25 to Life

Plot

The game is about a black man named Freeze, his friend Shaun Calderon, and a Police Officer, Officer Williams. The main protagonist being Freeze, the story is focused around him, despite the ability to play as all three of the characters during at least one point throughout the game. Freeze commits crimes with Shaun to get money, which he promptly spends for his family.

One night upon returning home, his wife confronts him about these actions. Saying they are a bad influence to their son, she wants him to stop. After an argument, he agrees. The next day, he tells Shaun he wants out of the game. Shaun levels a gun on Freeze, informing him that he must do one last "job"—a narcotics trade.

At the deal, Freeze finds the Colombian gang members dead, and police officer Maria Mendoza waiting. Freeze flees with the police in pursuit and loses them. The 2nd Street D-Boys realize Freeze wants out of the gang, and he has to avoid both his former homies and the police. Later, he robs a bank until the police arrive. After a gun fight against the police, he finally reaches his getaway car only to be arrested after being hit by a nightstick.

Meanwhile, Mendoza informs Officer Williams of a new criminal, Shaun Calderon. They look for Shaun in his house (with a rookie) only to be found in a gun fight. Officer Williams then finds evidence and gets into Mendoza's car. Officer Williams goes to a club to find Shaun and chases him to the subway. Officer Williams then arrests Shaun but Mendoza kills him and tells Shaun to leave and go to Mexico.

Shaun goes to Tijuana and fights his way to a local club called "The Curtains Club". Shaun then robs a casino, fights security and goes to a wealthy man named Saragosa's penthouse. Shaun then kills him.

Freeze breaks out of jail and gets new clothes at the mall while being chased by the police. Freeze then kills Mendoza in the mall and hunts down Shaun then saying, "We used to be best friends, until you sold me out. Now, it's nothin' but flowers and a funeral for you, home boy", Freeze steps on Shaun's neck until he suffocates. The final scene shows Freeze telling Darnell, "From now on, it's just you and me against the world. Now let's do this." a large amount of police officers arrive, Freeze picks up a gun and points it at the police.

Reception

25 to Life received "unfavorable" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.

Hyper's Maurice Branscombe commented that the game's soundtrack was okay only "if you like rap." However, he criticised the game as "absolutely unadulterated bullshit."

USA Today gave the game a score of four stars out of ten and stated that its only strong quality "is a decent multiplayer mode. Most of the action is team-based, allowing you to choose between police or thugs. Players can choose to rob a location and return the stash to their home turf, raid a criminal hangout, or engage in an all-out deathmatch. Freeze's goal at the start of this story was to get out of the "game." Five minutes slogging through this shooter will have players wanting the same." The A.V. Club gave it a D+ and called it "a half-baked copy of someone's urban nightmare." Detroit Free Press gave the PS2 version one star out of four and stated that it "lacks everything that would make it new, innovative or just plain fun. The graphics are really muddy and sub-par. The controls seem to be a bit confusing."