True Crime: New York City

Luxoflux / Activision – 2005

True Crime:
New York City

Lead Designer – Six-month combat rebuild – PS2 / Xbox / GameCube / PC

// overview

A late-stage combat rebuild under severe time pressure

True Crime: New York City is an open-world action game from Luxoflux, the Activision studio behind the True Crime series. The game follows an NYPD detective through a crime-ridden Manhattan, combining on-foot combat, gunplay, and vehicle sections.

I joined Luxoflux specifically to lead a late-stage intervention. The existing combat systems weren't working – shooting, targeting, and melee all needed significant redesign with the title already deep in production. I led a small strike team and rebuilt the entire combat system in under six months while the rest of production continued around us.

// what I designed

Design contributions

  • Complete combat system redesign Rebuilt the full combat system from the ground up under a six-month constraint – shooting, targeting, and melee all required fundamental rework. Redesigning core systems on a late-stage title is a different challenge from building them fresh: every change has downstream consequences on content that's already been made, and the margin for iteration is narrow.
  • Shooting and targeting overhaul Redesigned how shooting and targeting worked – addressing feel, responsiveness, and the relationship between player input and on-screen result. The goal was making gunplay feel deliberate and satisfying in a genre where the competition had already raised the bar significantly.
  • Rock-paper-scissors melee system Added a structured melee system built around a rock-paper-scissors dynamic – attacks, counters, and grabs that created readable, learnable combat exchanges without requiring fighting game precision. Changed the melee input system to make the options discoverable and accessible.
  • Strike team leadership Led a small, focused team through a high-pressure production sprint – keeping scope controlled, decisions fast, and quality consistent while working against a fixed deadline on a live production.

// details

StudioLuxoflux (Activision)
RoleLead Designer
DatesMay 2005 – Apr 2006
ReleasedNovember 2005
GenreOpen-World Action
PlatformsPS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC
Combat Rebuild Strike Team Late-Stage Rescue Open World
Gameplay footage Metacritic Wikipedia entry