True Crime: Streets of LA

Los Angeles becomes a sprawling, sun-baked crime scene where reckless LAPD detective Nick Kang chases leads with his fists, firearms, and a complete disregard for departmental procedure. True Crime: Streets of LA is an early open-world action game that mixes cop drama with arcade-style driving, martial-arts brawling, and third-person shootouts. Its story follows Kang after he is pulled back from suspension for a high-risk undercover investigation involving Triad figures and Russian organized crime. The tone is knowingly over-the-top, leaning into profanity, celebrity performances, destructive chases, and the kind of hard-edged action cinema that defined early-2000s crime games.

Most missions begin with a drive across a large approximation of Los Angeles, with recognizable districts, streets, and landmarks giving the city more personality than a generic sandbox. On foot, Kang uses a hand-to-hand system built around strikes, throws, blocks, counters, and disarming enemies, while gunfights let him target foes directly and use dramatic slow-motion moves. Vehicle pursuits are equally important: players tail suspects, ram escaping cars, dodge traffic, and cause enough chaos to turn ordinary patrol work into a rolling disaster. The campaign also branches more than many games of its era, since mission failures can send Kang down alternate assignments instead of instantly ending the story; arrests, performance ratings, and collectible upgrades add extra incentives to roam.

What makes it memorable is its ambition. Long before open-world crime games became routine, it tries to make players feel like an unpredictable detective with a badge, a city map, and several ways to approach a suspect. The combat and driving feel dated beside modern action titles, and the huge map can make travel repetitive, but its mix of kung-fu cop fantasy, branching cases, and authentic LA flavor still has character. Players who enjoy the era of Grand Theft Auto III, The Getaway, and Sleeping Dogs will find a rough but entertaining ancestor here, while newcomers should approach it as a messy classic rather than a polished modern sandbox.