There’s this particular style of police fiction that still grips the hearts of people all around the world; a Starsky and Hutch or Miami Vice-inspired action-packed drama where imperfect cops do their best against a city under the boot of crime. This depiction of police is an aging one. I doubt too many young people today dream of detectives busting a drug ring or locking up a mafia boss, but the dream lives still, in the minds of Fallen Tree Games and The Precinct.
A top down “neon-noir” action game, The Precinct tells the tale of an Academy-fresh cop new in town, faced with a surge of organized crime. He, alongside a cast of various cop-show archetypes, must whittle down this illicit empire one assault charge, car chase, and parking ticket at a time.
I was able to play The Precinct for a few hours, and I’ve got to say while I’m not exactly a member of The Met fan club, I do see the vision here. And dare I say, it’s one I quite liked.
Almost immediately, you’re introduced to a bunch of coppers with names like Kowalski, who poke and joke with each other, who all have different opinions on the state of the city. Some, like your older mentor (only a few weeks from retirement, of course) want to keep their head down. Others, like yourself, have an idealistic sense of justice that they take out to the street. It’s all very stereotypical, but therin lies the charm. These tropes are realised in not necessarily a bad way. You kick off the day with a hotdog with your partner, a bonafide glizzy lover if there ever was one.
From there you go out on the street and dish out the law. This can come in many forms, and the game isn’t shy at all at throwing dangerous days your way earlier on. A car chase with bank robbers sets the tone, sending you speeding down packed highways and narrow alleys. Sirens blaring and your partner shooting out the passenger window. But the game is firm on showing your the ropes on more typical police work, too, sending you on patrol down nearby streets where you check parking metres and write up naughty drivers.
One thing that I believe is important is that the game is incredibly serious about its depiction of “correct policing”. You are not a brutalizing thug in The Precinct. If you catch a youth spray painting a wall and shoot him down, the mission fails and you’re sent back to the last checkpoint. If you beat him up, you are heavily punished. Appropriate force is the name of the game, and it came across to me that the game was created this way as so to not glorify the sort of violence police are known for in this day and age.
It’s a crucial component of the police fantasy at work. You are not a run-and-gun loose cannon. Instead, the procedure is god in The Precinct. More of your headspace is filled with taking track of what crimes a perp has actually committed, and doing things by the book is rewarded with additional XP. This XP provides various boons to your police work, so if you want to be a good cop, you’ve got to be a good cop.
During my short time playing, I managed to get a peak of what the meat of the game will be. Three gangs hold the city in a steel grip, and by cracking down on crime you come across on patrol, you gain evidence that’ll eventually lead you to a boss for one of the gangs. So once you breach the tutorial portion of the game, it’s all about doing your job until one of the serious department detectives have enough proof to run down one of the big time players. Rinse, repeat.
All this works in large part due to the city itself. It’s a brilliantly crafted urban sprawl with neon signs, hotdog stands, and all manner of clutter that brings the fantasy to life. It begs to be explored. Playing it, it felt a little like the old school GTA games, mixed with a bit of True Crime for taste and tone.
All in all The Precinct looks to be the real deal, and the perfect game for a particular batch of people out in the world. You can download a demo for The Precinct now on Steam, and hang tight for the eventual release date on May 13.
