Let’s start things off with an awesome cinematic to explain the storyline, add background music to pump you up and get you ready to fight, and a sexy dispatch babe clueing you in to the battle that lie ahead, and you’ve got the makings of an excellent futuristic shoot-em-up, better known as Future Cop: L.A.P.D. By the time you get to the Options screen, you are really fired up. The graphics are very good and the sound effects and background music really add a lot of intensity to the game.

The gameplay in Future Cop is very good. There are two modes of play: Crime War and Precinct Assault. In Crime War, it’s you and your X-1 Alpha waging an all-out war on the various gang lords that have overtaken Los Angeles. Each level is named for an actual place in L.A., such as Venice Beach and the La Brea Tar Pits. You can play Cooperative with another player in split screen mode or go it alone. It’s an overhead view where you travel through the levels destroying everything in your path. Your vehicle can be used as a “mech” walker or as a hovercar, depending on your terrain. You can also do this in Precinct Assault mode, where you battle another player or the Sky Captain. There, you each try to penetrate the opponent’s base using tanks, turrets, and choppers. For a real scare, fight the Sky Captain. This guy is totally insane, and the first time you hear him taunt, “Where are you?” it’ll send chills down your spine.

Future Cop: L.A.P.D. is quite a challenge, while still being very entertaining. The bosses are tough, the puzzles keep you thinking, and the multi-level areas seem to go on forever. It’s a good value for your money, because there are plenty of hours of solid gameplay locked in that little CD.

First of all, Future Cop: L.A.P.D. is Dual Shock and Analog compatible; always a plus, and rapidly becoming a standard. Then there is the placement of the Power-Ups. They are located throughout the levels in the forms of reloaders. You never know what you will get, whether it be heavy weapons upgrade, health, or armor replenishment. And they aren’t always easy to get to; having to really work for those Power-Ups increases the challenge.