Nick Kang is a young Chinese-American investigator suspended from the Los Angeles Police Department for his abusive policing practices and capacity to inflict colossal property damage. However, Wanda Parks, the Chief of the E.O.D. (Elite Operations Division), needs Nick’s help in a case involving attacks on several venues in the Chinatown district. Nick is first hesitant to assist, preferring the vigilante life and concentrating on avenging his father’s death. He eventually agrees to lead the investigation, but only on one condition: he must do it his way.
True Crime: Streets of L.A. is a free-roaming driving and action game akin to Grand Theft Auto III in the idea. The game’s structure is mission-based; the story governs most missions and begins after a cinematic that advances it. Failing a task does not prevent the player from progressing through the chapter and completing subsequent objectives; in some situations, this will result in branching pathways and extra missions. The player must eventually succeed in all primary tasks to complete the chapter.
Nick can hijack any car on the street (generally with little to no repercussions) and freely drive through Los Angeles’ 240 square miles. Nick can fire his weapon while moving; with an open-top vehicle, you can aim wherever. The player can also choose to walk about the city. Other police officers will routinely contact Nick and inform him about other street crimes. To cope with these offenses, he can battle criminals, arrest them, knock them unconscious, or murder them.
The missions’ gameplay is divided into third-person shooting, fighting, and (occasionally) stealth portions. All of these activities typically take place in small, constrained spaces. The shooting sections have Nick dealing with waves of adversaries that emerge in various locations. To evade opponent strikes, Nick must respond swiftly by moving, crouching, or diving (with a “bullet time” effect). In such stages, there is a limited supply of painkillers.
During the fighting phases, Nick uses martial arts to overcome foes in hand-to-hand combat. Nick can punch, kick, grapple, and throw opponents. The player can perform combos by repeatedly pressing different combinations of buttons. Finding ancient melee weapons and stealing them from foes is also possible. The environments in both the shooting and fighting stages are destructible.
Stealth missions mainly entail Nick crossing a hostile area without drawing the attention of the adversaries; the objective is failed if an adversary is not dealt with discreetly or quickly after he discovers Nick. The player can choose to murder attackers or knock them down, with the latter awarding the protagonist “good cop” points. On the other hand, Nick receives “bad cop” points for shooting innocents or surrendered criminals. The tale branches in later chapters based on Nick’s rating in these categories, leading to multiple endings.
