In a world full of shooters, every company tries to one-up the competition by bringing new innovations to the table. Well, almost every company. Rocksteady breaks it down old school with Urban Chaos: Riot Response, bringing the soul and attitude of "Mature" games circa 1996 back with a vengeance. Which is good, because it's ill advised to pull any punches when you're a special ops agent trying to save a city from complete ruin.

Nostalgic love aside, Urban Chaos does manage to find a hook in the character of T-Zero member Nick Mason. Armed with experimental military-grade mercenary gear and a swagger that inspires confidence in all, Mason finds his way through the missions of the game by only the grace of his shield and the proud metropolitan emergency response teams.

If by now it hasn't become horribly apparent, Urban Chaos: Riot Response is in line with the media fascination with policemen and fire departments post-9/11. Nick Mason, noted as "The Angel of Hope Street" is at once the idyllic working class hero and a mythical being. Courage under fire is the name of the game here, with rescues coming in every less than optimal situation you can think of. Whether it be something as straightforward as protecting a paramedic trying to save a dying man or leading the way into a flaming building, Mason's exploits are thin on the plot and heavy on the daring.

Although missions do get hairy, Mason has a wide array of equipment to even the odds. T-Zero equipment like an automatic shotgun, assault rifle, a shield and body armor all do well enough to take down the Burner gangs... But eventually, all of them are upgradeable. Through side-missions, "illegal" weaponry gets field-tested to bust down the "red tape" (yes, the game does not leave any stone unturned when it comes to immersion) and unlocks their usage for the regular campaign. As well, gang members often drop their weapons when they're taken down. Cleavers, sawed off shotguns, Molotov cocktails--while not as precise and high-tech as the T-Zero stuff, gang weapons are plenty nasty in their own right.

Of course, when there are cops and robbers...eventually someone will put two and two together and want to play those two against each other rather than just run through as the police. For this, Urban Chaos has a nice online mode with a few options that resemble CounterStrike somewhat. Defending, rescuing, and just plain ol' deathmatch, Rocksteady's FPS gives enough options to make for a worthwhile multiplayer experience...it's just too bad there's no offline multiplayer to speak of.

On top of all of this solid gameplay is some interesting production design. Blood and gore are evident in brutal amounts, live-action FMV news reports chronicle the missions, and the audio is solid. Graphically, it doesn't do as well. Much like many of the Havok physics engine games, models and textures seem to be a bit simpler to work with the more demanding physics inherent with Havok. Add that in with an endless swarm of enemies that all look like Jason Vorhees, and the game winds up to be a little less pretty than average…but by no means ugly.

Urban Chaos is a unique little snowflake in a flurry of also-rans. I mean sure, it's yet another FPS with a gimmick. And yes, the urban setting is getting a little long in the tooth. However, Urban Chaos brings together some solid gameplay that integrates the gimmick as well as can be done. Over that lies a layer of old school sensibilities and a feeling that'll have you jamming to Team America's infamous "America, **** Yeah.” Put all of that together, and you’ve got a killer game.

	Excellent atmosphere and mission structure.
	Solid gameplay.
	Mediocre visuals.
	No offline multiplayer.
	Why is everyone dressed for a Friday the 13th convention?