The Precinct is an indie sport with ambition. Its fictional Eighties setting of Averno Metropolis is an enjoyably advanced little sandbox, presenting gamers with an countless provide of procedurally generated crimes that must be stopped from a top-down perspective, paying homage to previous Grand Theft Auto video games.
You play as rookie cop Nick Cordell, who’s surrounded by a solid of endearingly cliche characters, starting from hardboiled detectives to comically evil criminals. Nick’s on the path of his father’s killers, you see, however the one means he is cracking that case is by hitting the streets.
To be clear, you are not enjoying The Precinct for its story. Plot factors are dished out by way of static, portrait-driven dialogue scenes, and though the writing’s fairly snappy and entertainingly schlocky at instances, narrative rigidity is not actually what the sport’s going for.
The principle story performs out in chunks, with new missions unlocking everytime you rack up sufficient proof whereas out in your commonplace patrols. It is a respectable construction given how dynamic these patrols will be, however the grind for proof — which drops at random as you full aims — does begin to really feel a bit tedious in the direction of the top of this 10-ish hour marketing campaign.
However as talked about, the title’s sandbox leanings are on the forefront of the expertise. Every in-game day begins with Nick and his beat accomplice Kelly selecting a patrol route and fixing crimes inside the space. Once more, the crimes themselves are procedurally generated; one minute you are issuing a parking ticket, the following you are chasing down armed financial institution robbers.
The entire system feels impressively alive and fluid. Whether or not you are driving down the freeway or hoofing it by way of alleyways, you may be alerted to close by disturbances — after which you have to try to do issues by the ebook.
Image this: you hit your sirens on somebody suspected of dashing. They pull over, you get them organized out of their automotive, and run by way of the standard procedures; a background test on their ID, a breathalyser take a look at. They’re clear and it is trying like a simple nice, however then you definitely ask them to pop their trunk — and guess what? They dive again into their automobile and bomb off down the street.
A automotive chase ensues, and after requesting some assist — or perhaps even a spike strip — the escapee’s able to name it quits. You slap the cuffs on them, discover some narcotics of their trunk, after which work your means by way of the sport’s fees menu. You ebook ’em for possession of unlawful items, dashing, and, after all, evading arrest.
All of this occurs within the house of about two minutes, and that is what makes The Precinct such a moreish sport. Any of the components we simply described can change on the fly — each crime’s completely dynamic, and by paying consideration and slapping suspects with the right fees, you are awarded further expertise factors upon ending your patrol.
And naturally, callouts do not all the time go so easily. When firearms are concerned, you are given license to make use of deadly pressure, through the title’s twin-stick taking pictures mechanics. Though we want that the duvet system was a bit extra concerned — you’ll be able to solely get behind waist-high objects, for some cause — the gunplay is surprisingly tense and lethal, even on the default problem setting.
On that be aware, we must always level out simply how technical The Precinct feels. Due to its branching crime mechanics, the controls do take a bit of getting used to. Between remembering completely different button prompts for sure actions and navigating the assorted charge-related choices through the aforementioned menus, there’s quite a bit to maintain observe of.
However as soon as you have bought the hold of issues, the sport’s well-balanced mixture of pretty commonplace policework and full-on cop film motion makes for a delightfully enjoyable sandbox. Everytime you depart the station to begin your shift, you simply by no means fairly know what you are going to encounter.
As with all sandbox title value its salt, there’s potential for hilarity on the streets of Averno Metropolis. When you’re supposed to try to function like RoboCop and comply with the regulation to the letter, there’ll, inevitably, be instances when the whole lot goes to sh*t and all you are able to do is giggle within the face of catastrophe.
Certainly, NPC AI will be brilliantly reactive, leading to a sort of domino impact the place complete neighbourhoods devolve into chaos. Firefights, for instance, can spill out onto highways, the place criminals will be mistakenly mowed down by oncoming visitors.
All of the sudden, each driver within the neighborhood begins to panic, pedestrians are working for expensive life from rogue autos, and you have got no alternative however to simply watch in awe as vehicles pile up on the nearest intersection. Your goal’s a complete bust — you’ll be able to’t arrest a street stain — however you’ll be able to’t presumably be mad about it.
Conclusion
The Precinct is a powerful sandbox romp. Fueled by a dynamic crime system that provides up hours of enjoyable, bite-sized aims, it is a very troublesome sport to place down. Each patrol is completely different, and though tedium does begin to set in because the marketing campaign approaches its conclusion, it is nonetheless straightforward to understand the intricate and tight design of this ode to previous cop motion pictures.
