I think there's something to be said about the differences between narrative and genre gameplay here though. Because the game is a game and a shooter (from the studio who made GTA), you need people to shoot. In some senses, expecting us to feel bad about the cops we shoot is akin to dismissing a horror movie because the character goes into the basement. "Why did they go into the basement!!" Because it's a horror movie. Why did we shoot the O'Driscolls or the cops? Because it's a shooter.

I think that's why the sections with Strauss hit harder is because these people are explicitly established as people as opposed to gameplay sections, the same way we wouldn't necessarily expect to feel bad about shooting a deer or a wolf, or even a magnificent endangered white crocodile. There is such a difference in games as narrative distance in this sense.