Setting the story in the future might have worked, almost did, in fact. The reason is that sometimes writers successfully carry out stories set in the future that are completely foreign in environment, but still have those trademarked features that tie it to your own culture.

Seeing as how Cops 2170: The Power of Law was developed in Russia, it might very well have worked for them; but because of bad translation, poor voice acting and endless awkward moments, the game was doomed from the start for us here in America. Not only that, but the game suffers from severe issues with instability and insufferable frustration because of badly designed gameplay.