NPCs react to the player's actions. For example, pedestrians will flee if they see Tanner with a weapon or if he drives too close to them.
Plot
John Tanner, a veteran Federal Bureau Investigation agent associated with the Miami Police Department, is assigned under the investigation of a crime syndicate codenamed "South Beach" alongside his longtime partner, Tobias Jones, with their current leads bringing them to Baccus, the driver for the cartel who has betrayed them by cutting a deal with Tico, a rival gang of South Beach, in exchange for their V8. Following a successful siege upon his apartment, Tanner captures Baccus and offers him witness protection in exchange for him replacing the latter as the new driver for the cartel, though when he attempts to hand over the car keys, the former mistakes them as a weapon and kills him. Afterwards, Tanner retrieves the V8 from Tico's gang in the Gold Coast Hotel and returns it to the cartel, headed by Calita Martinez, an efficient and cold criminal who once executed her own crew members during a standoff with one another, with her henchman, Lomaz, being the only survivor. Following the retrieval of the V8, Tanner undergoes several tests with Lomaz and is required to destroy Tico's compound, earning the trust of the cartel in the process.
The Gator, a prominent crime lord operating in Miami and operating alongside South Beach, betrays the cartel following their recent deal and Tanner is instructed to place explosives on his yacht; after successfully infiltrating the yacht, Tanner detonates the explosives and the yacht is destroyed, attracting the attention of the Gator, who approaches the police and conveys information revealing the whereabouts of the cartel's next deal. Unaware that Tanner is undercover, the police disrupt the deal and he assists the cartel is avoiding capture. Afterwards, Tanner is sent to Dodge Island to collect a vehicle from the Gator, who unsuccessfully attempts to have the former killed, which provokes South Beach in the process, who send both Tanner and Lomaz to execute the Gator in retribution for his betrayal. Simultaneously, Tico, in retaliation for the theft of the V8, personally attacks Tanner's residence and escapes downtown, though the latter tracks him down and executes him on Lomaz's orders.
Soon after, South Beach relocates to Nice, France and Tanner is approached by Henri Vauban and Didier Dubois, agents operating for Interpol, and they insist on hauling the stolen vehicles from them, though Tanner insists on prolonging the investigation to learn who is truly heading the cartel itself. Meanwhile, Tanner and Bad Hand, another of Calita's men, begin to hijack and steal several vehicles belonging to Fabienne, the head of a repossession cartel operating in Nice, leading to competition between the two gangs. Afterwards, Tanner and Lomaz successfully collect weapons from an arms deal, though Fabienne's men ambush them and they are forced to steal the hardware. Following this, Fabienne attempts to kill Tanner and Lomaz with a bomb rigged to their vehicle, though the former instead drives the rigged vehicle to her compound and it explodes, killing several of her men. Soon after, Calita breaks into Fabienne's compound to steal the final vehicle, though she is caught and a shootout erupts, forcing Tanner and Lomaz to rescue her, with the former executing Fabienne afterwards.
Unfortunately, Vauban disobeys Tanner and sends Dubois into the cartel's compound to survey the vehicles, though the latter is captured in the process; Dubois is interrogated and he reveals that Tanner is undercover, leading to Calita forcing the latter to prove his loyalty by killing him. In an attempt to keep his undercover status, Tanner decides to kill Dubois, though the bullet magazine is secretly emptied beforehand, with Calita deciding to have Dubois killed the next day. Frustrated with Vauban's refusal to cooperate, Tanner quickly rescues Dubois from Calita's men before his execution. Afterwards, Tanner and Dubois are sent to the cartel's boathouse to steal their laptop, which contains the information regarding where the sale of the vehicles will take place; they discover that the sale will commence in Istanbul, Turkey before they are caught by the cartel, which is headed by Charles Jericho, the former underling of Solomon Caine, a high-ranking crime lord with a massive criminal organization extending from Chicago to Las Vegas, before his unexpected killing at the hands of the former. Following this, Jericho reveals that Bad Hand replaced the bullet magazine in Tanner's gun with one containing a tracking device, exposing the latter's undercover status; Jericho destroys the laptop and executes Dubois with Tanner's gun whilst the latter escapes to Vauban.
