The game's story mode revolves around four crews who compete against each other in an attempt to claim the streets of Los Angeles. The player chooses to join one of the crews and gets to race in various events around the city. Points are earned during the races which lead to the player ranking up to new levels. As progress is made more events become available and new cars are unlocked. The races are of four types, all of which reappear from previous games in the series: road race, time trial, drag race and cop chase.

The game's story mode revolves around four crews who compete against each other in an attempt to claim the streets of Los Angeles. The player chooses to join one of the crews and gets to race in various events around the city. Points are earned during the races which lead to the player ranking up to new levels. As progress is made more events become available and new cars are unlocked. The races are of four types, all of which reappear from previous games in the series: road race, time trial, drag race and cop chase.