the wanted system should be annoying
A wanted level that disappears because you drove around one corner is not tension. It is a weather effect.
Witnesses should matter. Cameras should matter. Changing cars should matter. Hiding in a parking structure should be better than driving a straight line until the stars blink away.
Yes, that means random crimes become less convenient. Good. A city that notices you creates stories.
The compromise is simple: one star should be escapable quickly, but serious chaos should require an actual plan. If you flatten half of Vice City and lose the police behind a shrub, the simulation is comedy in the wrong way.