But as you go along, you'll find that the game's story mode gets old quickly. With each mission, you'll earn skill points that you can use to upgrade your various abilities-such as striking, grappling, toughness, and more-so you can fine-tune your character depending on your personal style. The first few missions of the game go by pretty quickly as you are introduced to different aspects of the game's fighting system. A gang war has broken out between Shun Ying's crew and other rival factions, so you'll spend your time in Urban Reign's story mode laying the smack down on various gangbangers. You play as Brad Hawk, a freelance brawler who has just been hired by the fetching Shun Ying Lee, leader of the Chinatown triad.
Unfortunately the game grows stale rather quickly and is hampered by a ridiculous difficulty level and repetitive gameplay.
Urban Reign attempts to address the void, offering a solid fighting engine and solid visuals to go along with an impressive 100-mission story mode. Though series like Dynasty Warriors have been popular lately, urban-style beat-'em-ups haven't evolved much. Once a staple of the arcade and home console scene, the beat-'em-up genre isn't what it used to be.
