Played on Xbox Series S
There are very few full-fledged police simulators — we have border guard simulators like Papers, Please and its many imitators, or a couple of games from the This Is The Police micro-series, but in general, it’s rare to play as a cop who drives around the city and catches all sorts of punks. The creators of The Precinct decided to fix this shortcoming — in their project, we become a policeman who needs to restore order on the streets every day, patrolling different areas and encountering criminals. You can’t call a cop’s job fun, it’s full of routine, but in The Precinct, they tried to make the harsh everyday life exciting — although at some point, the initial delight over the gameplay mechanics gives way to fatigue.
⇡#There are scoundrels everywhere
The main character is a rookie in the police department, and his father (also a cop) was once killed by members of city gangs. At the same time, the protagonist does not freak out at the sight of villains, but simply catches them one after another throughout a short, eight-hour campaign. Such a short duration is a little surprising, but the plot is not really needed here. Yes, the game is full of voiced dialogues, and from time to time you are distracted from patrolling and forced to go somewhere to study corpses, which will then be written about in the newspapers, but you should not expect something like “Rush Hour” or “Lethal Weapon” from the story here. It just adds a little meaning to what is happening – you are not just doing your job, but also sometimes catching especially dangerous villains. Plus, the final missions turned out to be touching.
There is no one to fine the main character for illegal parking
Basically, you patrol the districts of the city of Averno. For example, you see an incorrectly parked car – go up to it, press the button, select the reason for the fine (let’s say the car drove onto the sidewalk) and stick a piece of paper with this very fine on the windshield. Or a passerby threw small garbage on the ground in front of you – you can’t do that, go up to him and have an educational conversation.
These are harmless mistakes – of course, there are more interesting violations here. Someone fights with someone, someone cleans out a store and runs away with the loot, someone even opens fire. Sometimes we ourselves come across such cases during patrols, and sometimes the dispatcher reports crimes happening nearby – you need to not only quickly respond to the call, but also get to the scene within a few seconds. Only in rare cases will the perpetrators immediately raise their hands and surrender – mostly they attack or run away. And we set off in pursuit – either on foot or by car.
The working day begins and ends at the police station
Shootouts are rare, mostly in story missions. And in patrol, you only have to take out a gun in the most extreme cases. At the beginning of each working day, you choose the area you want to patrol and decide on a preferred task, the number of which increases as you level up. There is regular patrolling on foot – you walk, search passers-by, check documents and, if necessary, arrest. There is patrol by car, when you drive along the streets and respond to requests from the dispatcher. You can even fly over the city in a helicopter, illuminating criminals with a searchlight.
In the story campaign, you can get evidence when you catch each criminal – you collect the required number of them, and over time a story mission related to one of the gang members opens. In part, this system resembles the latest Assassin’s Creed, only here the evidence does not reveal any details, and you get this evidence anyhow – you found counterfeit cassettes in someone’s pocket (the action takes place in the eighties) and suddenly became one step closer to one of the gang members.
Bandits love to throw insults around
The fatigue from mechanics mentioned at the beginning of the article is also connected with this — to advance the plot, you literally have to do routine things in the hope that during your shift you will manage to collect at least a quarter of the necessary evidence. And there are not so many situations that you get into while catching criminals — by the second hour you have seen everything that the game has to offer. Here are a couple of guys fighting: we yell at them — one gives up, we quickly put handcuffs on him and run after the second one, who is trying to hide. Here is someone speeding: we turn on the siren, drive, shout into the megaphone — eventually the offender stops. Here is someone drawing graffiti: we run up to him and fine him, and if he suddenly tries to run away, we throw him to the ground and handcuff him.
⇡#Lots of work
Those who like routine activities will find plenty to do in The Precinct – here you can easily play the role of a diligent cop who follows the letter of the law and does all the paperwork himself. So you approach a passerby. First, ask him for documents, then search him. If you find something in his pockets, then select an action from the menu – first indicate what exactly you found, and then either fine (for example, for counterfeit items) or arrest (for example, for illegal possession of weapons). If the dispatcher reported an arrest warrant issued for a criminal, then you need to indicate the reason why you will put the citizen in a police car. And if he runs away or suddenly attacks, then the list of his crimes will grow, and it is also advisable to indicate this when filling out the documents.
Well, he’s really messed up…
Of course, you don’t have to do all of this. Firstly, you can delegate paperwork to a partner you always ride with – he will finish what you started while you go on patrol. Secondly, it doesn’t really matter whether you mark everything correctly and whether you choose the right punishment. Unlike Papers, Please!, where mistakes could result in penalties that affected progress, here the punishment is very insignificant – you will simply be deprived of a few experience points. However, for other actions you get so many of these points that you won’t even notice the loss of a small amount. So, if you suddenly fine a cruel murderer or arrest a guy with fake glasses in his pocket, nothing terrible will happen.
On the other hand, the game is still about catching criminals and filling out paperwork, even if it’s done with a couple of clicks in the menu. And you don’t want to give up the most interesting mechanics that make The Precinct a cop simulator. When you just catch a killer and assign all the work to your partner, it’s as if you didn’t catch anyone – you don’t get any pleasure from such a victory. It’s always nice to choose the right assignments, do everything in the right order during a search, read out the rights on time, and then see a big list of actions in the corner of the screen, among which there is not a single mistake and for each of which you are rewarded. Even when you get tired of these mechanics by the end of the game, you still don’t want to work half-heartedly.
The city can sleep peacefully
The better you do everything and the more experience you earn, the faster your character levels up. With each rank, he gets more and more bonuses – these are new guns that are clearly better than the starting pistol, and new cars like an armored police truck. You also get points for leveling up – the skill tree here, surprisingly, consists of really useful passive bonuses. Some of them are related to support tokens used during chases. For example, if you are chasing a criminal who is difficult to catch yourself, call a helicopter or ask colleagues to throw spikes on the road.
***
The Precinct turned out to be about what you might expect – a cop simulator, in which you catch simple swindlers and participate in chases with shootouts. The developers were unable to make the work of a police officer too fun – no matter how you look at it, in real life, law enforcement officers do not have the most varied working days. But if you like routine and playing the role of a law enforcement officer seems like an interesting activity, The Precinct can captivate you – and not just for a couple of evenings, enough to complete the story.
Advantages:
- A real cop simulator with all its everyday routine;
- A progression system that rewards proper handling of suspects;
- Nice bonuses for reaching new levels;
- Nice graphics, especially at night.
Disadvantages:
- There are not too many types of crime, so what happens quickly becomes monotonous;
- The structure of the story campaign forces you to spend time on repetitive activities;
- Minor bugs.
Graphic arts
The city turned out to be very nice – the developers say that they were inspired by noir films, and it shows.
Sound
The music is pleasant, and some compositions even make you want to listen to them separately. The actors also did a good job with the roles of cops and bandits.
Single player game
If you like routine simulators, you will have a great time here too – both playing through the short story campaign and continuing to clean up the streets after the credits.
Estimated time of completion
8 hours for the plot, after which you can continue to play the role of a policeman and level up your character.
Collective game
Not foreseen.
General impression
A nice cop simulator that lacks variety. But even with all its shortcomings, sometimes you want to return to it to catch a few criminals again.
Rating: 7.0 / 10
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