Anyone wish there was a good police/detective game?

[ritditditdidoo]

One of the first games I ever played as a kid was called Police Quest. It was really basic but it gave me a real taste for how fun it can be to play the role of a cop and how good it can be to do real investigations. But there isn't really anything like that anymore.

I think the nearest modern game I've seen was maybe LA Noir but that game did a lot of things I didn't like.

Anyone else wish there was a good police action/investigation type game? I always thought my dream game would be an open world police game that progresses to investigation, and it be super hardcore. I dream of an engine like GTA5, but you drive around carefully like you would in real life, in a cop car, with a partner, and you get calls on the radio of things to deal with. A driver driving erratically, a speeding vehicle, a stolen car, a burglary, an armed robbery, etc. and you have to deal with it in a semi action but also semi realistic and thoughtful way like an adventure game of old. And then later you get promoted to be a detective and you have to drive out to the suburbs and go into peoples houses and question them and do your own real investigation.

Of course this can't really happen because budgets and graphics engines like that are reserved for tried and tested games now and not new ideas. But I can hope Maybe an indie dev will do something similar.

 

[Rakehellion]

L.A. Noire?

 

[DigDog]

i suggest you look into an older game, called Blade Runner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(1997_video_game)

it's a masterpiece. extremely complex, the game changes dynamically according to how you play it.
might a bit awkward to get it running on modern PCs, not sure if there is a GOG version.

 

[ritditditdidoo]

Thanks I actually played that a long time ago Very cool game, I'll have to play it again. There were some others around that time too with Tex Murphy but I didn't like them very much. I liked the style though.

 

[aigomorla]

i remember spending many hours playing that game.

 

[HeXen]

There are more Police Quests of course. I think they made 5 or 6 of them. There are some detective adventure games and Deja Vu and Borrowed Time was a fav of mine, there is also Sherlock Homes series but nothing out there quite like LA Noire which is as close to the dream game you mention of as you'll likely get.

Granted, a Police simulator game would be pretty cool. You might check out the SWAT games but your best bet is to start your own development company and get a kickstarter going because I don't expect to ever see a police simulator although it's odd no one has made one.

 

[nerp]

Yes I'm surprised this is something not explored more. A real police simulator, or a GTA style game but really focused on the law enforcement angle. A mix of GTA, NFS hot pursuit, police quest, etc.

Damn, I'd love to dial up Sweet Cheeks Marie right now.

 

[jlee]

Yes I'm surprised this is something not explored more. A real police simulator, or a GTA style game but really focused on the law enforcement angle. A mix of GTA, NFS hot pursuit, police quest, etc.

Damn, I'd love to dial up Sweet Cheeks Marie right now.

Nobody's going to want to do that much paperwork.

I remember playing SWAT 4 back in the day. I am also surprised that there hasn't really been any development on that front.

 

[thejunglegod]

Such a nice idea this. Reminds me of the first Mafia game where we had to keep the car speed limits under 40, not hit any pedestrians on the road and follow traffic rules. Was so much fun. Now if we could turn that into a cop open world game, that would be just fantastic.

 

[AndreM]

Nobody's going to want to do that much paperwork.

I remember playing SWAT 4 back in the day. I am also surprised that there hasn't really been any development on that front.

Me2, what happened to the good old SWAT

 

[DigDog]

Nobody's going to want to do that much paperwork.

http://papersplea.se/

 

[clamum]

Man that sounds like a great game. I'd play that anyday (or even better, help code it).

 

[Riverhound777]

While it's not really a Police game you might enjoy The Secret World. There is a ton of investigation involved and trying to solve puzzles.

 

[ritditditdidoo]

Ha I loved The Secret World I loved the atmosphere especially. It was also pretty addictive to just run around ganking stuff endlessly.

There are more Police Quests of course. I think they made 5 or 6 of them. There are some detective adventure games and Deja Vu and Borrowed Time was a fav of mine, there is also Sherlock Homes series but nothing out there quite like LA Noire which is as close to the dream game you mention of as you'll likely get.

Granted, a Police simulator game would be pretty cool. You might check out the SWAT games but your best bet is to start your own development company and get a kickstarter going because I don't expect to ever see a police simulator although it's odd no one has made one.

Never tried Deja Vu or Borrowed Time, thanks! I'll try. I played all the Police Quests, I think the 3rd one was my favorite but they all had something interesting about them. The 4th was one of the first games on a CD ROM

I also love the SWAT games. It is strange because the Police Quest games had very little action and almost no shooting. I think people really craved it back then so SWAT came along and it was all just shooting. But I liked how tactical it was. It had some great ideas and gadgets that no games have used since.

 

[HeXen]

Ha I loved The Secret World I loved the atmosphere especially. It was also pretty addictive to just run around ganking stuff endlessly.



Never tried Deja Vu or Borrowed Time, thanks! I'll try. I played all the Police Quests, I think the 3rd one was my favorite but they all had something interesting about them. The 4th was one of the first games on a CD ROM

I also love the SWAT games. It is strange because the Police Quest games had very little action and almost no shooting. I think people really craved it back then so SWAT came along and it was all just shooting. But I liked how tactical it was. It had some great ideas and gadgets that no games have used since.

Borrowed Time is on Amiga, so you'd have to use an emulator like FSUAE. Different than Deja Vu, You basically play as a Pi but you have some guys after you so you have to type what to do which is actually pretty fun imo. Along with typing what to do, you type to ask questions which can be amusing at times. Also some actions are not as obvious, like when you go to a bar, you type "show gun" to show them your weapon after asking questions so it can be hard as nails, make sure you save state often.

 

[tential]

Yes I'm surprised this is something not explored more. A real police simulator, or a GTA style game but really focused on the law enforcement angle. A mix of GTA, NFS hot pursuit, police quest, etc.

Damn, I'd love to dial up Sweet Cheeks Marie right now.

Some beatings by cops look straight out of a video game so a police simulator definitely wouldn't be hard to pull off.

You've got the mix of games down actually it would actually be a pretty cool game. You could be a good cop or bad c op and take down a massive crime ring. You could turn into Vick Mackey from The Shield, or well whatever you want.

I mean, of course, this game would never get greenlighted by a publisher because of the massive amount of risk, but just like GTA was edgy and changed the game, that probably would be crazy edgy.

I mean, GTA 5 + NFS + LA Noire does sound pretty interesting I guess.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Any GTA mods ?

 

[HeXen]

One I forgot about, The Dame Was Loaded. It was an FMV point and click game and actually was pretty darn good and doesn't really have any puzzles. Worth checking out on YT to see if it's something you'd like. Kind of has that 40's private investigator vibe going.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jMUIjYELwM

There's also a guy on eBay selling this game along with a compatibility CD. Not sure if it's a legit cd or copy though, I'm guessing his compatibility cd is Dosbox

 

[mizzou]

depends on what type of police work you want to experience.

Murder investigations? LA Noire is fun for that

SWAT Raids? Rainbow Six series is fun, or really any tactical shooter that isn't completely military

Mundane traffic cop? Nothing exists at the moment. There are some mods, but they aren't that deep. I remember playing SimCopter and pretending I was a helicopter cop that helped catch speeders and robbers. Plus you could take like 3-5 cops with you and then you could get in foot pursuits with bad sims.

https://youtu.be/FRd3A2BsCxs?t=13m31s You can see this guy land his copter and the cop gets out, but its bugged and the cop fails to chase. You can chase the bad guy too but you have no ability to arrest them.

EDIT: https://youtu.be/x4mh7Pc5MSI?t=6m38s this is more accurate here

Forensic Investigator? I can't think of anything on hand, I don't believe the CSI games are great but there are a lot of great sherlock holmes games around.

 

[ritditditdidoo]

Heh SimCopter I put sooo many hours in that game as a kid I LOVED being able to fly around a city, it was my dream come true at the time. Even in the age of Flight Sims, there was nothing quite like that. They were all about bombing green dots. MS Flight Simulator was good too but I always got bored in that because I couldn't actually 'do' anything. I loved SimCopter because the city didn't just feel like a backdrop, you could actually be part of it. Cool game.

I did play a few police games a few years ago. There was one called Crash Time 4 which wasn't bad! It was open world, driving around in powerful police cars and chasing people. It was a bit low budget and primitive but I liked some parts of it. There was also another game I played (forgot the name) where you are a police chief and you send squads to different parts of a city to deal with riots or crimes or whatever. It was like a strategy game.

Not bad games, but still not really what I'd like to see. I remember one of the guys behind Police Quest tried to do a kickstarter a few years ago but it failed. I have my fingers crossed for some old game dev like that making a comeback like Chris Roberts did with Star Citizen. It just takes someone with some credibility to come up with a big idea that doesn't exist and there are a lot of gamers that seem happy to jump on board.

A mix of GTA, NFS hot pursuit, police quest, etc.

You could be a good cop or bad c op and take down a massive crime ring. You could turn into Vick Mackey from The Shield, or well whatever you want.

I mean, GTA 5 + NFS + LA Noire does sound pretty interesting I guess.

You guys are making me drool

I mean, of course, this game would never get greenlighted by a publisher because of the massive amount of risk

Yep. With stuff like this I always think it needs a popular mod to lead the way, or an indie dev with a passion for the idea to make a game that becomes popular, and then the big devs and publishers might try to cash in. I really wish I could do programming/art and become an indie dev myself because there are a bunch of things I'd love to play that don't exist.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Rockstar could do this. Just use the GTA 5 engine/simulated city and make an expansion pack where you're a cop investigating crimes. Would be awesome. LA Noire was tedious because it was just the same crime over and over again (sweet jesus, the homicide crimes were literally the same murder over and over...who green-lighted that?). I don't know why Rockstar didn't just use the GTA 4 world.

 

[HeXen]

I was always into the Noire stuff. Fog, rainy nights, saxophone jazz music, large breasted women, a variety of different cases to take on. Make it first person in the UE4 or Cryengine and with VR support and no one would ever see me again.

Since nothing I want exists, it's likely why I watch a lot of old black and white Noire films

 

[Stuka87]

I would LOVE for them to make another LA Noire. I really enjoyed that game.

 

[Sulaco]

L.A. Noire is easily the best option. It's flawed, with forced action sequences and other nonsense, but there's precious little else like it.

Blade Runner was already mentioned, but is worth another. Wonderful game, great graphic adventure, even if you're not a fan of the movies.

Still Life is also worth a look in the graphic adventure vein.

The SWAT games I've been playing since SWAT 2. The pinnacle was probably SWAT 3.
The problem with all the SWAT games, at least 3 and 4, was that they started out as unique SWAT experiences, with hostage situations in semi-believable situations. Ordering suspects (or often just one suspect) to drop their weapon or look for non-lethal alternatives and meticulously advance through the level gave it a unique spin on the tactical shooter genre.

In the later levels, they simply devolved into silly Rainbow Six knock-off "Clear this massive hospital/factory/library with two or three dozen armed criminals with your team of 4 SWAT dudes.", and you basically just shot up anything that moved. I guess they figured keeping the levels more closely resembling actual SWAT assignments would be considered "boring" to the mainstream "run n' gun" audience, but once the games got to the "kill 25 terrorists who've taken over the hospital with body armor and assault rifles" stages, I lost pretty much all interest.

 

[Oyeve]

Alone in the dark was somewhat a detective story. The OG, not that horrid remake.