Playing cops and robbers – a Police Force review

From the pile of simulator games in the Felix office, this week’s random selection is Police Force. From the maker of the hit title Emergency, Police Force sees you patrolling the streets of Germany, towing illegally parked cars, setting up speed traps and arresting vandals. Plus, there’s a gun on the back cover. That’s worth at least 2/10 on it’s own.

You play as a pair of cops, with each one having differing equipment, for different missions. The controls are a little odd, but it’s easy to get used to. You’ll be hitting pedestrians and cutting your wages short after a temporary suspension, in no time at all. Now, that’s the thing – you have a main mission (i.e. do a license registration check on 35 vehicles), but it’s not over when you’re done. You play each mission for a set length of time (30 minute real-time shifts) – once your main mission is over, you still have time to answer emergency calls and drive to the other side of town, to pick up more experience, and rank up. It might seem like a cheesy way to force people to continue playing your game, but I like it – at least on a flavourful note – as a cop doesn’t go home as soon as he’s arrested the man responsible for putting up 5 posters around town.

There is a range of hi-tech equipment available for you, such as pepper spray, handcuffs, walkie-talkies and a PDA. Simply right click on someone, when your handcuffs are out, and they’re arrested. If someone’s car was totalled in a collision, get the tow company out there in seconds at the press of a button. Nothing too fancy or complicated – yet it still gives you a nice warm feeling for helping out the society of this virtual German city.

As you progress through your missions, more of the city is unlocked, so you have more ground to traverse to catch your troublemakers, bank robbers and ice cream trucks. There seems to be nothing in the way of unlockables (apart from achievements), so there’s little to get you experience farming, nor much in the way of replayability. The audio’s simple but entertaining (mainly the sirens on the police car), and the graphics keep it basic too – low, medium and high, so it’ll work on nearly any computer built in this millenium.

I quite like the game, and might actually keep it installed for a bit, to play it on a rainy day. For those of you who want the cutting edge in games, good news! The sequel – Police Force 2, is out in 8 days. And no, you can’t shoot the civilians. I tried. Lots.