Miami Vice hands-on

Our copy of the game wasn't quite finished, but it did look remarkably polished for a PSP shooter. We had one major problem, though: the screen was a little too dark, making it even harder to see the tiny enemies that kept popping up in the distance, behind cover, to take pot-shots at us. It's something we got used to once we knew what to look for, but it's still a big irritation. At this point, it's unlikely anything will be done about it before the game ships, but we've got our fingers crossed anyway.

In addition to single-player, we got to spend some time with the game's ad hoc co-op mode. As you'd expect, one player controls Crockett and the other Tubbs, and except for the absence of drug-dealing, evidence-management and upgrade-buying between missions, it's identical to the single-player game. Still, it's a welcome addition, even if it does make it a lot easier to just ignore cover and run around slapping thugs to death at close range.

We didn't expect much from Miami Vice, and so it kind of blindsided us when the game turned out to actually be enjoyable. Assuming it doesn't fall flat in later levels, it might actually turn out to be a surprise hit. Look for this one to hit next week.

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Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.