Jack Slate's tattoos indicate he was in the U.S. Marine corps at some point before joining GCPD.
There are severe parallels to the first Max Payne game from 2001. Innocent cop is framed, use of bullet time, a quest of vengeance for a family relative. Also the protagonist narrates the game in the same fashion as Max Payne.
One of the key characters is named Dick Hennessey. An obvious pun on the famous Richard Hennessy cognac.
According to producer Andrè Emerson, the installment and gameplay draw many inspirations from hong kong action movies and classic noir films.
The main charachter Jack Slate could be a reference to " Jack Slater ". Played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero.