After being delayed twice, the much-anticipated 3D neon-noir, action-packed top-down sandbox police simulator The Precinct is finally here. Developed by Fallen Tree Games, known for another well-received top-down sandbox title, American Fugitive, the Precinct has been in the works for nearly six years. But the real question is: was it worth the wait? Let’s dive into the review and find out.
Table of Contents
Story
Set in the early 1980s (1983, to be precise), the Precinct is an action sandbox open-world police simulation, based in a fictional US landscape known as Averno City. The city has dark, gritty streets filled with corruption, drug deals, gang wars, street racing, and more.
We play as a rookie cop, Nick Cordell Jr., who has joined the force not only to clean up the city’s crime, but also to unravel the mystery of his father’s murder, who was the police chief. As the game progresses, we learn about the city’s history, traitors from the system working in conjunction with the bad guys, while putting together the pieces of our father’s murder.
While the 15 hours of storyline are quite short, it’s fun, intense, and filled with thrills, which I like. There are a few instances where the story takes a different turn based on the choices we make. The game’s setting reminded me of the TV series, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as the conversations have a touch of humour to keep users engaged.
Gameplay
Honestly, I’m usually not a fan of top-down games; I prefer being right in the action with a closer, more immersive camera angle. But surprisingly, The Precinct really won me over. We can adjust the draw distance from 80-100%, and most of the time, I found myself sticking to 100% to get the best view during those wild car chases.
Just like classics like Grand Theft Auto or Just Cause, we can set up different controls for when on foot versus in a vehicle. The game even asks if we want to use a console controller, which is a thoughtful inclusion. For the record, I opted for the keyboard, though I did find it frustrating that some of the controls couldn’t be reconfigured. Further, the tutorial does a poor job of explaining controls. For example, I did not know that we could vault over fences till I saw a suspect do it.
There are several quests in the form of daily shifts, including on-foot patrols, vehicle patrols, or helicopter patrols, ranging from 6 to 12 in-game hours. We get to choose our shift, and then respond to the callouts received from dispatch or the ones we spot ourselves. As law-abiding officers, we need to follow certain protocols to resolve callouts and handle suspects. At the end of the shift, we’re assessed based on our conduct. Every decision we make has consequences—handle a call well and we earn XP; mess it up, and we lose points. File a wrong charge? Points deducted. Injure a civilian? Points deducted. Let a criminal escape? Yep, points gone.
Thankfully, we can offload paperwork to our mentor, Kelly, which is a nice touch.
The Averno city is so messed up that most of the time, we end up with multiple calls, forcing us to make smart choices to collect pieces of evidence and progress in the game. Initially, I would always end up losing points due to criminal escapes, but we learn from our mistakes. As we gain XP and climb up the officer ranks, new sections of the map get unlocked, while also giving access to new gear, vehicles, etc., which will help us in our pursuit of justice.
The game features a basic RPG system for levelling up. Our player character possesses all the basic skills required to be an officer, such as swimming, jumping, and climbing ladders, etc. But whenever we reach a new officer rank, upgrade points are rewarded to improve our physical, combat, policing and vehicle skills.
Performance
For this review purpose, I’ve played the Precinct on the Acer ALG 2023 with an Intel Core i5-12450H & NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050. With this hardware, I could max out the graphics at “Very High” quality, but for this review, I kept the graphics at “High”, and was able to achieve a smooth gameplay with an average of 65 FPS. The Precint does not support DLSS, so I had to rely on FSR for upscaling.
Graphics and Sound
I have a mixed opinion regarding the graphics and soundtracks. The developers at Fallen Tree Games truly nailed the classic ’80s aesthetic; their attention to detail is spot-on. From the vintage architecture and telephone booths to the old-school American cars and fashion, everything just screams ’80s. My main gripe is that most elements, excluding buildings, have a thin black outline, including people and cars, which gives a comic book vibe. For me, this slightly took away from the natural, realistic feel. It would have been handy if only the target suspect or vehicle had been highlighted like that, to help identify them among the civilians.
I have observed some inconsistency with the advanced lighting and shadow rendering, sometimes it beautifully picks up fine details and shadows on cars from streetlights, while other times it completely misses them. This could be a bug or a rare issue with lower-end GPUs, but it’s something the developers should investigate.
On the flip side, I absolutely love the physics! Most environmental elements can be damaged – concrete dividers, fences, cars, and telephone booths – it’s all destructible. The realistic vehicle handling during intense chases amps up the thrill. And when we fall or take down a suspect during a foot chase, the mechanics feel very real, from the dive to pinning down the suspect, handcuffing them, etc. However, one must be cautious while driving. I once accidentally destroyed a telephone booth that was supposed to give me a mission tip, forcing me to restart the whole thing.
The visual novel-style conversations brought back fond memories of old games like Pokémon and Criminal Case. However, I wish there were a more interactive approach, especially in the form of pre-rendered cutscenes, and the Max Payne 3 franchise, as the game is quite small in size, to present the story and communicate with peer officers. This could’ve added emotional depth to the narrative beats.
Sound design is dynamic and era-appropriate. The music shifts depending on what we’re doing. If you’re on a parking ticket shift, you’ll hear classic ’80s city music. But as soon as a callout comes in or a car chase begins, it switches to thrilling, intense tunes. It’s a blend of synth-driven and classic retro 80s movie soundtracks, composed by Gavin Harrison & Sleepless Nights. The transitions aren’t always smooth, but overall, the vibe is strong. I have observed a few instances where they didn’t happen at all, it’s a minor nitpick that most players probably won’t even notice. So, I’ll give it a pass.
Verdict
Being someone who has not been a fan of top-down games, it feels a bit weird to adapt and get used to the game. But as the storyline picks up pace, and we get used to the controls, things become much better, I felt connected to the character. The solid storyline set in the 80s, exhilarating shootouts, intense car chases, perfectly crafted classic visuals, and sound will definitely grab your attention once you sink a few hours into it. In a nutshell, I genuinely liked “The Precinct” a lot more than I ever expected to.
Considering the abundance of sandbox games where you play as the “bad guy,” The Precinct is a refreshing change, putting you squarely in the shoes of a cop. It checks so many boxes for a fun, engaging experience.
That said, it’s far from perfect. The map feels small, patrols eventually get old, and once the story wraps up, there’s not much left to pull you back in, apart from collecting achievements and character trading cards. I wish the developers could have incorporated more environmental elements, such as putting the swimming capabilities to use to explore the waters, or perhaps a mission involving an island and boats. The recent update from developers mentions they are working to improve it.
Given that we have had games like Police Simulator: Patrol Officers and Max Payne, offering a first-person perspective. If the Precinct could incorporate some of those strong points, I honestly see a huge potential for it to grow into a big franchise, maybe even challenging the likes of Grand Theft Auto someday.
Editor’s rating: 8/10
Pros
Gritty 80s setting with solid attention to detail
Engaging, mystery-driven storyline
Dynamic gameplay combining patrols and unpredictable callouts
Destructible environments and satisfying car physics
- Unique blend of action and simulation
Cons
Campaign is relatively short
Controls (especially keyboard) need refinement
Patrols can get repetitive after the story ends
Limited replay value once the campaign is over
More Info:
Developer: Fallen Tree Games Ltd.
Publisher: Kwalee
Platforms: PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Reviewed on: Acer ALG 2023 (i5-12450H & RTX 3050)
We played a review copy of the Precinct provided by Kwalee.
