The Precinct Review

Assault, destruction of property, drug deals, and verbal abuse. Working as an EB Games casual is a brutal way to earn a living, but I’ve heard that police officers have an even rougher trot. Reforming after the release of American Fugitive, developer Fallen Tree Games has swapped out its balaclava for a badge with its newest title, The Precinct. An evolution of the old top-down GTA titles with the script-flipped, The Precinct combines arcade action and police simulation, kicking off like a high-speed chase before gameplay repetition turns it into processing paperwork.

Fresh out of the academy and reporting for his first day on the beat, rookie cop Nick Cordell has a legacy to live up to as the son of the late police chief of Averno City. Grappling with his father’s murder, Nick is shown the ropes by a veteran officer staring down the barrel of retirement, having seen the worst the city has to offer. You’re likely thinking that this premise could lean one of two ways, but let me tell you, The Precinct is far more Starsky & Hutch than True Detective.

Cheesy lines are delivered with enthusiasm by the voice cast as every 80s cop movie trope is ticked off, right down to a moustachioed chief and donuts in the breakroom. Your mileage will vary depending on your taste, but the campy tone is executed perfectly if you enjoy the buddy cop genre.

Taking to the streets of Averno City on your first shift, it’ll be immediately obvious that housing prices in this neck of the woods must be dirt cheap. Vandalism, burglary, gunfights, drug deals and drunk driving all happen within a single city block. And, while the police presence sees a patrol vehicle cruise by more often than an electric scooter, it’s largely up to you to clean up the streets.

Early on in your policing career, you’ll be assigned a beat for the day, ranging from slamming parking tickets onto offending cars to strolling and patrolling the streets for would-be felons. With time ticking away, you’ll be sent out to a specific part of the city to walk your beat, cruise around in a patrol car, or take to the skies in the police chopper to bust as many criminals as you can before punching out.

A laundry list of crimes occur throughout Averno City, challenging you to approach each with the requisite level of force and offer a punishment appropriate for the offense. Your police guidebook will educate you on the intricacies of each crime and detail the outcome you should be aiming for. In practice, this boils down to catching the perp, reading them their rights, checking their ID, searching them for illegal goods (if appropriate), and charging them with the correct offense before either writing a ticket or cuffing them.

The process is about as manual as it gets, save for the option to call in a fellow officer to take the cuffed criminal back to the station. You are on the clock, after all. As The Precinct takes an idealistic approach to policing, you’ll be heavily incentivised to go by the book. Experience is awarded for every correct action, while you’ll be penalised for incorrect charges, mishandling of suspects and letting offenders go free.

The simulated policework is initially what drove my enjoyment, however, the longer I played the more it began to feel like an actual nine-to-five. Every interaction plays out the exact same way, and I quickly tired of the monotonous motions I had to go through every time I tackled someone for littering. This isn’t helped by the way in which your shifts play out, either. Regardless of how it begins, every day will devolve into chasing armed assailants through alleyways and down busy freeways, even if you just want to slap a few wrists for spray painting a wall.

Thankfully, those action-packed moments are backed by some solid gunplay and very tight driving mechanics. From an isometric viewpoint, gunplay can often be a lock-on-based affair, but The Precinct goes for more of a twin-stick-shooter tact. From a standard-issue revolver right through to a fully automatic assault rifle, each weapon feels solid and weighty. Alongside additional vehicles and perks, you’ll gain access to a wider arsenal as you level up with XP, giving you another reason to make your late police chief father proud and follow the law.

Flicking on your sirens and blazing down the freeway in pursuit of an escaping lawbreaker is where The Precinct’s action is at its best. The handling and power of each police vehicle differs, giving you a reason to chop and change, but they all share a common trait; they’re fun to drive. Responsive and surprisingly weighty, the cars themselves are a blast to get behind the wheel of, but the experience of zooming around the city is made all the more exciting by the level of environmental destruction. Not great for the taxpayers of Averno, but I never tired of ramming through fences, low-lying walls and obliterating trash cans during my pursuit.

As you ascend the ranks (level up), you’ll gain skill points to buff Nick’s health, ammo capacity and the like, while also granting you access to new shifts and the ability to create your own beat. Once you’re acquainted with the day-to-day, the game’s core narrative will appear, tasking you with collecting evidence on, and eventually taking down, the heads of two rival gangs. And, while that sounds like an interesting wrinkle, you collect this evidence by…arresting ordinary criminals.

The climax of these investigations generally plays out the same, with a gunfight or car chase, and then you’re back to slowly filling up the next progress bar with collected evidence. A murder investigation also runs throughout the game’s ten-hour runtime, but again, it largely plays out without a great deal of variety being thrown into the mix. The lion’s share of the actual story is housed in the final 40 minutes of the game, with some awfully predictable and undeserved “twists” meant to reward your time. The schlocky tone is fun, but that doesn’t translate into a very engaging plot.

Final Thoughts

Racing after an armed robber, crashing through road signs and dodging civilians, only to jump out of your patrol car, take cover behind your vehicle and engage in a firefight with the crazed assailant is as fun in The Precinct as it sounds. Unfortunately, once they’re in cuffs, the monotony of processing the soon-to-be prisoner drags the experience down. Combined with a shallow story told in an uneven way, the repetitive gameplay loop tarnishes the badge and gives the boys in blue a bad wrap.

Reviewed on Steam Deck OLED // Review code supplied by publisher

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