YMMV / True Crime: Streets of LA

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Nick has a hard enough time convincing people that he spoke to the legendary "Ancient Wu," he's not even going to try to explain the insanity of fighting a dragon surrounded by lava in an underground maze.
  • If you play through the game for the first time only to get to the bad ending, suddenly having no explanation as to why a bunch of goons with automatic weapons are shooting up a high-rise ala Die Hard jump on a desk and shout GENERAL HAN-YU-KIM OF THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY then throw knives at you feels pretty damn random.
• Cliché Storm: Invoked. After all, the game is love letter to Hollywood style Cowboy Cop films so it would only make sense that it borrows just about every trope associated with said films. And makes it all work.
• Complete Monster: Rasputin "Rocky" Kuznetsov is a former KGB agent who went rogue for his own profits. Rocky floods the streets with drugs, while any who resist him are beaten and killed. Collaborating with a rogue North Korean general, Rocky has numerous people killed, including the father of hero Nick Kang. Rocky also bombs a group of shops to kill numerous people for not paying, later intending to torture and murder Nick to keep his profits.
• Designated Hero: A problem that many critics took with the game upon its initial release was how seemingly unlikable Nick Kang, comes across at times. Many players found his brash, Cowboy Cop personality to be more insufferable than endearing. Jeff Gertsmann, of Gamespot fame dubbed him "completely unlikeable" and "an unnecessarily cocky jerk."
• Good Bad Bugs: A pillar of the bridge carrying David Avenue over Ballona Creek (somehow designated in-game as the Los Angeles River) between Washington and Venice Boulevards in Culver City is located next to the edge of the creek's concrete bank, with grass sloping between the pillar and the bank in the wonkiest way possible. YouTube videos exist where players drive their cars at full speed directly into this pillar and end up being flung anywhere from a few blocks to halfway across the city to all the way out of bounds into unused areas of, or even off, the map.
  • A railing transition on the south side of the 101 Freeway where it passes underneath East Edgeware Road near Downtown Los Angeles is another hotspot for being launched into low Earth orbit.
• Magnificent Bastard: Ancient Wu is a centuries-old sorcerer who has ruled the underworld of Los Angeles for years, and seeks to reestablish that control following the chaotic warring brought about by the Russians. Annoyed by his hand in helping the Russians to power now that they have betrayed him, Wu manipulates young, hotheaded cop Nick Kang into taking down the Russians for him, first testing Kang by pitting him against a magical harem and Wu's own gigantic dragon form. Once Kang has proven his worth, Wu offers guidance, assistance and clever tricks to Kang to help him murder Russian gang boss Rocky and his benefactors, leaving Los Angeles solely in Wu's control once more.
• Memetic Mutation: Nick Kang's hand◊ while holding a handgun in one of the game's promotional artworks has become this and resulted in rather amusing edits such as this one◊. Most Gen-Z people only know of the game's existence because of the meme.
• Scrappy Mechanic: The aiming function. In theory, you can shoot to wound. In practice, it seems like random chance decides whether a bullet aimed to wound actually will wound or kill, especially with many gun upgrades that make your bullets strong enough to destroy cars with a few shots.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: It's possible to go through the game without killing a single enemy, thanks to the Knee Capping mechanic.
• That One Boss: General Kim is a terror only in the final duel of the Good Ending, which also reveals the true extent of his villainy.

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