The Precinct Reviews
The Precinct is set in Averno City, an amalgam of New York and Detroit. The time is the early 1980s. Trash is in the streets. The walls are raw with g...
The Precinct is a campy love letter to '80s cop dramas, blending street-level patrols with high-speed chases in an open world. While it nails the tone with stylish set-pieces, exciting car chases, and a synthy soundtrack, the clunky implementation of mechanics and shallow upgrades hold back its more simulated gameplay. The Precinct may not always follow protocol, but it sure knows how to throw a siren-blaring good time.
As long as we accept that we are not playing the role of a super cop, but a regular street patrolling policeman, which involves a certain routine, we get a great little game that offers a lot of fun. What's more, The Precinct sometimes surprises us with random, unscripted events, as well as references and easter eggs from many 80s films and TV series.
Review in Polish | Read full review
While not perfect in execution, The Precinct's boldness in tackling so many different aspects of police work needs to be admired. Averno City is a fun sandbox to cause chaos in with so many hilarious criminal encounters. It adds onto that fun with an interesting story and in depth simulator-esque gameplay system that engaged me throughout my 10 hour runtime.
It's a video game that promised to put us in the shoes of a street cop in the 80s and, even if it doesn't excel, its mission is definitely accomplished.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you fancy fighting crime in an open world instead of perpetrating it for a change, The Precinct might just be the game for you. Completing shifts and collecting evidence to progress the story forward can become a little repetitive, but ultimately you're free to take things at your own pace while unlocking new options and equipment to play with.
The Precinct is a fun game that puts you in shoes of an police officer against corruption and crime. While it has some strong points like beautiful nights, a good atmosphere, and a trip to the 80s, The Precinct suffers from some problems like annoying bugs, dull days, and unstable AI. If you can overlook these problems, you will enjoy this nonetheless.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The Precinct may not live up to the expectations of those who expect the madness of classic GTA from the point of view of the cops, nor of those who believe it to be just a bureaucratic simulator of police life. Finding a new, immersive and fun place between these two aspects, the game is surprisingly diverse in gameplay and carries with it the heritage of tone of the good buddy cop movies of the 1980s and 1990s.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Much like the 80s cop movies of yesteryear, The Precinct a little rough around the edges, but also a lot of fun for those looking to hit the streets and deal with criminal scum. Although, honestly, just giving out parking tickets is surprisingly satisfying.
A city in the style of a classic GTA game needs the hand of the law - you. You protect it with a police badge on your chest, a penalty block, a gun and your foot on the accelerator. The activities are varied, the size of the city is more modest, characters and cars sometimes get stuck.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The Precinct offers an interesting police story riddled with clichés, good times, and a desire to do things right.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While not groundbreaking in innovation or story, The Precinct shines with solid mechanics and an inspired technical design. A love letter to noir and early 2000s sandbox games, it’s sure to appeal both to genre enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Although I appreciated the mixture of action and simulation gameplay mechanics, I wasn’t completely blown away by The Precinct. The story was engaging enough (despite subpar voice acting) that it made me want to know what happened next. And the gameplay, whilst mechanically solid, became rather repetitive towards the end. Still, this is an enjoyable title that feels like a throwback to the PS1 era with a modern aesthetic. That’s by no means a bad thing, and I wish more games would take inspiration from previous generations! For these reasons, The Precinct gets a Thumb Culture Gold Award!
The Precinct is an enjoyable police sandbox that is a blast to play a majority of the time. Being a policeman is a lot of fun, and I had a blast running through Aveno, stopping crimes and bringing perps in. I absolutely adored car races and the physics of driving through stores, lights, gates, and watching everything fly up around me. The story is a bit of a hit and miss, and combat can be a little clunky due to the way you aim and use cover, but it has its moments. The game is also quite playable on the Steam Deck using their specific preset. I wish we could make it better with a higher framerate or higher quality settings that don't need upscaling, but it's at least playable and enjoyable.
The Precinct is a fresh and very entertaining proposal that makes you feel like a real cop in a chaotic city full of dangers. Its patrol system, the varied crimes and the eighties atmosphere work great and hook you from the first moment. However, the missions are uninspired and repetitive. Even so, it is an original alternative to the usual sandbox.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It’s not the most refined open-world game, but there’s enough personality and mayhem to leave an impression—especially if you miss the days of top-down GTA.
When I started playing, I was apprehensive about the bugs I would encounter, but I was surprised to find that the game's performance was solid. But as it's not all sunshine and roses, the predictable plot, repetitive gameplay, and weak secondary activities dragged the game's rating down. Still, I see the project in a positive light. If The Precinct had focused more on investigation mechanics, evidence collection, and the variety of events, it would have been a more solid product in the end. The 80s vibe and soundtrack give a taste of what The Precinct could be: a good investigative game and not just a "police GTA".
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Precinct is a peculiar case. Its roughly ten-hour campaign doesn’t offer many thrilling moments: mostly talking heads and crazy criminals. Yet, it's surprisingly enjoyable in small doses. One would have hoped Fallen Tree Games had focused more on the story and clear objectives, rather than just a day-by-day shift cycle.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
The Precinct is an experience that deserves the attention of fans of investigative and action games. Its original idea and meticulous art direction compensate in part for the gameplay's shortcomings and the artificial intelligence's lack of depth. Despite a certain repetitiveness, the game offers a successful immersion in the daily life of a policeman, paying homage to the classics while adding a touch of modernity. I see this as a great improvement on the studio's previous game. The team seems to have found a formula that can be refined. It's not a masterpiece, but it's an honest game, sincere in its approach, and deserves the attention of fans of the genre.
Review in French | Read full review
The Precinct comes at just the right time and combines nostalgia and modern gameplay in a wonderful way. The atmosphere and the city breathe eighties and make you feel like you are in an action movie from that era. It feels refreshing to be on the right side for once, and you actually have to follow the rules. This is a game that you have to give yourself some time, but when the random chaos breaks loose, everything comes to life. I can't wait for the sequel, hopefully bigger and more ambitious in design. The wait for GTA 6 will be a lot more pleasant this way.
Review in Dutch | Read full review