True Crime: Streets of LA (PlayStation 2, 2003) throws you straight into a gritty, chaotic version of Los Angeles where one minute you’re busting a street gang, and the next you’re weaving through traffic with sirens blaring and half the LAPD on your tail. Think of it as if Grand Theft Auto had a badge and way too much caffeine.

You play as Nick Kang, a rogue cop with more sarcasm than patience, cleaning up LA in his own questionable way. It’s not just car chases and shootouts either—you’ll get martial arts brawls, bullet-spraying gunfights, and even branching storylines based on your choices. Mess around too much, and you’re one step away from becoming the “bad guy” you were supposed to stop.

1. Explore a massive open-world Los Angeles, mapped out with surprising accuracy for its time.
2. Fight your way through martial arts showdowns, car chases, and high-speed gun battles.
3. Shape your story—play the hero cop or go full dirty cop and watch LA respond to your choices.

Developed by Luxoflux and published by Activision, True Crime: Streets of LA is one of the OG sandbox crime games that paved the way for the genre. If you’re into retro games that let you punch, shoot, and drive your way through moral ambiguity, this one belongs on your shelf. Don’t sleep on it—buy retro games on Retro Games eXchange and relive the chaos of LA in the early 2000s.