The Precinct PS5 Review. Remember when Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons instructed his men to bash down a door to the house they thought Snake lived in, but it was actually Reverend Lovejoy’s abode, then Snake reversed out of his garage and exclaimed “close but no donut cops!”? Well, The Precinct very nearly gets its clutches around the sweet doughnut of success, because while being a member of Averno City’s finest immerses you in the life of an everyday American police officer, and does a convincing job of letting you disperse justice in a myriad of ways, it can too often get too choppy and lightweight for its own good.
Developed by Fallen Tree Games and backed by publishers Kwalee and Microids, The Precinct has garnered plenty of attention due to the similarities it shares with the old-school top-down GTA games. These similarities include a city you can explore at your leisure, and a story you can follow where you need to suppress local gangs from wreaking havoc on Averno City.
The main difference is in The Precinct you are tasked with dispensing justice rather than criminality, so replace stealing cars and running hapless pedestrians over and fleeing the scene with issuing parking tickets, and chasing down perps for mischievous crimes such as robbery and vandalism, and you’ll have a clear picture of what The Precinct is all about.
The Precinct Review (PS5)-Well Arrested
You’re the new guy (or “tender lamb” as Police Chief Kowalski labels you) on the Averno City police force named Nick Cordell jr., and thus you’ll do whatever it takes to clean up the streets and tackle crime because you want a promotion and gain access to more and more perks. The ACPD strives for results, now it’s in your hands to contribute meaningfully to their cause. Crime is easy to commit but it doesn’t pay, whereas the law pays you, but you’re constantly in a war to bring justice to the citizens and send down the delinquents-so you gotta work hard for your rewards.
If you’re looking for a yarn as compelling as a gripping TV show drama or as memorable or quirky as a Police Academy movie, you won’t find it here for the most part. The characters can natter and have their distinct personalities, telling terrible jokes and generally interacting in informal ways unbefitting of a police officer questioning a suspect, but you’ll wish you could know the crew a bit more personally. The still cutscenes are clearly flat and expressionless, which is disappointing, though thankfully they don’t get in the way of the officers and their camaraderie.
Starting you out with a few tutorial jobs before getting you acclimated with the day-to-day grind of regular police work, you’ll be introduced to the various mechanics and intel at play. You’ll learn how to access the interrogation menu so you can get an ID on the suspect, search their belongings for illegal weapons and contraband, as well as give them a breathalizer test if you think they’re tipsy, and pick the offences you believe they have committed. Correct selections earn you a tick and accrued XP, but if you pick an incorrect offence or let a criminal slip through your crime-fighting fingers, you’ll be docked XP.
You may feel at first that The Precinct throws a lot at you, but it really doesn’t. Following procedures feels organic once you know what you’re doing, and if you pay attention and follow protocol properly, you’ll wrack up experience points without issue. After each shift you’ll level up in accordance with the amount of XP you earn, as well as upgrade points for you to use, and new weapons and vehicles for you to use during your line of duty.
A Copping Mechanism
The way progression works in The Precinct does a commendable job of rewarding you for a job well done, persuading you to put in the work and effort for meaningful perks that’ll make your work easier and more pleasurable. Rising through the ranks and witnessing your efforts make an impact gives you a positive attitude to keep on going, which must run parallel to working in a real police force.
The tough part of your labor is chasing down and corralling the fleeing suspects, especially if they dare speed past you or perform grand theft auto after you ask them a question they don’t like-that can be a real pain in the piggy posterior because they’ll send you on wild chases that’ll necessitate vehicular backup and potential car pile-ups.
Another possible irritation is that you may have, say, two street fighters that you need to catch and arrest, but they often split up and run away in different directions meaning you can only realistically catch one perp. If you’re lucky there will be an orange hue on the map shading the rough area of where the fleeing felon is- but you still need to get in your cruiser to track them down.
On the subject of chasing down perps, a stamina meter becomes visible as you charge after evading criminals, and the blue bar will gradually deplete and if it depletes completely Cordell will run out of puff. However, one of the upgrades you can purchase will grant you the opportunity to regain your stamina fully by tapping a face button before the blue bar depletes at the center. This stamina recovery system is one of the best in modern video games, and lets you to keep on charging forward without forcing you to slow down if you overexert yourself.
Combat and restraining encounters in The Precinct are handled well enough, but aren’t without flaws. Gunfights encourage you to use cover and utilize a sight with a roving cursor for each of your weapons, which works well enough but will never replace the accuracy and satisfaction of third-person aiming. Restraining suspects meanwhile, is essentially a button-mashing mini game that’s mindless but helps you feel the strength of applying force, so it works appropriately to ensure miscreants get cuffed.
The types of shift work available to you are run of the mill for the most part. On-foot patrols will have you walking through the streets of Averno City, keeping your eyes peeled for troublemakers, issuing fines, placing tickets on the front of cars dependent on the kind of infraction committed, and arresting the unruly personalities you come across.
Similarly, parking patrol has you issuing tickets if cars are parked next to a hydrant, facing in the opposite direction to traffic or parked on a sidewalk. Vehicular patrols are more complex, as you can do pretty much everything you can do on-foot except you might be exposed to far more drama and diverse crimes like hit and runs and vehicular homicides. If you fancy you can zone in on specific cars and ask dispatch for intel on them, which may lead you to stop their car and check the suspects out.
Helicopter patrols are hands-off when it comes to tackling crimes directly, but hands on when it comes to guiding fellow police officers towards criminals with a helicopter searchlight. Hunting down assailants and watching the calamity unfolding below in a way that echoes America’s Wildest Police Chases. Unfortunately being suspended above the ground leaves you helpless, especially when you need to depend on the A.I to bring criminals to justice.
Will you opt in or cop out?
The tough part of your labor is chasing down and corralling the fleeing suspects, especially if they dare speed past you or perform grand theft auto after you ask them a question they don’t like. That can be a real pain in the piggy posterior because they’ll send you on wild chases that’ll necessitate vehicular backup and potential car pile-ups.
Another possible irritation is that you may have say two street fighters that you need to catch and arrest, but they often split up and run away in different directions meaning you can only realistically catch one perp, though if you’re lucky there will be an orange hue on the map shading the rough area of where the fleeing felon is-but you still need to get in your cruiser to track them down.
On the subject of chasing down perps, a stamina meter becomes visible as you charge after evading criminals, and the blue bar will gradually deplete and if it depletes completely Cordell will run out of puff. However, one of the upgrades you can purchase will grant you the opportunity to regain your stamina fully by tapping a face button before the blue bar depletes at the center. This stamina recovery system is one of the best in modern videogames, and lets you to keep on charging forward without forcing you to slow down if you overexert yourself.
Combat and restraining encounters in The Precinct are handled well enough, but aren’t without flaws. Gunfights encourage you to use cover and utilize a sight with a roving cursor for each of your weapons, which works well enough but will never replace the accuracy and satisfaction of third-person aiming. Restraining suspects meanwhile, is essentially a button-mashing minigame that’s mindless but helps you feel the strength of applying force, so it works appropriately to ensure miscreants get cuffed.
The types of shift work available to you are run of the mill for the most part. On-foot patrols will have you walking through the streets of Averno City, keeping your eyes peeled for troublemakers, issuing fines, placing tickets on the front of cars dependent on the kind of infraction committed, and arresting the unruly personalities you come across.
Similarly, parking patrol has you issuing tickets if cars are parked next to a hydrant, facing in the opposite direction to traffic or parked on a sidewalk. Vehicular patrols are more complex, as you can do pretty much everything you can do on-foot except you might be exposed to far more drama and diverse crimes like hit and runs and vehicular homicides. If you fancy you can zone in on specific cars and ask dispatch for intel on them, which may lead you to stop their car and check the suspects out.
Helicopter patrols are hands-off when it comes to tackling crimes directly, but hands on when it comes to guiding fellow police officers towards criminals with a helicopter searchlight. Hunting down assailants and watching the calamity unfolding below in a way that echoes America’s Wildest Police Chases. Unfortunately being suspended above the ground leaves you helpless, especially when you need to depend on the A.I to bring criminals to justice.
Will you opt in or cop out?
As routine, rudimentary and banal police work is in The Precinct, there is plenty of drama to tuck into along the way. While you’re nailed down to specific shifts and times at first, eventually you’ll gain the ability to customize your shifts to suit your preferences. Customizing shifts is ideal when you want to complete stunt, race and time trial challenges, collect special plaques strewn throughout Averno City, or take on main story investigations so you can swap police boots for gum shoes. You can accomplish a lot in one shift if you’re on the clock for an entire day, and it’s very recommended that you do if you want to maximize your progress.
Lamentably, the technical side of The Precinct can too often get in the way of the experience. Policeman A.I can be distracted like they just witnessed a raccoon take off with their badge, and they can’t be relied on to chase down a perp because they’ll let them get away, and don’t start with relying on them during pursuits!
Averno City itself is a basic concrete infrastructure with a handful of small districts and zones you’ll need to cover, but the city streets can become too familiar too fast and there’s a lack of variety and barely any interesting scenery to behold. The sights and sounds are as monochromatic as the police work, which is disappointing if you want some more colour and vibrancy. The visuals can be jittery with scenery popping in and out, the frame rate can slow down disruptively at points, and sometimes the game will back you out and trigger an error report.
The remaining verdict on The Precinct leaves a mixed impression. Experiencing a GTA-style game from the other side of the law is certainly a worthwhile concept, providing you with a good idea of the day-to-day operations of a fictional police force. There’s plenty to do and it’s encased in an accessible and digestible format that’ll please anybody looking to engage in some simulated crime-fighting. The progression system is also very accommodating, as it provides you with rewards that keep on giving as you work hard to earn your place with each and every shift.
However, the routine can become too dry, Averno City isn’t diverse or interesting enough for exploration to be pleasurable, and the game’s technical performance can be too detrimental at times to enjoy. Feel free to give this one a go and milk it for all its perks to reach the top of the ACPD, but you may want to send this one down with a DUI once it’s all set and done.
The Precinct is out now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.
The review copy was kindly provided by the publisher.