I dig games that come out of nowhere to be more than decent, and doubly so if they can reveal something I didn’t know about myself. Those things happened while I was reviewing The Precinct, an indie sleeper hit that’s basically a modernised GTA III locked in Vigilante ‘cop’ mode with a God’s-eye cam view.
Imperfect as it was, I still found it rather arresting.
You should know that I was raised on my grandpa’s tales of his 30-year career in the NSW police force—from mounted policeman all the way up to superintendent—so I was always going to gravitate to any bust-the-crims sim. However, what I wasn’t prepared to get addicted to was doing all the petty crap that doesn’t end with a body bag or an explosion.
Imperfect as it was, I still found it rather arresting.
Apparently, being a glorified revenue collector who effectively nitpicks the citizenry while maintaining the status quo for society’s elite is…satisfying as hell. If you park too close to a crossing in my sandbox, your arse is mine. If you drive a pip over the speed limit—possibly because I’m tailgating you like a secondary bumper sticker—you’re about to respect my authoritah.
Yes, despite decades of grand theft autoing, The Precinct has taught me that I’m secretly a goddamned narc. My po-po of a Pop-Pop would be proud.
Developed by Fallen Tree Games and published by Kwalee, this neon-noir sandbox extravaganza is technically the straight-laced flip side of 2019’s American Fugitive. And, though The Precinct’s presentation can be more rookie than Charlie Sheen partnered with Clint Eastwood, the rough edges aren’t criminal enough to wreck a great gameplay loop.
Because The Precinct really does nail the fantasy of being a beat cop—minus the real-world paperwork, high insurance premiums, and early death by high caloric doughnuts. Aside from issuing ticky-tack misdemeanours to NPCs who sometimes blow a gasket and commit meatier felonies, there are also two RICO-level criminal empires to run down over the course of ten or so hours.
can be more rookie than Charlie Sheen partnered with Clint Eastwood
And hey—I challenge you not to hum The Naked Gun theme like a maniac as you’re pinballing around Averno City’s streets with all the care of Frank Drebin. (Relax, though, as collateral destruction and manslaughter is a small XP penalty as opposed to a career/life-ending ticket to county lock-up.)
Flipping Scripts and Squad Cars
In contrast to American Fugitive, where you played Will Riley—a wrongly convicted felon cutting a swathe through the countryside—The Precinct casts you as Officer Nick Cordell Jr., fresh outta the academy and stepping onto patrol for the first time. Your late father—the previous Chief—was killed in the line of duty, and now you’ve got paperwork, pistols, and personal vendettas all tangled up in one police-issue uniform.
The story unfolds through callouts—everything from parking infractions (yes, real police work) to drive-by shootings. Each callout is procedurally generated, which means no two shifts feel identical. The narrative threads tie in the mystery of your father’s death with the rise of rival gangs, corrupt officials, and a shadowy conspiracy that, I’ll admit, is one of the most clichéd and predictable crime dramas in recent memory.
The minimally animated graphic novels that pop between your multiple-choice shifts (think: emphasis on vehicular, foot-based, or helicopter policing) are only passably voiced. Most of your 5-0 friends sound like a cast of stand-ins putting on voices rather than real McCoy actors. If a mind-blowing story is what you seek, The Precinct doesn’t have the power to keep you in handcuffs until those credits roll.
Hot Fuzz or Hot Mess?
Fortunately, The Precinct shines brighter than a cop chopper searchlight in other ways. Hoping to be some sort of photo negative of a GTA means the driving model had to be up to snuff, and I can happily confirm that the Hollywood-ified physics of pinballing one’s squad car about feels spot on. Layer in a decent Support menu wheel—where skilful pursuit fills a meter to fund roadblocks, spike strips, air support, or backup AI cruisers—and there’s some pretty great car-nage to experience.
And you never really know what’s coming next, either, thanks to the procedural callout system. The emergent system throws you into everything from a mundane erratic driving incident (where the person is just Driving Miss Daisy badly, not inebriated) right up to a psycho killer running amok like they’re Scorpio at the end of Dirty Harry. It’s like having a cop show’s writers’ room in your console—always sending up something fresh.
It’s like having a cop show’s writers’ room in your console
This really is GTA III’s Vigilante Mode scaffolded with mini-stories, some faux Carmen Sandiego police procedure, and moral weight. You can choose to go in guns blazing, but misuse of force racks up penalty points. One is well advised to go spend ten minutes digging through the expected conduct per crime wiki that exists in the pause menu. Because bogus charges will only stifle your XP growth (which means better guns, shorter backup cooldowns, and increasingly militarised support options).
You shouldn’t expect too much from the foot patrol half of this game. The Precinct relies heavily on snap-to-target aiming, which can be fine-tuned with analogue stick nudges that negate cover in some instances. You also only have a three-weapon inventory, which never escalates beyond the level of an AK, sharpshooter rifle, and Uzi. So manage your expectations of rolling in all McBain.
As for difficulty, the only issues I ever had on Expert were due to low max ammo reserves, a lack of cover, and often needing to break from it to go resupply. The Precinct utilises regen health and generous checkpointing. So if you do get capped, you’ll not wake up blocks away in the intensive care ward at Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle.
Sadly, I found my biggest enemy in almost every shootout was my AI partner. Dude loves to come and camp in your line of fire like he’s just bought a boat called the Live Forever and is one day away from retirement. I also had to routinely ditch him when it was time to peel out into a pursuit, but his pathing gave up the ghost. In the end, I found that perforating the populace is a little perfunctory compared to vehicular policing or just using your notebook to dish out the pain.
Again, the above may sound boring on paper. But the act of trying to tackle multiple perps, cuff them, and figure out if you have time to get your notepad on and 10-4 another crime on your scanner is plate-spinning addiction.
A Booker That’s a Looker?
Graphically, The Precinct is a love letter to 1980s neon-noir. Rain-slicked streets reflect the orange glow of streetlights; pedestrians hustle past flickering arcade signs; shadowy skyscrapers loom like watchful gods. It’s nowhere near photorealism—but it’s moody enough realism. Think Miami Vice, with a dash of Robocop’s grit. This festering city feels lived in, even in its actually populated with random-generated chaos.
I wouldn’t go in expecting the state of San Andreas—this is barely a Liberty City-sized playground. It’s also mighty flat but reasonably destructible and visually diverse, with everything from seedy projects to financial districts and everything in between.
Sound design deserves some kudos, too. Synth-heavy tracks swell during pursuits; the whine of sirens and crunch of tyres punctuate every getaway. Dialogue voice acting is a very, very mixed bag, as some lines fall a bit flat. There’s also an awful first impression, too, as the crackly opening lines from your Chief have clearly been bungled in the studio session. Fortunately, it’s strictly intro isolated.
Badge of Honour
So where does that leave us? As an early GTA vet and an old-school enjoyer of ye olde Police Quest adventures, I dug The Precinct way more than I was expecting to. It certainly doesn’t reinvent the sandbox genre, but it provides a fresh view on it through a cop’s mirrored sunnies, blending procedural authenticity with ’80s action flick panache. The story is nothing to radio back to HQ about, but these emergent Naked Gun meets Grand Theft Auto moments more than fill the gap.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to exist on the other side of the blue line, I’d say grab The Precinct and bake ‘em away, toys. Yes, it’s about as imperfect as that last statement—particularly in the areas of VO and story—but it’s still very much worth responding to.
