Imagine leaving for a tour of duty overseas as a US Marine only to receive letters from home that read more like desperate pleas for your return. Your father, a seasoned police officer, feels that your home city is falling apart thanks to a nightmarish increase in gang activity. As the city ignites in a hell fire of gang violence that cannot be stopped it is the Major that elects to create a police task force with a zero tolerance order to eliminate this gang. The next letter you receive is from an old friend who tells you that your father is dead, burned alive by this gang and that you are more than welcomed to come home to join the new T-Zero task force. This is the situation Nick Mason finds himself in Urban Chaos: Riot Response for the Xbox.

You play Nick Mason as a newly established member of the T-Zero task force that is granted the power to do just about anything to bring down a gang of Molotov-tossing gang members called the Burners. Armed with the latest arsenal including a riot shield that can certainly take quite a pounding, Mason finds himself deep in an urban war zone where the community has banded together to take back their city from the crazed hoodlums. So Mason, aided by the brave men and women of the fire department, decides to fight back in a series of missions that make up the game’s single-player campaign.

The charm of Riot Response is in its simplistic game style that does away with the usual first-person shooter fare (no keycards, nifty PDA or electronic lock pick) as well as the delightful tongue-in-cheek manner in which the story is presented. Told through a live evening news program that uses live actors, it’s clear that the story doesn’t take itself too seriously. Anyone who has seen the campy “Starship Troopers” or “Robocop” will know what I mean. While the game is heavy on the cheesy dialogue, it isn’t necessarily awful. In fact, the game’s story is all the more fun because of it.

In the opening level of the game’s campaign mode, Mason gets but a small taste of what to expect in the streets of a chaotic city. It’s clear that T-Zero is a shoot-first-and-forget-the-handcuffs type of task force although there are key gang members that will earn you a medal for taking them alive and sometimes excessive force can be seen as a no-no although you won’t be punished for putting a bullet into a gang leader or for executing a bad guy you incapacitated with your stun gun. Unlike SWAT for the Xbox, you won’t be ordering the Burners to lay down their weapons and you will certainly not break out the handcuffs.

The first mission also introduces allies such as firefighters and paramedics that you can issue orders to during a mission. Firefighters can break through doors using their axes and can put out fires while a paramedic is on hand to give you medical aid as well as help injured citizens and injured officers. The order list isn’t complex, allowing you to issue orders such as Hold and Follow as well as carry out their specialty. There are also helpful citizens that will help you out during certain situations. You will certainly need their help since the Burners will not only outnumber you but will attack frequently. Thankfully you have an arsenal of weapons that include an upgradeable handgun, shotgun, stun gun as well as the ability to use the enemy’s meat cleavers and Molotov cocktails against them. You will even get a riot shield (that is able to withstand quite a beating as well as shield you from bullets) and a trusty flashlight.

As far as the missions are concerned, there is seldom a slow-paced mission in this game so you will often encounter fierce gun fights as well as situations where a Burner will take a hostage. One mission has you storming a prison to take down a Burner lieutenant while another one has you attempting to rescue a VIP and take him to a secure location where a helicopter can pick him up. There are also a variety of mission objectives you must complete in order to earn medals good for unlocking weapon upgrades. The problem, however, is that while the action is intense there are just far too many scripted moments in this game. If you just so happen to die during a mission you will still find that crazed Burner that jumps down at you just like he did the first time you played the mission.

At least there’s a decent multiplayer mode to look forward to when you’re done with the single-player campaign. Multiplayer can be played using the Xbox System Link or, better yet, playing online via Xbox Live. Either way up to eight players can take on each other on in a cops-versus-gangs match-up complete with enough weapons to use in the nine or so maps.

Here is the bad news, though. Riot Response is not a very pretty game. The game actually looks like an early PlayStation game with its poorly rendered backgrounds and blocky character models that look far worse up close. There are moments when the game does look good but those moments are ruined by some unrealistic character movements. The good news is the visual effects are done pretty good and the news report FMVs look crisp and clear. The game is also bloody but not to an exaggerated amount. 

As for the game’s sound, the voice acting is appropriately cheesy and not in a bad way but in a Jerry Bruckheimer-meets-campy-early-“Robocop” way. In other words, it is cornball but in the best possible way. Even the over-the-top announcer who tells you that you unlocked a pistol upgrade is a hoot. The game’s music is also overly dramatic but not bad at all and the news reports are handled beautifully. There are even lots of loud explosions, even louder gunfire and some good bone-crunching violence. If you don’t mind the frequent profanity that pours out of the Burners’ mouths you will enjoy the game’s sounds.

In the end, Urban Chaos: Riot Response may not be the prettiest first-person shooter you’ll play on the Xbox but it is one of the most satisfyingly fun shooters that is well worth playing. Never taking itself seriously, this is a simple-to-play-yet-hard-to-put-down shooter with a number of extras to unlock and enjoyable levels that allow you to show the bad guys the real meaning of excessive force.

Gameplay: 8.0
The simplistic design strays from the complex features of recent shooters and there is hardly any backtracking in the various levels. The fun comes in making good use of your arsenal while completing a number of objectives you need to complete to unlock extras. There are enough interesting situations to make each level unique.

Graphics: 6.5
The graphics will remind you of the original PlayStation with the blocky character models and environmental details that lacks a natural shape.  In spite of this there are moments when the visuals do look decent in places and the visual effects are not bad at all. There are also satisfying close-ups of spectacular head shots.

Sound: 7.5
The acting is tongue-in-cheek in that even when characters try to sound serious the dialogue feels like you’re watching a made-for-cable action movie complete with some really cheesy lines. Yet this is what makes the game such a treat, those corny lines and the loud explosions are just over the top.

Difficulty: Medium
The enemies put up quite a fight and there are gang boss leaders that aren’t easy to take down. While gunfights can become really deadly later in the game, the biggest challenge comes from the occasional timed mission objectives.

Concept: 8.2
Riot Response is packed with unlockable upgrades and items worth going back for and while the game is relatively short the action-packed moments will keep you quite busy. The good news is that there is an Xbox Live multiplayer mode that’s actually quite entertaining.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Up to eight players can play through nine System Link setups or online multiplayer that pits cops against gangs. With enough weapons and creative maps, the action will keep you playing this long after you have finished the single-player campaign mode.

Overall: 8.0
An action-packed ride from start to finish, Urban Chaos: Riot Response might not be another Halo but it certainly is a fun shooter hardcore fans of the genre will surely enjoy. It definitely isn’t a pretty game but when it comes to the shooting action Riot Response will not let you down. Complete with an equally addictive online multiplayer mode, this is a game you will want to play on your Xbox this summer.