Lots to say about the games in this series. Let's start at the beginning.
These games make me feel complete whiplash. I hate and love equal parts of all of them. The first game is a lot more of an even experience I suppose...
In terms of story telling, I have never liked the presentation here. It is played out in what are basically story boards. I think they were going for more of a comic book feel, and sometimes the framing feels purposeful and intriguing. But the execution is lacking. In particular, these cutscenes go on for WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long. Sometimes they are 7-8 minutes long and they just hold on this one static shot of a house, or what have you. It is so lifeless. The dialogue is not good enough to carry these moments either: the dialogue is saved somewhat by the competent voice acting: that's the voice of Duke Nukem as Chief Boyd. And Boyd in general does a great job of getting you invested in the story. He is caught between many areas and connections in his life that slowly pile on progressively. The ending is pretty miserable and fitting for his story. But overall, the journey there is slow and dull. So it's up to the gameplay to do the heavy lifting.
Thankfully, I rather enjoy the management system here. Sending your cops out requires some thought and planning. But then there are times where something spontaneous happens and you get multiple calls and have to make a choice of who goes where, or if you don't go at all thinking it's a bogus call. The cop system gets more expanded in the later games, but as it is here, you have your typical officers who get better and more experienced as the game goes on. It's generally best to throw in some new recruits and bad officers with trained ones to help them get experience on the field.
It is very stimulating to send them out on calls. And then you have the decision making in each encounter. It isn't always clear which is correct, sometimes you have to pick the crazy option and it works. Sometimes it's more sensible. I like the spontaneous element and randomness of the experience. It keeps you on your toes. And your cops don't always come in to work or ask to take days off. Usually for very stupid and humorous reasons, but it adds more into that spur of the moment type gameplay.
Theres also the detective side where you assign detectives to cases and they gather clues over time until you have a lead and suspect. There are many moving parts in the game and things to manage, like the offices, vacation days, etc. the cops shift to political sides and won't work with anyone on the other side. Theres a memorable sidequest where you have to recruit a really pathetic cop who never comes to work, but in exchange you get many more slots for officers.
These systems are all fun, but don't always work well. The political thing for one game is flippant: cops switch their opinions every day so you can design an A and B shift with only Red or only Blue cops, and then the the next day the whole shift is messed up. Youre basically forced in many moments to do something corrupt or morally grey, even when you don't want to. It can be frustrating to have to resort to those methods.
I have to also highlight the really awesome soundtrack. It has a great vibe with the overall game, smooth jazz and relaxing tunes while you gamble with the lives of your cops.
So overall how do you walk away from this game? It certainly has a style and theme it's going for. I like the gameplay and the sub systems, I love the music. But the story is poorly told despite a good leading character.
I enjoyed it despite its issues. The same can be said for the next game...
These games make me feel complete whiplash. I hate and love equal parts of all of them. The first game is a lot more of an even experience I suppose...
In terms of story telling, I have never liked the presentation here. It is played out in what are basically story boards. I think they were going for more of a comic book feel, and sometimes the framing feels purposeful and intriguing. But the execution is lacking. In particular, these cutscenes go on for WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long. Sometimes they are 7-8 minutes long and they just hold on this one static shot of a house, or what have you. It is so lifeless. The dialogue is not good enough to carry these moments either: the dialogue is saved somewhat by the competent voice acting: that's the voice of Duke Nukem as Chief Boyd. And Boyd in general does a great job of getting you invested in the story. He is caught between many areas and connections in his life that slowly pile on progressively. The ending is pretty miserable and fitting for his story. But overall, the journey there is slow and dull. So it's up to the gameplay to do the heavy lifting.
Thankfully, I rather enjoy the management system here. Sending your cops out requires some thought and planning. But then there are times where something spontaneous happens and you get multiple calls and have to make a choice of who goes where, or if you don't go at all thinking it's a bogus call. The cop system gets more expanded in the later games, but as it is here, you have your typical officers who get better and more experienced as the game goes on. It's generally best to throw in some new recruits and bad officers with trained ones to help them get experience on the field.
It is very stimulating to send them out on calls. And then you have the decision making in each encounter. It isn't always clear which is correct, sometimes you have to pick the crazy option and it works. Sometimes it's more sensible. I like the spontaneous element and randomness of the experience. It keeps you on your toes. And your cops don't always come in to work or ask to take days off. Usually for very stupid and humorous reasons, but it adds more into that spur of the moment type gameplay.
Theres also the detective side where you assign detectives to cases and they gather clues over time until you have a lead and suspect. There are many moving parts in the game and things to manage, like the offices, vacation days, etc. the cops shift to political sides and won't work with anyone on the other side. Theres a memorable sidequest where you have to recruit a really pathetic cop who never comes to work, but in exchange you get many more slots for officers.
These systems are all fun, but don't always work well. The political thing for one game is flippant: cops switch their opinions every day so you can design an A and B shift with only Red or only Blue cops, and then the the next day the whole shift is messed up. Youre basically forced in many moments to do something corrupt or morally grey, even when you don't want to. It can be frustrating to have to resort to those methods.
I have to also highlight the really awesome soundtrack. It has a great vibe with the overall game, smooth jazz and relaxing tunes while you gamble with the lives of your cops.
So overall how do you walk away from this game? It certainly has a style and theme it's going for. I like the gameplay and the sub systems, I love the music. But the story is poorly told despite a good leading character.
I enjoyed it despite its issues. The same can be said for the next game...