Review: The Precinct
I’m in a high speed pursuit trying to apprehend a carjacker who is swerving through traffic with no regard for anyones safety. I call in another police car for support and they begin to try and force the carjacker off the highway but with no success, so after closely pursuing for just a little while longer, I call for road spikes to be deployed. These cause the fleeing car to swerve uncontrollably off the highway, drop down onto an adjoining walkway and then into the sea. I stop just in time to have my car hanging precariously over the edge of the drop into the sea and manage to get out of my car in time to see the carjacker getting back to shore where an on foot chase begins culminating in me tazoring him and arresting him.
The above is just one of the many unexpected and unscripted things that can happen in The Precinct…along with the scripted scenarios too of course.
Set in the vibrant and busy fictional US city of Averno in the 1980’s, the game is played in a top-down 3D isometric view, with camera controls that rarely blocked my view of anything.
You play as rookie cop Nick Cordell Jnr…just one of the many nods to the 1980s that are in the game (Robert Z’Darr plays officer Matt Cordell in the 1988 movie ‘Maniac Cop’, and watch out for pedestrian dialogue which includes such phrases as ‘I pity the fool’ and ‘They mostly come out at night’) and are teamed up with your partner officer Kelly who accompanies you on your shifts across the city.
As you work your way through the game you choose from a selection of shifts that you would like to undertake for each day. These are spread across different areas of the city and at different times of the day and night. The focus of the shifts varies between looking for parking infractions, speeding cars (where you can also be in a helicopter), muggings and vandalism, all while trying to find evidence against 6 big crimes bosses that are operating in the city.
Upon apprehending someone you get to choose what crimes (if any) they are guilty of. This is done through opening a radial wheel which opens into expanding options of possible offences, including possession of narcotics or illegal weapons, assault, vandalism and MANY more. Correctly selecting the appropriate choice(s) gets you experience points that are added up at the end of every shift when you return to your desk at the police station and as well as upping you in the police ranks (which gives a variety of unlocks to be used in the game, such as different vehicles available in the police garage), it also gives access to ‘perks’ that can be spent upgrading your character and what they can do, including increasing your health and stamina, or giving you access to acquire any vehicles in the city should you need to jump into one during a pursuit. Be aware though that selecting the wrong choices can lose you experience points, so be alert for everything that is happening onscreen.
The narrative is given by static drawings of your colleagues at the station with dialogue that can be skipped forward should you wish to do so, and while serviceable for the game, I would have preferred just keeping with the isometric view while the characters spoke their dialogue to you.
A few other niggles I had was the prompt to press ‘Y’ (I play on Xbox’) often disappeared to be replaced by a “missing input” text message to appear, and don’t get me started on my partner whose inability to get back into the car with me made me lose many pursuits. A “Wait for Kelly” prompt appeared onscreen as I was sat in the car watching a perp drive into the distance as Kelly ran around like a headless chicken refusing to get into the car.
Those niggles aside though I have been having a great time with The Precinct and it is a hell of a lot of fun to play. The structure of the gameplay of breaking down into small shifts, means that I can jump into it for a quick 10 minute 1 shift session, or equally get settled for a longer gaming session.
I’ve only scratched the surface of what you can do in The Precinct as I don’t want to spoil everything that it has to offer. However, I will say that I haven’t had as much pure fun with a game for a while. Maybe it’s the 80’s setting. Maybe it’s the visual style. Maybe it’s the core gameplay loop. Whatever it is, I’m having a blast with it and I think you may well do too.
Key Features:
Explore a vibrant, living city by foot, squad car and helicopter
Respond to sandbox crimes ranging from parking violations to gang shootouts
Engage in intense vehicle chases through destructible environments
Go it alone or call in backup with an in-depth support system
Investigate the gangs who rule the city and the dark conspiracies keeping them in control
Day/night cycle with dynamic weather
Available to buy now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Review by Dave from an Xbox code kindly supplied by Kwalee via Renaissance PR.
