The story behind CrimeCraft is minimal. You play a scavenger who finds his way into the Sunrise City safe zone after the collapse of the United States government. Formed through a coalition of six gangs and the mayor, it seeks to establish some semblance of order compared to the turmoil outside the fortified walls. This is told in-game through easily missed NPCs, so it's hardly necessary. You can also learn a little by watching the intro, which is absolutely stunning. It's a shame that the art style from the intro didn't make it into the rest of the game, as it's easily on of the most stylish and entertaining intros we have seen in quite a while.

CrimeCraft is not a particularly stunning game. While the character models are smooth and detailed enough, they lack character. This is true for the environments and guns as well. Overall, it makes the game feel very bland, if passable. You certainly won't stop and pause to marvel at a cool scene or terrain, and the clothing options tend to lean on the side of boring hip-hop stand-bys. The sounds are effective and clear, even if the music is a bit grating. This is one game where turning off the in-game music and turning on your own isn't so much an option as a necessity.

CrimeCraft's gameplay revolves around third-person shooting gameplay. If you have played a game like Gears of War, you will feel right at home in CrimeCraft. You run from cover spot to cover spot (although you must manually enter cover by crouching, and cover usually doesn't actually protect you all that well), pop up, and shoot people. You also have a simple knife attack, and can aim down the sights of your weapon to become more accurate at the cost of speed. There's also sprinting and rolling, although you can't jump. In other words, it's everything you would expect from your average shooter, and all of these core elements are done in a purely vanilla way.

Where CrimeCraft seeks to differentiate itself from the competition is through deeper customization and RPG elements. As mentioned before, the clothing options are rather stereotypical and boring, so the meat of customization comes in through abilities and weapons. Abilities can be bought from a trainer for skill points, and as long as you have the requisite amount of skill points and any pre-requisites (such as another skill), you can buy the skill. Respecs are possible as well, so a character is very fluid depending on their player's style. Weapons can be bought or crafted, and function like weapons in any other MMO, with a list of characteristics such as spread, durability, rate of fire, and ammunition capacity. Weapons are interesting in that they can also be modified through the use of extra mods, such as weapon triggers or new barrels.

Skills include passive skills that increase certain attributes, such as your resistance to bullets or overall damage to a player, as well as active skills and gadgets that must be slotted in order to be used. Some active skills include grenades, proximity mines, and self-healing after you go below a certain amount of health. Alongside skill slotting comes boosts and medicine, which act as your consumables in battle. These are things like drugs to increase performance or hypodermic needles loaded with medicine. Most needles do not dump their effects all at once upon the player, although there is a skill that causes them to do that.

CrimeCraft is split into two distinct bailiwicks, with PvP on one side and PvE on the other. PvE is sorely neglected, but unlike other MMO shooters, it's actually there, which makes it a vast improvement. PvE is done against computer-controlled enemies that boil down to the mindless mobs you kill in other MMOs. Their name reflects their armament. For example, Shockwaves utilize grenade launchers while Strongarms have shotguns. They go down significantly easier than your average player, which makes PvE a great place to practice your moves and weapons before leaping into PvP.

The PvP in CrimeCraft is split into gametypes and maps. The gametypes are all the shooter standards, such as deathmatch, control points, or capture the flag. If you are in a group when you join a PvP game, you will get to play with your friends, which is nice. The game obviously differentiates between free players and subscribed players through the gameplay, with subscribed players having significantly better access to weapons and skills than free players. It can get a little frustrating at times, especially if the teams are stacked with free players on one side and subscribed players on the other.

CrimeCraft says it has a free unlimited trial, but it is even more restrictive than a trial might be. The game locks out most of the features of an MMO to those that are not playing as a subscriber, and even offers bonuses to money and XP rate just for subscribing. This would not be so bad if it didn't lock out some essential MMO features, killing the experience for free players. As a free player, you can't: customize your character on creation; use the mailbox system; use the bank; use the auction house; craft items; or get any quests beyond level 10. Furthermore, the game actually gives you items in quests that you can't use as a free player. On top of this incredible handicap, there's also a micro-transaction model to buy cosmetic items, much like Maple Story or other games of the kind. It feels like money-grubbing. After all, when all of the unique, interesting features of your game are locked out to free players, how are they supposed to become interested and subscribe?

CrimeCraft's strongest point is its PvE system. It adds an element not seen in other games of its kind, and with some additions would make for a very enjoyable experience. However, if you are looking for solid PvP that emphasizes player skill over being able to pay, look to Combat Arms or Battlefield Heroes. The constant reminder of subscription, locking of essential content, and giving players items they can't even use unless they subscribe through quests available in the free version is downright money-grubbing, and you'd do better to try a different game that doesn't trick to stick its hand into your wallet every time you start it.