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| Basketball Hoop looked on longingly from the side of the court |
The tutorial in The Precinct is probably one of the most fun I’ve played in a while, within minutes you’ll be involved in foot chases, car chases, helicopter chases…basically every kind of chase apart from Chevy Chase– and some seriously full-on shootouts. Good.
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| John thought he could park anywhere |
Considering that this is developed by such a small team, the fact that they managed to nail so many mechanics and gameplay elements is genuinely impressive, I’ve played full-on police simulation games that didn’t get the balance between fun and immersion that The Precinct so closely nails. The handling on the cars and vehicles feels weighty and satisfying (as was the case in American Fugitive – think Flatout 2-style handling – a pinnacle of the genre in my eyes!), and the mechanics under the bonnet for the various arrest scenarios that you’ll make are also snappy and give a sense of achievement.
As you patrol the rain-slicked streets of Averno City (the game is set in 1983, the very year that a truly great man was born), you will encounter many crimes taking place, and the very thing that makes them so enjoyable is also an aspect of the game that makes other sections feel a little sloppy and shaky, but more on those later – for now, we’ll discuss the typical arrest scenario.
Whether on foot or in a car, you’ll follow your patrol route – which can be chosen at the start of each shift – and have to deal with myriad ad hoc crimes, everything from littering through to burglaries, car thefts, and assaults constantly take place, and your handling of them will tie directly into the experience points you’ll be awarded at the end of each arrest.
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| Maybe the 3 man drug deal right outside ACPD wasn't such a good idea |
This is one of the highlights of the entire game, as collaring someone for littering, could uncover that they are actually wanted for murder when you call it in, leading to a foot chase across freeways and alleys. You can’t just deal with every infraction of the law through brute force, either – with unnecessary use of force leading to a restart of the situation in hand. For example, I was wandering through an alleyway and saw a bloke nicking a telly, and my instinctual reaction to blow him away with my service revolver was not met with applause from the game. Whoops.
It’s all good, though – as the skill tree in the game is rare in that the upgrades are actually interesting and have a definitive impact. 50% more health? Yes please! Carry 50% more ammo? Yes please! Want the ability to commandeer any vehicles you want? YES PLEASE! None of this ‘+ 0.3% to your ability to possibly deflect melee attacks to your scrotum from a bloke, but only if he lives in a two-bedroom semi-detached house in Burnham-On-Sea’ for the Precinct, it’s straight in there with the big boy unlocks that make the game more of a joy to play. Good.
The cast of characters are interesting to interact with, as well. Tying in with the synthwave soundtrack and fictional ‘80s setting are your fellow officers, they conform to stereotypes but kind of feel like they should, due to the nature of the game, taking as much as it does from cop movies of decades past.
Yes, I love The Precinct, from the various arrests, tasty mechanics, different facets of gameplay, rock solid 30 fps frame rate (although I admittedly fantasise about a 60fps version), awesome soundtrack, and propulsive pace of play – but there are negatives.
As stated above, the very thrashy and random aspects of the inhabitants of Averno City that make the game such moment-to-moment fun, sometimes clash with the procedural style of the game, and whilst it really doesn’t bother me, I have to bring it up as I can imagine it would take some players out of the experience.
Aside from the fact that – as with any open world game – there is a disparity between the more serious aspects and the arcade feel that The Precinct mostly goes for. Say, for example – you stop someone for fighting in the street, you jump out of your car and break things up, but when you return to your car, there will - rightly – be a massive line of cars, all beeping and trying to get around you, but you’ll also see people walking endlessly into the sides of cars, and other vehicles just grinding into each other, which seems a bit unrealistic.
The cast of characters are interesting to interact with, as well. Tying in with the synthwave soundtrack and fictional ‘80s setting are your fellow officers, they conform to stereotypes but kind of feel like they should, due to the nature of the game, taking as much as it does from cop movies of decades past.
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| Bill only brought his car to have its tyres changed and ended up in a deadly shootout |
As stated above, the very thrashy and random aspects of the inhabitants of Averno City that make the game such moment-to-moment fun, sometimes clash with the procedural style of the game, and whilst it really doesn’t bother me, I have to bring it up as I can imagine it would take some players out of the experience.
Aside from the fact that – as with any open world game – there is a disparity between the more serious aspects and the arcade feel that The Precinct mostly goes for. Say, for example – you stop someone for fighting in the street, you jump out of your car and break things up, but when you return to your car, there will - rightly – be a massive line of cars, all beeping and trying to get around you, but you’ll also see people walking endlessly into the sides of cars, and other vehicles just grinding into each other, which seems a bit unrealistic.
You can also freely run over anyone and crash into whatever you want without any repercussions. So, if you come to a red light and slam into a load of cars, before running someone over and then speeding off – nothing will happen. Now, this appeals to my gung-ho sensibilities, but then when you are penalised for use of force in a robbery when someone has nicked a car, opened fire on you and tried to escape – it’s back to the start of the mission. I understand why these separations exist, but it does feel like they don’t hang together perfectly well, again – it doesn’t bother me, but it could well bother others.
Another aspect of the game that feels a little flat are the shootouts, they are mostly cover-based and quite hectic, but I wish the aiming had a ‘snap-to’ effect, with some sort of auto-aim, as the characters can be quite small when hidden behind and the 30fps factor of the frame rate means that getting a bead on someone can be a little finicky. That said, the weapons in the game are fun to use, and I actually like the fact that you have to dash off to your car to re-stock ammo mid-firefight, as it adds an element of strategy to the combat, also – the unlockable shotguns and peripherals are also all very saucy.
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| Important police work takes priority |
A high five to Fallen Tree Games also for the ability to allow your partner to handle the arrest details when you catch a perp, there’s something dynamic and inherently cool about tackling one of a group of criminals, and quickly handcuffing them, before handing them over to your partner to read them their rights and escort them back to the station so that you can take off after another suspect, it’s all very snazzy and keeps up the pace of the game, as does the fact that you can take / cancel callouts you receive should you come across another crime whilst en route. Quite a few times, I’d be heading towards a burglary or drunk driver etc. only to see a much more nefarious crime on the way, so I’d handle that instead without penalisation. It's a subtle bit of world building, as you can imagine one of your fellow officers handling that crime instead, as opposed to it just disappearing off your radar, such is the sense of immersion.
All of the action takes place inside a relatively concise world map, and I initially thought this would bother me as I’m used to sprawling open worlds, but it actually just felt like it was ‘my patrol’ and I became familiar with the streets and little shortcuts on each beat, it also keeps the narrative feeling tight and focused as you gather evidence to take down the rival gangs in the overarching narrative.
All of the action takes place inside a relatively concise world map, and I initially thought this would bother me as I’m used to sprawling open worlds, but it actually just felt like it was ‘my patrol’ and I became familiar with the streets and little shortcuts on each beat, it also keeps the narrative feeling tight and focused as you gather evidence to take down the rival gangs in the overarching narrative.
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| Stacey wasn't so sure that this helicopter trip was legit |
SUMMARY
The Precinct is almost exactly the game that I hoped would follow up American Fugitive, it’s got an effortlessly cool vibe, almost nails the balance of gameplay with the heavy arcade action sprinkled tastefully with a soupcon of RPG and simulation elements that keep things exciting and offer depth without feeling overwhelming.
The Precinct is almost exactly the game that I hoped would follow up American Fugitive, it’s got an effortlessly cool vibe, almost nails the balance of gameplay with the heavy arcade action sprinkled tastefully with a soupcon of RPG and simulation elements that keep things exciting and offer depth without feeling overwhelming.
Whilst some may find the pretty constant arrests and surprisingly pacey gameplay a little repetitive, it makes the game great from a pick-up-and-play point of view, and the snappy procedural mechanics quite frankly put some other games in the same genre to shame.
Right, I’m off the clean up the streets of Averno City!
Right, I’m off the clean up the streets of Averno City!
8/10
🆒COOL🆒
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