Game: "187: Ride or Die."

Console: PlayStation 2 (also out for Xbox).

Developer/publisher: Ubisoft.

Genre: Action.

Number of players: One to two; eight players online.

ESRB: Mature.

Premise: You are a gangster trying to work your way up the hierarchy of urban street life under the guidance of gang boss Dupree. Your only weapons are fast rides and loaded guns in this dangerous game where the prizes are honeys, bling and cribs.

Game play: A first glance, "187: Ride or Die" leads you to believe it's the "Road Rash" series' ruggedness revamped to fit the 2005 mold for danger, with its gangsta-life story line and liberal use of hip-hop slang. Unfortunately, it's filled with so much forced toughness and unauthentic slang, the developers shouldn't have bothered incorporating any of it.

As for the game play, it consists mostly of driving, picking up weapons to take your opponents out and crossing the finish line first.

Sounds simple enough, but there's much more to it than that. Players are allowed only two weapons at once, so accuracy is key when shooting opponents. A boost meter will fill up when you drift around corners; and when filled, gives you a charge to gain positions but runs out so fast it's barely worth the effort.

In addition, AI loves to slow down as you're tailing to give you a lead — only to ride your tail later, which makes it very possible to lose a race at the very last second.

There are several modes, including races that replace guns with mines, a mode that eliminates the racer in last place after every lap and "po-po" chase, which requires you to escape from the police by winning a race without the use of guns. Unlockables are present, too, in the form of other racers and additional cars, which have names as colorful as their drivers, including Fo' Shizzle, Groupie Luv and Just Blaze. (See what I mean?)

The good/bad: The saving graces of this game are the graphics, which run pretty smoothly; the slow-motion car explosions; and the voice-over work of Larenz Tate, who recently starred in the movie "Crash."

One of the worst things is the impression it was thrown together at the last possible minute — a feeling reinforced by the atrocious subtitles, which not only at times fail to match the dialogue, but appear to be done by someone still in grade school. Punctuation and spelling errors occur more than occasionally and plummet the professionalism of the game's developers.

My take: Despite having an interesting angle and the potential to be a great game, "187: Ride or Die" fails in nearly every aspect possible. It has the feeling of a project assigned to someone who knows nothing about a subject and not enough time to do it. Unless you're looking for laughs at its expense, don't bother buying or renting this game.

Jeremy Castillo is a student at Windward Community College and the editor of the college's newspaper, Ka 'Ohana.