What if GTA played by the rules? The Precinct tries it — and well, I can’t believe I enjoyed issuing parking tickets either.
If you’ve played any GTA game then there’s a good chance that at some point you’ve attempted to role play as a law-abiding citizen. Following traffic laws, stopping at lights, and generally behaving as you traverse the city. But before long, any tolerance for good conduct will give way to inevitable mischief and misdemeanour — and you’ll soon find the cops on your tail.
Well, The Precinct (from UK-based developer Fallen Tree Games) lets you play as that other side, offering up an open-world 1980s sandbox for you to police as one of the boys in blue.
Now, sure not everyone will immediately warm to the idea of playing as law enforcement. Given ongoing debates around systemic policing issues, some may well hesitate at the premise here. But if you can park those concerns, there’s a compelling, well-realised crime sim underneath, with plenty to offer.
The narrative sees you take on the role of a rookie cop, joining the force after your late father died in the line of duty. As a new recruit you’re buddied up with a veteran, and together hit the streets of east-coast, US-inspired Averno City.
Whether patrolling on foot or in your police cruiser, you’re tasked with resolving a multitude of crimes, from low-level offences such as littering, bad parking and vandalism, to dealing with more serious acts such as drug dealing, assault, and hit and run encounters.
It’s this variety which makes The Precinct so compelling. Each shift sees you given a general task (such as making drug busts), but once you’re out pounding the pavement you’re pretty much free to police however you see fit. Much to my surprise, I found myself having way too much fun with the rather routine gameplay loop of checking cars for any parking violations and issuing tickets. Am I a narc now?
At the end of each shift your performance for the day is scored, you level up, and are rewarded with points to spend on various policing upgrades — things such as more ammo, faster reloading, stamina, etc. This upgrade tree isn’t something I found to particularly alter the gameplay in any significant way, but provides something to work towards nonetheless.
The Precinct’s real strength lies in its flexibility and variation. You’ll be stopping a mugging one moment, and then a carjacking report will come in over the radio, and within seconds you’ll find yourself tearing around the city in a car chase helmed by a troubled individual that shows no sign of conceding. The next day may see you flying a helicopter high above the streets, keeping the spotlight on a perpetrator below so your colleagues can zero in on them.
Each shift serves up a diverse slice of policing action, and I often found myself wanting just one more go at cleaning the streets. The fact each shift on the job takes around 20-minutes to complete makes this a perfect game to dip in and out of too.
It’s not without its flaws — the two islands you traverse aren’t particularly filled with memorable landmarks, at times I found the camera angles a little awkward, and I ran into a few minor bugs during my play though — but these errors were more an amusing curio than a game breaking moment.
On the whole though this cop sim from Fallen Tree Games is a rather well accomplished package, offering up a surprising amount of things to do in its approximation of an 80s US city. It's packed with fun easter eggs, 80s references, and cop movie stylings.
Grime, crime, and a surprisingly good time — I had a blast. If the idea of a GTA-style sandbox experience, played from the side of the ‘good guys’ appeals then The Precinct is well worth scoping out for a patrol.
A review copy was provided by Kwalee Gaming.
