25 To Life

25 to Life is a multiplayer shooting game with a single-player story mode.

In 25 to Life, you take the role of an African-American man by the name of Freeze, occasionally playing as his partner Keith instead, as you gun your way through four Chapters of a few missions each. The mission objectives you're given are generally simple, and on the occasion the game attempts to challenge the player with strange or difficult objectives, it usually goes too far and has the player lose due to 25 to Life's own design, not their own lack of skill.

Overall, 25 to Life's story mode is short, with questionable writing and tone. The game's real draw is that it also features a multiplayer setting with a number of maps, supporting up to 16 players. In modern times, that number isn't impressive so much as standard, but it was a notable feature at the time that 25 to Life was released, and as far as network stability, lag, and so on go, 25 to Life is fairly well-designed.

Unfortunately, as a game, it also provides a fairly unsatisfying multiplayer experience. There are pistols, rifles and grenades, but none of the weapons feel like they have a good amount of impact. Mainstays like rocket launchers and flamethrowers are missing from this title; even at the time of its release, 25 to Life was outdone by other shooters, both head-to-head and cooperative, especially for the PC.

Overall, there isn't much to recommend 25 to Life today, but it could be worth trying if and only if you're looking for a gang-themed shooter to indulge in for a little while, and you don't expect too much. It'll be hard to find people to play with, but if you already know of people who play 25 to Life, count yourself lucky – and get the game to play with them if you want to.