True Crime: Streets of LA is a 2003 open world action-adventure video game developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in November 2003, for Microsoft Windows in May 2004, and by Aspyr for Mac OS X in March 2005. A mobile phone adaptation was released in November 2004. The game tells the story of Nicholas Kang, an uncompromising LAPD detective who is recruited into the Elite Operations Division to investigate a series of bombings in Chinatown. As he delves further into the case, he discovers it may be connected to the disappearance of his police officer father 20 years prior. The game features a re-creation of a large part of L.A., including most of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, with the majority of street names, landmarks and highways reproduced accurately.
Streets of LA received generally positive reviews and was commercially successful, selling over 3,000,000 units worldwide across all platforms. The True Crime franchise continued in 2005 with the release of True Crime: New York City.
Gameplay True Crime is an open world action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective, in which the player controls Detective Nicholas Kang of the "Elite Operations Division" (E.O.D.), a hand-picked autonomous unit of the regular LAPD.
The game was one of the first non-Grand Theft Auto open world action-adventure games released after Grand Theft Auto III (2001). It was labeled by many as a Grand Theft Auto clone, since the core game mechanics are identical to Grand Theft Auto III, and its successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). Much like in Grand Theft Auto, players can travel across the city freely, commandeer vehicles, do whatever they want to attack or kill innocent civilians, and progress through the storyline at their leisure. However, the major difference from Grand Theft Auto games is that in True Crime, the player controls a law enforcement officer. As such, True Crime has been called "the GTA III clone where you play a cop."
The game involves four main types of mission, each with their own unique gameplay: shooting, fighting, stealth and driving. In many levels of the game, even if missions are failed, the storyline will continue, sometimes with a different opening cutscene for the next level, with an alternate version of the level, occasionally by branching into another storyline entirely.
During shooting missions, the game auto-targets the closest opponent. If the player wishes to switch target to another opponent, they must do so manually. When the player is in shooting mode, they can enter "Precision Targeting" at any time. At this point, the game switches to first-person, zooms in on the target, and goes into slow motion momentarily. While in Precision Targeting, if the reticle turns green, the player can hit the enemy with a neutralizing, non-lethal shot. If the player fires when the reticle is red, the enemy will be killed instantly. Players can also take cover during shootouts, firing from behind cover when the opportunity presents itself. Players are also free to pick up any weapons dropped by enemies. Once the ammo of these weapons is depleted, however, Kang will drop the weapon and revert to his standard issue revolver, which, although it needs to be reloaded, never runs out of ammo.
In hand-to-hand combat, the player has four main attacks: high kick, low kick, punch, and grapple. After hitting an enemy a certain number of times, the enemy will be stunned, at which point the player can perform a combo by pressing a series of buttons. During stealth missions, the player is automatically placed into stealth mode. The player can approach enemies from behind and either knock them out or kill them. Bumping into objects or walking over broken glass or plastic bags will cause nearby enemies to become aware of the player's presence.
Driving missions can involve either trying to catch another car, escape from another car or tailing another car. At all times, when the player is in a car, their car's condition is shown on-screen. If the car's health meter empties, the car is close to destruction. When another car is involved, that car's health meter will also be shown on-screen. When the player is tailing another car, a "Tail meter" will appear on-screen, with three sections and a moving arrow. If the arrow is in the top section, it means the player is too close and must slow down. If the arrow is in the bottom section, it means the player is losing the target and must speed up. As such, the player must try to keep the arrow in the middle section as much as possible. During normal driving missions, the player can solve random crimes provided by the radio dispatcher.
The player can access 24/7 facilities throughout the game to upgrade either their driving, fighting or shooting abilities. 24/7 facilities are only accessible if the player has an available "badge". Badges are earned by acquiring "Reward points"; every one-hundred reward points is converted into one badge. Entry into a 24/7 facility costs one badge, and the player must complete a challenge to earn the upgrade. If the player fails, they must spend another badge to try again. Rewards points are also necessary for the player to heal themselves at a pharmacy or have their car repaired at a garage; the number of points deducted depends on the level of damage in each case. The player earns reward points for arresting or killing criminals, solving crimes and completing missions. Points are deducted for killing civilians and failing missions.
The player also has a "Good Cop/Bad Cop" meter. If the player arrests criminals, solves crimes, shoots enemies with neutralizing shots, and knocks out opponents instead of killing them in stealth missions, they will get Good Cop points. If, however, they kill civilians, shoot criminals in the head, use weapons in hand-to-hand combat, or kill enemies in stealth missions, they will get Bad Cop points. At certain points in the game, the storyline will branch differently depending on whether the player has a Good Cop score or a Bad Cop score. If the player's Bad Cop score gets too high, civilians will begin to attack Kang. If the Bad Cop score reaches 99, other police, and eventually SWAT will attempt to kill him. The number of Good or Bad Cop points also plays a factor in determining the game's ending.
Plot
LAPD Detective Nick Kang Wilson (voiced by Russell Wong) returns from a suspension for excessive force and is selected for the autonomous Elite Operations Division at the behest of Chief Wanda Parks (CCH Pounder), who believes he can help the E.O.D. break a case involving a series of bombings in Chinatown. Nick is partnered with Detective Rosie Velasco (Michelle Rodriguez), an ex-gangster turned cop. Rosie voices her concerns with Nick and his reputation, not wanting to work with him in the field. Nick reciprocates the feeling, preferring to work alone. Parks, however, believes E.O.D. needs all the help they can get to investigate the bombings, and suggests the two meet for food to discuss the matter and try to connect.
Suspecting the Triad is behind the bombings, Nick and Rosie meet at a Chinese food bistro to discuss the matter and the two of them working together in the field, but Nick soon stops a Triad member he sees attempting to extort the owner. The Triad member escapes after Nick beats him in a fight, but later ambushes the two outside and takes Rosie hostage at gunpoint. Rosie gets shot by the gunman trying to escape on her own, while the gunman tries to run to his waiting getaway driver. When Nick shoots the car before the gunman gets in, the driver panics and takes off, leading Nick to neutralize the other. Rosie recovers quickly and decides to let Nick work solo in the field while she provides intel from the precinct. Meanwhile, Parks puts an APB on the Triad's getaway car, which is soon spotted at a Chinese bar. Nick heads there and catches the driver, learning he works for Jimmy Fu (Keone Young), a small-time criminal. Nick confronts Fu inside his crooked imports warehouse, who explains the extortion orders are from higher up, and warns him "something big is about to go down", before they are nearly shot by a sniper. Nick manages to disable the sniper, but finds they are gone before he can arrest them. Back at the precinct, an incarcerated Fu later reveals he is working for "Big" Chong (also Keone Young), an enforcer for Triad boss "Ancient" Wu, a supposedly 300 year old crime lord who is thought by many to be a myth.
While at the precinct, Rosie learns from Sergeant George (Christopher Walken) about Kang's background: his father, Henry Wilson, was involved in a drug trafficking scandal in the 1970's when he suddenly disappeared; Internal Affairs deduced Wilson fled the city, but George never believed it, believing Henry was to much of a straight cop to suddenly go rogue. Meanwhile, Nick tails Chong and sees him bringing large amounts of money into a building owned by Cyprus Holdings, a company linked to the Russian mafia. Nick then follows Chong to a spa, where he observes him meeting a Russian named "Rocky" (Gary Oldman). Rocky complains Chong is not laundering the money from Chinatown quickly enough; Chong tells Rocky Ancient Wu is unhappy with the whole affair, but Rocky is unconcerned, warning Chong that "The General" is in town looking for the money. Chong retorts that The General is only Rocky's problem, and warns the police are all over them. Nick takes the opportunity to reveal himself and confront them: Rocky escapes, but Nick neutralizes Chong.
Back at the precinct, Parks introduces Nick to FBI Agent Paul Masterson (also Gary Oldman). An upset Masterson explains the FBI was investigating Rocky and had the spa under surveillance, but since Nick's raid, Rocky has vanished. While Masterson is initially assertive that he is now leading the investigation and will not tolerate Nick's loose-cannon style, he relents under Parks' advice, and apprehensively allows Nick to find Rocky on his own terms. Later, Parks fills Rosie in on more of Nick's backstory: after Henry disappeared, Nick and his brother Cary Kang, (Ryun Yu) moved to Hong Kong to live with their deceased mother's relatives, changing their surname from Wilson to Kang to try to fit in. However, both were shunned and often antagonized by the local kids for being half-white and eventually returned to L.A.; Cary opened a franchise of martial arts dojos, while Nick went on to become a cop, presumably in hopes of learning his father's true fate and clearing his name.
Nick later attempts to interrogate Francis, a mechanic and arms trafficker for the Russian mob, about Rocky's whereabouts. Francis briefly escapes, but is soon caught and arrested. Back at the precinct, Francis explains that he's never dealt with Rocky personally, but suggests Nick investigate a Russian-owned club in Hollywood, The Gulag. While observing the club, Nick sees a suspicious Hollywood detective leaving the building. After sneaking in and eventually fighting through the Russian goons operating the club, Nick meets Rocky in his office. Rocky shows off that the money the Triad are laundering for him is counterfeit, and of exceptionally high quality and accuracy to normal money. Rocky then threatens Nick to back off his investigation, playing a voicemail from Cary's dojo where the Triads are actively beating him and vandalizing the dojo. Nick races to Cary's dojo to save him, but the dojo itself is ransacked and Cary is nowhere to be found.