This Is the Police Reviews
A dangerous topic, handled poorly and resulting in a truly awful game. The gameplay has nothing to do with the story, but worse the gameplay doesn’t care if you play it. Just wait out a timer.
For the ultimate failure of This Is the Police is that it makes everyone culpable but the police.
Accessible and routine, This Is The Police is simultaneously a rich video game and a poor depiction of its subject matter. Whether the game's creators welcome it or not, at times like these, when police officers in the US are under intense scrutiny, This Is the Police's representation of their work bears similarly close examination. By that measure it falls short of relevance and borders on removed.
This Is the Police is mechanically sound on the surface, but digging deeper leads to disappointment in the randomized events and a lack of meaningful decisions to make.
This is the Police presents situations that aren’t deep enough to invoke social commentary, yet it still takes the opportunity to arbitrarily throw them out in the open. It’s missing key storytelling elements that allow for that kind of messaging, and in the mundane yet slur-sprinkled missions those ideas fall apart. However with its interesting gameplay mechanics, pretty packaging, and plans for a sandbox mode it has a lot of future promise which I hope they deliver on.
A beautifully dark tale woven around an adequate management game.
This is the Police is basically a visual novel disguised as a strategy videogame. Apart from a lack of any depth in its mechanics, choices don't really matter, as almost everything happens no matter what you do. The story section is a lot better, and the audio-visuals even more so, but these won't be enough to satisfy strategy enthusiasts.
A promising premise but falls short of its full potential by overreaching itself.
This is the Police is far too long for the amount of content it provides. Only true believers will make it within shouting distance of the ending
I almost feel bad talking about this game. Call it a guilty conscience, but This is the Police drew me in with its narrative speaking throughout the story. I will say that those parts were well written and at least mildly intriguing. But the actual game part failed to keep me engaged.
This game reached its peak (for me) about half way through when it started to become a little too repetitive and tedious. The decisions you make do shape the story (initially) but only to an extent as you are basically forced into becoming a corrupted cop anyway. Instead of it being ‘choice driven’, I found this game to be more about skills management and balancing resources (no matter how corrupted you are) to make sure all parties you interact with are happy. The controversial content (racism, sexism etc.) may be a bit hard to swallow but it certainly adds to the story of police corruption and gives the game a different edge. I would say it is good value for money for the crime buffs among us, but not a must play title.
The controversial content (racism, sexism etc.) may be a bit hard to swallow but it certainly adds to the story of police corruption and gives the game a different edge. I would say it is good value for money for the crime buffs among us, but not a must play title. [OpenCritic note: Lyla Saudi reviewed both the PC (3.9) and Switch (4) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
While every moral conundrum gave me real pause to think, too often I thought my emotions were being exploited and toyed with by a game that was going to play out the same way regardless.
This Is the Police should be applauded for taking a concept such as police work and making it into a unique, yet somewhat flawed experience. The tale of Jack Boyd and his struggles to escape the trappings of his troublesome life make for an interesting story, but like his state of mind, the constant back-and-forth between work and contending with ambiguous morality choices through each passing day makes it seem like a never-ending cycle of success and failure.
When it does manage to deliver a hard-hitting narrative, This Is the Police really delivers. All too frequently, however, it's hard to connect with Jack and the other faceless denizens of Freeburg. While the core gameplay does succeed at conveying the challenge of being a police chief in the midst of a collapsing personal world, it doesn't exactly pull off being fun, especially during the frequent, slower moments.
This is the Police is simple but highly addictive if you have the time to dedicate becoming more invested in Jack Boyd and his personal chaotic life.
This is the Police is quite pleasant and original title, but because of its humdrum gameplay, it fails in an attempt to keep the player near the console for londer sessions.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Although Jon St. John (known for voicing Duke Nukem) is the voice of Jack Boyd, I found myself not genuinely caring how the narrative played out. I thoroughly enjoyed the management sim portion of the game and could see myself play through a sandbox mode for quite some time, if one is ever added. Add randomized cases and crimes, and it could be something special, but as it is, the lack of true freedom in the narrative holds the game back. Having your playthrough cut short after only a handful of days because you wouldn’t listen to the mayor’s racist request is something that should not happen. Don’t give the player a false sense of choice when in practice there is only one way to play the game.
An intriguing concept hindered by too much going on. There are plenty of details throughout, but few received the attention they deserved.
This Is The Police is a challenging portrayal of law enforcement that falters when it comes to meaningful commentary. While it constructs a good form and addresses topical concerns, it fails to say anything definitive. Starting a conversation is worthwhile, but that only carries the game so far before its menial nature drags it down.