Marcus Reed is a member of his father's gang. Several years later, he appears to be betrayed by a friend and declared dead. However, he returns as a bloody mess to kill Kev Lar, the man responsible for setting him up. After killing him, Terry Higgins, a cop, saves his life from a gang member and agrees to arrest him. He doesn't like Marcus killing and threatens him to do as he says or he's on his own forever.
Five years later, Marcus is working for the NYPD and works under Lt. Dixon. Victor Navarro, the chief, does not like this. After passing his test, Marcus is driven to see his father, Isaiah, to show he's not a criminal anymore. Terry stops in a place for a deal but seemingly dies in an explosion. Since then, Marcus plans on tracking down the four crime leaders to avenge his death.
This game contains examples of the following tropes:
- Big Bad: Terry Higgins.
- Big Damn Heroes: Terry has one in the beginning the moment he saves Marcus from Kev Lar's thug.
- Boom, Headshot!: Can be done with manual aim and is always a one-hit kill unless you're using a non-lethal weapon, in which case it results in Instant Sedation.
- Casting Gag: Marcus' superior, Lt. Deena Dixon, is voiced by Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fame.
- Cowboy Cop: Marcus. Even if you do your best to avoid getting Bad Cop points, you'll still be commandeering vehicles and shooting lots of perps.
- Darker and Edgier: While the first game can be best viewed as an Affectionate Parody of many 80's cop films, this game takes itself a lot more seriously.
- Dirty Cop: You can play Marcus as this, selling evidence on the black market and shooting unarmed perps.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: How this game's Karma Meter works.
- In Name Only: This game has absolutely nothing to do with True Crime: Streets of LA other than the genre and gameplay style.
- Instant Sedation: Getting a headshot with a tranquilizer gun will put an enemy down instantly.
- Ironic Echo: "Motherfuckers with no loyalty don't deserve to live."
- Karma Meter: Performing good actions (turning in evidence, putting enemies down non-lethally) gets you Good Cop points. Performing bad actions (selling evidence for money, killing enemies that aren't wielding guns) gets you Bad Cop points.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Lionel Jones wields a katana, which can chop an AK-47 barrel off!
- Knee Capping: You can do this to take down enemies non-lethally.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Isaiah resides in one of these. With a bookshelf, weights, and a bar counter with an assortment of drinks.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Marcus looks at his badge in shame in the "Bad Cop" ending.
- New York Is Only Manhattan: The game takes place in New York City (as you can tell from the title). Once again, the city seems to be relegated to Manhattan. Debug mode reveals other areas of New York. They have named streets, vehicles, and pedestrians, but no buildings.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Terry actually won, Marcus wiped out the four crime families leaving Terry free to ride off into the sunset with a fortune in mob money. However, Terry makes the decision to reveal his deception and try and cut Marcus in on the action out of loyalty to Marcus. This ends up getting him killed by Marcus in both endings (either Marcus straight up executes him in rage in the bad ending, or he dies during a chase when Marcus tries to arrest him in the good ending).
- Occidental Otaku: Lionel "Benjamin" Jones of the President's Club, a Scary Black Man who adopted Japanese culture since his group was dealing with the Yakuza. He has his own Zen garden and fights Marcus with Samurai armor and a katana.
- Police Brutality: You can invoke this while interrogating someone, though it will net you Bad Cop points.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Marcus was pissed when he learned that Terry was the mole. And when Terry tried to pay Marcus off, he switched to blackmail after Marcus refused. Marcus had this to say in the good ending.Marcus: Yo, what the fuck makes you think I give a shit?! I'll do my time standing up, just like my Pops!
- In the bad ending, Marcus simply shoots Terry.
- Sewer Gator: There is an alligator at either end of the Sewer Tunnel fight arena.
- Shout-Out: In one mission Marcus remarks "Next thing you know I'll be flying remote-controlled toys and shit", a reference to RC missions in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
- Starter Villain: Kev Lar, who tried to have Marcus and his father killed. His plan failed obviously as both Marcus and his dad is still alive.
- Theme Naming: Every prolific member of the President's Club is named after an actual US President, namely those featured on dollar bills.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Subduing an enemy in a non-lethal manner gets you more Good Cop points.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: The final boss fight (in the bad ending) is a 2D side-scrolling punch-out in which you need to punch your opponent off the other side of the stage, a significant shift from the game's two earlier melee boss fights which utilized the game's standard combat engine. The good ending has no boss fight.
- Unwitting Pawn: Marcus himself. Turns out Terry faked his death knowing Marcus would wipe out the city's four major crime families in retribution, leaving Terry free to steal all their money and ride off into the sunset. Lampshaded by Kev Lar earlier, saying "Just like your old man, you're always gonna be played, nigga."
- Upbringing Makes the Hero: Averted in the good ending; where Marcus's gangster/Warrior Poet father pontificates where such integrity came from.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Terry and Marcus's father.
- What the Hell, Player?: During the Training level, the PA will chastise you if you perform a lethal takedown. However, it's implied the victim is not dead.
