Came across this and reminded me of this game.
:https: //youtu.be/ClY-3UopEeU?si=HwL9GFNWtBIx2LQD
This is a spruced up video of it by the creator obviously

Yeah the game was a big mess, especially depending on what system you played on. But the game was fun as hell, and for it being a ps2/xbox game they did some amazing things here. This game had a TON of interiors from what I remember, something GTA has always lacked. Destruction effects The detail on nyc was great. The snow effects, the cutscenes and voice work. GTA IV (top 5 favorite games of all time) couldn't even bother with snow. And a large portion of nyc was 1 for 1 re-created if I remember right. One of the reasons why I live the true crime/sleeping dogs series. Opposite saints row 1 and 2 it was the only thing that came close to competing in the world of GTA.

Yeah, this game is an all time classic! Idk about better than GTA tho!

I didn't say it was better than gta. It did certain things better. Way more interiors, destruction effects, snow etc. But yeah I wouldn't ever say it was flat out better than gta lol. It gave a really nice effort though and tried to be different by making you a cop

Memories. Song goes hard asf

Yeah, a lot of folks don't know about this game! The whole game is amazing, the music, story, city, etc.

WELCOME TO NYC

JAY Z CAMRON

I have both on ps2 and had both when they dropped i can speak on this
TCNY dropped 4 years after gta 3 which is what is was most similar to
Yes it was dope but so was Scarface the World is yours
Not better than gta 3 though