LA Cops Reviews
LA Cops has some cool ideas, but the frustratingly shoddy execution works completely at odds with the experience the game is trying to create.
It certainly doesn't help that the debt to the superb Hotline Miami is so obvious. As I wrestled with the gluey movement and bizarre AI to find the fun in LA Cops, I was painfully aware that I could be having that fun already, in a more stylish and polished form, just by scrolling up my Steam library. As Omar so wisely said in The Wire, you come at the king you best not miss. LA Cops shoots way too wide of the target.
Playing LA Cops is like doing hard time.
Regardless of it all, levels are still replayable, and at a price of 15 bucks, LA Cops is a bargain deal. Taking that bargain is a subject in its own, but at least you know your partner will not run out on you… or with you… or at all for that matter…
While there was clear opportunity in the buddy cop formula LA Cops attempted to create, the end result is a mess. Totally undermined by poor teammate AI, the central strategic hook is lost, resulting in a bland game confused about what it wants the player to do.
From the vibrant visuals and the pitch perfect 70s cop theme to the fast and snappy buddy cop action, LA Cops has a lot of great ideas, but hasn't really done enough with them. The partner system in particular could have been something unique and special, evocative of classic buddy cop films and TV series, but in the end, I was just gunning down enemies with my backup around the corner.
A good little shooter that could have been great, L.A Cops is like a nicer version of Hotline Miami that's a bit on the blander side.
LA Cops has the feel of a casual game that you can blast through quickly and give your achievement score a quick boost. In some ways, it is a little frustrating as you feel that with a little more fine tuning and the inclusion of multiplayer it could have been a great, fun, little game, but as it is, it falls a little short of that.
LA Cops is a neat diversion with some fantastic style. I had a blast in the short time I played it, but feel like it grows stale far too fast. This is the perfect game to snag during a sale, it is fun for the time it lasts, I just wish there was more to come back to once the raiding was over.
LA Cops has inoffensive intentions, but its execution is as flawed as its characters' fashion sense. The pleasant presentation represents the still-edible icing on this otherwise stale, circular snack – but glaring design issues have left us close to dialling 911.
Definitely more bad cop than good cop, but LA Cops could at least be a fair cop, guv, if given a bit of post-release polish.
If you have $15 burning a hole in your pocket there are plenty of better ways to spend it than wasting it on LA Cops. You might dig the groovy aesthetic for a short while but inevitably you'll walk away either bored or frustrated. Maybe just keep in mind you can get the original Hotline Miami for even less and have a lot more fun.
L.A. Cops isn't a bad idea in itself, as it takes the concept of Hotline Miami and turns it on its head, making you the law instead of the law-breaker. However, its execution is flawed almost every step of the way, between iffy gameplay decisions, a lackluster presentation and having to work to unlock the awesome stuff, instead of just giving it to you right away. If you have to be the ultimate police officer, stick with Hardline instead.
So, if you're fan of Hotline Miami, and are looking for something that puts a few twists on its gameplay, even if it doesn't quite succeed, you may find LA Cops to be worth checking out on sale. But, if you are looking for a game that is polished, with a narrative to tie it together, than you should probably leave this one behind bars.
LA Cops is an offensive and shitty video game, which does itself injustices by mixing terrible writing with bad and incredibly frustrating gameplay.
While the gameplay is similar to Hotline Miami, there are some positive differences that help make L.A. Cops interesting. It adds a few unique gameplay elements, such as isometric camera movement, but the game lacks in categories like speed, strong personality and a compelling narrative to drive it above a game like Hotline Miami.
LA Cops is a neat game of cops and criminals that's just too short-lived and lacking. The 70s style is a nice touch and the partner dynamic adds a strategic bent (even if we did mostly just use the second cop as an extra life) to what is otherwise a fairly sterile twin-stick shooter. It's not quite our bag of donuts.
I'm pretty convinced LA Cops committed police brutality on me after I had to sit through its broken stealth, non-functional lock-on, useless partner AI, terrible level design, and stats that didn't do anything.
Ultimately though, LA Cops is a very mediocre experience. The 1970s theme is largely unexplored, the story is almost non-existent and its gameplay is flawed in a number of ways. While the targeting system does have potential and we enjoyed progressing through the upgrade tree, they're not enough to save this game from utter mediocrity. There is some fun to be had in LA Cops, but its repetitive nature, frustrating AI and tedious gameplay means it will be very short-lived.