20 More Cult Classics Trapped On Old Consoles

17. True Crime: Streets Of LA

True Crime: Streets of LA is arguably the better of the two True Crime titles, and one of the most playable GTA clones of its time. While there were many games of the early 2000s pushing for a recreation of Rockstar’s winning formula, the True Crime series stood apart from that series by putting players in charge of enforcing the law, rather than breaking it. 

Streets of LA is also memorable for its ambition. Containing a branching narrative, morality system, random events such as street crimes, and detective elements, the game impressed many back in 2003. The game even adapts to the failure of certain missions, with the existence of multiple level outcomes depending on your success in completing objectives. Its depiction of LA itself is very detailed too, with its recognisable neighbourhoods, beaches and highways giving players a more accurate deep dive into the city than GTA San Andreas managed in 2004. 

While much of this game’s formula would be vastly improved upon in spiritual successor, Sleeping Dogs (originally conceived as a direct True Crime sequel), True Crime: Streets of LA remains a memorable experiment from the era when open-world games were rapidly evolving. Older GTA games get all the spotlight in terms of older crime dramas, so it’s a shame that we can’t more easily play this charming, ambitious gem of the early 2000s. Fingers crossed, like Sleeping Dogs, we get a definitive edition of the title on more modern consoles, but let’s be honest, it’s unlikely.