That means there is romance in the police in fiction, and real life is rarely alive. The legend of a lonely beat police officer fighting a city full of flashing lights, procedural rhythms, and crime. It’s built for drama, as television has been proven since the 1970s. The boundaries from the American fugitive developer fall into the tree game, drawing in its fantasy with enormous conviction. Set in the shady neon glow of the city of Averno in 1983, the game is a top-down open world police sim that puts the safety of the city and its citizens in your hands.
It nails the look and feel of the retro cop show (tropes and All), but the precincts are far from the perfect open and shut case. The ideas are strong, the presentation is smooth, and the core loop is often very satisfying. Knowing the rule of law, growing into formulas, and improving your skills alongside the characters gives you a real sense of accomplishment that is rarely captured in other games. But it’s rare for the system to push deep enough to turn a crime-ridden sandbox into something truly dynamic.
Give me my badge and gun
The central precincts are a daily game, from gameplay flows to complete arrests. Wake up, check cases, bump into the street, and respond to a spinning cast of procedural callouts. It’s all you expect from a car theft, car pursuit, gang battles, armed robbery, gunfights, and police simulators. You can also write a parking ticket!
You may be chasing a suspect in a police car. Other times, they may even be on foot or on a helicopter to spotlight. You respond to the case, turn the siren over, conquer the suspect, and file papers at the station and finish. It sounds repetitive on the surface, but there is a literal, undeniable joy in doing it “by book,” and earns points to book Perps in a legal letter.
By correctly identifying suspects, searching, and choosing the right fee, you will gain more experience. This will unlock useful upgrades such as riot vans and obstacles that are being tracked. However, if you go wrong, your daily XP gain will be wiped out. It is an incredibly strict system, and it encourages discipline in a genre that is generally obsessed with vigilantes’ chaos.
This is a great antidote to the GTA-inspired open world chaos that is usually associated with the crime genre, and itching that hasn’t hurt many since La Noire. This system can be automated (will later lean on this to get back into action), but it’s a great touch.
When the game works as intended, the game has a real rhythm. That rhythm is the best the precincts come with, creating some truly fun and random moments. But despite the constant activity, Averno City never feels alive at all. You are not part of a larger creature. You are the only true moving piece.
The world does not respond completely in countless satisfying ways, and the world feels a little static. Furthermore, for games that lean towards simulation, there are no results in the world. You can deal with enough crime to remove Batman from work and get back to the city that feels like it’s been reset overnight.
Also, civilians rarely respond to nuances, and crime is usually a single note. Even your interactions with other executives are purely mechanical and often not helped by very, very, very intense dialogue. The dialogue throughout the story cultivates a retro slow-back atmosphere, but at the same time undermines the attempts of the game’s seriousness. It leaps heavily towards cliché one-liner and hard-boiled expositions, and can be delivered when done correctly. Here, it is often appealing in small quantities, but eventually begins to be forced.
Chase perp, solve crimes, drive really fast
Mechanically, the grounds are mixed bags. Driving is fast, relaxed and easy to do with the most enjoyable part of the experience. It feels intentional for wild pursuits through city blocks, especially when spike strips and obstacles enter the mix. The camera swings, the Siren Blair swings, and at that moment the game is delivered on the pitch. Pulling the handbrake and sirens to knock down the alleyways in a hot pursuit is worth the price of admission.
On foot, things are lacking. The shootings are floating, yanki, and often unhappy. There is a noticeable lack of “smacking” from your reliable service weapon, which can be a bit disappointing. The cover mechanic is literally a very hit and could be missed. On multiple occasions, my run was finished by a semi-automatically oriented criminal as it was exposed while mashing buttons to reach the cover.
Tracking both cars and pedestrians is initially quite thrilling once you master the mechanic. These can be repeated after suppressing the same suspect model half a dozen times, but novelty never tires. Combat encounters can also be left to nasty standoffs or full-scale gunfights, and require little to many tactical nuances.
Still, there is something addictive about the gameplay loop. It is light, frictionless and leaning towards the fantasy of a uniform.
Law and Order: 1980 (Dandan)
Visually, the grounds are excellent. Averno is a city where hazy sunsets, flickering neon and spotlights of crime scenes slice through the darkness. Channel the 1980s not only through palettes but also through tones. The visual style is coherent and often gorgeous. Isometric style means that the world is nicely decorated and carries Polish, so you may miss some of the finer details.
But clunky animations, stiff transitions and occasional bugs pull the curtains back just enough to break the illusions often enough. Several times the suspects cut the walls out of the chase midway through and frozen them in place. Technical Jank doesn’t ruin the experience, but it reveals the limited budget for the game.
It is also worth noting that while the world is big, it is not particularly responsive. Whether the world is very active or active, open worlds don’t live much less than other titles. You cannot engage in cities outside the roads or crime scene. Also, civilians don’t have an identifiable routine and the shops never seem to approach. Compared to the urgent chaos of things like GTA, the precincts can feel more like an arcade than a simulation. Nevertheless, the game has enough charm to not allow set dressings to damage the core design.
Final Thoughts
The precincts are potentially exploding, but paradoxically, maybe it’s too much. It will probably draw more attention to what it is than what it is. A mixture of COP simulations, slow-back arcade games, open world sandboxes, and detective stories is a difficult combination at once. And it flirts with all of them, but never completely commits to any of them. As a result, you can play games that are torn in too many directions.
Still, it’s an attractive foundation. The fantasy of becoming a police officer in a dangerous, stylized city is good. The system requires more weight, more results, and more connections. If the fallen tree game can continue to build after this release, the grounds could be truly special.
But at the moment it’s an atmosphere with lots of promises and lots of paperwork.
3.5 (out of the five)
Highlights: smooth 80’s aesthetics and atmosphere, fun car chase mechanics, satisfying procedures
Low light: Repeated combat and suspects. Limited world dialogue, minor bugs, junk
Developer: Fallen Tree Game
Publisher: Kwalee/Microids
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S, PC
Available: Now
Reviews conducted on PlayStation 5 are conducted using pre-release code provided by the publisher.
