet offered by other games, and despite all the violence, ended up turning out to be a rewarding experience. Unfortunately, this time around, I can’t say the same. What Midway has done with this franchise is almost unforgiving. Taking a classic game, reversing the premise completely, and attempting to cash in on the success of other “superior” game titles is somewhat demeaning to me as a gamer. While I'm sure some people will get a kick out of the asinine ability to take drugs as power-ups, if what you seek is a solid story, great gameplay, and an overall rewarding experience, then please look elsewhere. Not even the “Big Hit - Friend Prices” slogan can save this game from defalcation.

Gameplay: 5.7
Clumsy controls, a horrible menu system, and an even worse idea of using drugs as power-ups ruin what could have been a decent game. The premise of good-cop/bad-cop isn’t dumbfounding, but the options at your disposal never really escalate the playing experience - as it should.

Graphics: 5.9
Drab visuals, poor lighting, and goofy-looking character models help rank this title near the bottom of the genre. Looks strangely like State of Emergency, and that’s not being complimentary.

Sound: 7.1
This is probably the department least responsible for NARC's demise. A decent soundtrack and well-done sound effects are satisfying enough; if only the same songs didn’t play repeatedly, we might have had a winner here.

Difficulty: Easy
The requirements of tapping x, or o, or any other button repeatedly will do little in challenging most people. Arresting, or beating a criminal is a breeze, and the only real challenge you will face is actually wanting to finish the game.

Concept: 4.0
While I’ll have to say, the option of using drugs as power-ups is … well … original to say the least. I still can’t find any reason why Midway has decided to go in this direction. This seems like a lawsuit in the making (and I'm sure the developers planned all the attention that will soon bolt their way), and the whole problem with this is NARC doesn’t have the goods to back up the violence, unlike the GTA series, and this lunge into the “controversial” market will probably end up hurting them before it's over.

Multiplayer: N/A
Sadly, some online play or even co-op would have helped this title immensely. Just another example of wasted potential.

Overall: 5.6
As I mentioned before, a slew of silly decisions by the developers have ended up ruining a classic game from our childhood. Simply taking a classic title, reversing the premise of the game and forcing it upon us in generic form just doesn’t cut it these days. It’s going to be interesting to see the amount of attention NARC receives in the future, not because of its solid gameplay, but because of its inability to make rash decisions in the moral department. The best part about this remake is the ability to unlock the original NARC from 1988, but only if you can force yourself to play long enough to do so.