Hide your wallet.
If your idea of a quality gaming experience is slamming your fist into your desk in frustration, then The Shield may very well be for you. It's a game that offers gameplay so simplistic you'll have learned every twist and turn within a minute of playing. Even then, some of the action sequences, as brief as they are, manage to incite aggravation through imprecision. If you're a fan of the show, you'd be better off avoiding this one, as it makes great strides to damage the otherwise high-quality of the franchise.
The narrative starts out with the Strike Team in hot water, as usual. Lem backs out, claiming Vic Mackey's behavior is too reckless. With their numbers reduced to three, Aceveda threatens to liquidate the team if they don't make a high profile bust to impress the brass. He tips off Mackey to some gang-related gun deals, and so the game begins. Along the way there are a few complications with a misplaced brick of poisoned heroin, but the gameplay is so boring you'll soon lose all interest in where the plot meanders.
Interrogation sequences are perhaps the most distinct aspect of The Shield's gameplay. Sometimes you'll need to slam a foe's face into a stove, or toilet, or barrel, to procure information. To get the answers you're looking for, you're required to hit a sequence of arrow keys. It's not hard to do, and can even be successfully completed on the highest difficulty setting by repeatedly mashing the arrow keys since there's no penalty for hitting the wrong one.
The few sneaking sequences in the game don't require much effort. Simply duck and advance when the enemies have their backs turned. Chase sequences call for you to run forward and occasionally hit the square button to hop an obstacle. Shooting stages are more involved, but also the least enjoyable part of the game. You'll get a few different guns, including a pistol, shotgun, and SMG. Mackey has the ability to take cover behind objects and lean out to shoot, kick open doors, and roll around. Enemies will do the same, but their behavior is generally so stupid all you'll be doing is pointing and shooting anyway. They also have an uncanny ability to know exactly when you're going to pop out of cover, resulting in frequent game reloads and possibly bloodcurdling screams of ultimate irritation on your part. There's also the problem of AI companions getting themselves frequently killed, resulting in a game reload. Though it's easier to aim on the PC, there's just as little reason to bother playing it in the first place.
Between missions you'll frequently find yourself in the Barn, also known as The Shield's police station, which appears here very much like it is in the show. Mackey can further lower heat by turning in objects pilfered from gang strongholds to an evidence locker, or stash them in his personal locker to add to his retirement fund totals. You can also run around and engage in idiotic two line conversations with other characters from the show milling around the Barn.
The game has numerous unlockables, all of which even a hardcore fan would dismiss as useless. Though the voice acting is pretty good in spots and includes some talent from the TV program's cast, none of the dialogue is even close to the crisp, biting linguistic jabs from the show. You'll hear the theme song when you turn the game on and a few catchy metal riffs, but other than that there's little worth exposing your ears to. A few instances of nice lighting exist and the character models resemble their real-life counterparts, but the bland, muddy environments bring it all crashing down. While the game supports up to 4X AA and 1600 x 1200 resolution, it occupies the same shameful rung on the PC visual scale as the PS2 version did with regards to that system's library of titles.
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