This Is the Police

This Is the Police
Developer(s) Weappy Studio
Publisher(s) Nordic Games, EuroVideo Medien
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release

Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux

  • WW: August 2, 2016

PlayStation 4, Xbox One

  • WW: March 22, 2017

Nintendo Switch

  • WW: TBA 2017
Genre(s) Adventure, strategy
Mode(s) Single-player

This Is the Police is an adventure strategy video game developed by Weappy Studio and published by Nordic Games and EuroVideo Medien. It was first released on August 2, 2016 for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux, and was later released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 22, 2017.[1][2][3] In the game, the player controls the protagonist Jack Boyd, who is being forced into early retirement by the corrupt mayor. The game takes place in the fictional city of "Freeburg" in the late 1980s during Boyd's final one hundred and eighty days on the force. The game received mixed reviews.

Gameplay

The isometric map of Freeburg, which helps the player solve crimes

This Is the Police is a real-time management video game where the player controls protagonist Jack Boyd, a police chief in the game's location of Freeburg set to retire in one hundred and eighty days.[4] The gameplay is presented via imagery and text on an isometric map.[4] The player is tasked to make $500,000 in his final six months on the force, through various ways which the player chooses;[5] one of the options include utilizing the local mafia. The mafia may ask the player to turn a blind eye towards some of the crimes and be rewarded with money, or if they wish to stay alive.[6] The player receives calls and they are tasked to prioritize certain ones while dealing with staffing. Depending of the severity of the calls, the amount of police sent varies. If it's a case of assault, only two police need to go, but if it's an armed robbery, ten may need to go.[6] As the game progresses, the player is able to send SWAT Teams and reinforcements.[7] The player must strategize about how many officers they sent to each crime, because if there are no spare officers, some crimes cannot be stopped. Failure to stop crimes results in the player's squad and pay being reduced.[6] Later on during the game, the department's officers will start taking sides between the two main political figures, Mayor Rogers and Robespierre. The political views of the player's officers are unknown unless they make one of them a rat, which increases the likelihood of mistrust and the death of the officer while docking some of your pay in order to recompense that officer for his information. Sending out squads of officers with differing political opinions degrades unit cohesion, causing more failures unless groups of officers with similar morals and values are sent to the scene of the crime. The game also features crime investigation gameplay, where you must piece together what happened leading up to a crime and capture the criminal. The endgame features an assault on your political ally's rival and involves strategical placement of units.

Development and release

A Kickstarter page for This Is the Police was created in January 2015. The initial goal of $25,000 was surpassed,[8] with a total of $35,508 being raised.[9]

Jon St. John, the voice actor behind Duke Nukem, portrays Jack Boyd, the protagonist of the game.

This Is the Police was shown at the 2016 PAX East gaming convention.[9] The game was planned for release on July 28, 2016, but was delayed five days due to a publisher error.[10]

THQ Nordic's European distributor Koch Media has confirmed that a port of This Is the Police is coming to the Nintendo Switch.[11][12]

Reception

This Is the Police
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic65/100[13]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid4/10[14]
Game Informer5/10[6]
GameSpot7/10[4]
IGN6/10[15]
PC Gamer (US)65/100
IBTimes[7]
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This Is the Police received "mixed or average reviews" according to the review aggregator website Metacritic, based on 25 critic reviews.[13]

Reviewers praised the game's plot and design. Alex Gilyadov (GameSpot) said the plot was gripping, as well as praising the game's design.[4] Juan Garcia (IGN) praised Jon St. John's voice acting, the visual styles and said it had a good plot.[15] Caitlin Cooke commended the gameplay mechanics and the game's design.[14] Kate Gray (PC Gamer) said the game looks and sounds "gorgeous".[16]

Reviewers disliked the repetition of the game and the narrative. Jeff Cork (Game Informer) found himself bored of it halfway through.[6] Caitlin Cooke said that after the first 20 in-game days, she "felt dragged along with little direction or thought".[14] Brent Ables (Kill Screen) mentioned that by day 100, he started to lose sight of the game's goal.[17] Kate Gray said the game became dull and boring after the first couple of hours of playing.[16] Juan Garcia disliked how the game was too focused on the narrative and how that impacted the rest of the experience.[15]

Edward Smith of the International Business Times said that "This Is The Police is simultaneously a rich video game and a poor depiction of its subject matter". He noted how due to the various controversies surrounding police that happened around the release date, he believed the game was bound to be criticized.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Bryant, Paul (February 16, 2017). "This Is the Police headed to PS4, Xbox One next month". Gaming Age. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Crime and Punishment – This is the Police out now on consoles". Develop-Online. March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  3. ↑ Lyons, Zachary (March 24, 2017). "This Is the Police Review - PS4". PlayStation Universe. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Gilyadov, Alex (August 2, 2016). "This is the Police Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Whittaker, Matt (April 27, 2016). "PAX East: This is the Police’s Moral Ambiguity is Fascinating". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Cork, Jeff (August 2, 2016). "This Is The Police – Put Down The Mouse And Step Away From This Game". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Smith, Edward (July 26, 2016). "This Is The Police review: A disappointingly shallow depiction of US law enforcement". International Business Times. IBT Media. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  8. ↑ Chalk, Andy (January 29, 2015). "This Is the Police is a stylish, risky crooked-cop sim". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Riaz, Adnan (April 12, 2016). "Kickstarter-Backed This Is the Police Receives a New Story Trailer". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  10. ↑ Schreier, Jason (July 28, 2016). "Steam Game Delayed Because Publisher Forgot To Press The Release Button". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ "This is the Police (THQ Nordic) listed for Nintendo Switch by Gamestop and Saturn (germany) • r/NintendoSwitch". reddit. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  12. ↑ Life, Nintendo (2017-08-01). "Hands Up, This Is The Police Is Coming To Nintendo Switch". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  13. 1 2 "This Is the Police Critic for PC Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 Cooke, Caitlin (July 27, 2016). "Review: This is the Police". Destructoid. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 Garcia, Juan (July 27, 2016). "This is the Police Análisis". IGN (in Spanish). Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Gray, Kate (August 11, 2016). "This Is The Police review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  17. ↑ Ables, Brent. "This Is The Police won’t accept blame". Kill Screen. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
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