T is for... This is the Police

---

Game Information

Developer:	Weappy Studio	Date Started:	18/04/2025
Platform:	Steam	Fresh Play / Continuation:	Continuation
Genre:	Management	Time Played:	19.3hrs
Theme:	Crime	Date Finished:	27/05/2025
Difficulty Rating:	Critical Decisions Needed	Recommendation:	Yes, but might drag on

---

I've had this game for quite some time, and while I did try it several years back, I set it aside - mainly because at the time I did not enjoy the pressure of trying to decide who to send on what assignment and risk it all blowing up in my face.

But I still wanted to play the game. I just needed the right time for it.

Most of the game takes place on a model representation of Freeburg. As the day progresses, dispatch calls come in which require you to send a certain number of police officers - sometimes even a Paddy Wagon or SWAT as well. It takes time for the officers to arrive at the scene and resolve the issue, so you often find yourself trying to juggle who to send and keep behind, because if another call comes in, you don't want to be left short. Not only that, you have a goal of amassing half a million dollars (for reasons that I will not go into) in 180 days. Your salary alone will not get you to that mark, but are you willing to sacrifice your values for a few off-the-book jobs from some rather shady sources?

This delicate balance of having to choose which jobs to take, as well as deciding whether I could afford to send the maximum number of officers on a dispatch call, was what drew me to the game. Sure, it drove me a little mad in the beginning - especially when one of those calls turned out to be a False Alarm (I would feel the frustration in the sound as the paper was scrunched up) - but after I got a rhythm and feel for it, it was enjoyable. It did help as well that the calls were scripted to appear at specific times. This way, if you royally messed up or wanted to try something different, you could always reload the start of the day and try again.

This did mean that there was less randomness in the game, but it didn't remove it entirely. The calls still could go sideways, even if you sent the best of the best to resolve it. And you still had to deal with staff requesting leave or just not bothering to turn up at the start of the day. Sometimes it was one or two. Other times, I had half the force suddenly come up with an excuse for the day off.

I did like that some dispatch calls required you to make additional decisions which could either boost your overall success chances. Or wipe out your entire team. Some dispatch calls even required you to send reinforcements which added to the tension as your benched officers continued to dwindle with each call.

What I do wish, however, was that the resolution window displayed the outcome of the arrest in a little more detail, especially for the dispatch calls that required you to make additional decisions. At the end of the incident, you got a very brief summary on whether the suspect was arrested, whether the officers were harmed or not, whether the civilian was unharmed, and maybe if any loot was uncovered. During False Alarms, you at least got a brief explanation as to what happened and why it was classed as a false alarm. It would have been nice to see the resolution to some of the choices I selected.

I also enjoyed that it wasn't just responding to dispatch calls. Throughout the game, you would have to send out detectives to investigate a case. The process was simple: each day they were working, they would give you three cards. You would then have to read the testimonies to figure out the sequence of events. But not all cards were correct. Some were completely off. Others had tiny, incorrect details. So you would have to examine each card carefully to map out the correct sequence. Once you had it, you would automatically be shown it was right, and you could send some officers to make the arrest.

Additionally, between each act (three in all), you had a short minigame which you could sink some time into. They weren't mandatory, but it did help break the repetitiveness for a short while. However, once you skipped it, there was no going back to it. Which was a shame. In the last act, though, you did get invited to a few poker games, if you were willing to risk your hard-earned gains.

While I did enjoy the game, there were, however, some aspects which I did not entirely enjoy - but thankfully not to the point that it affected the overall game. The first was the missing resolution narrative mentioned earlier. Tiny, but I felt it could have been a bit more immersive with it. Second, there was the selection in music. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not my taste. I ended up tuning it out most of the time. Lastly, the days did get repetitive at times, especially since there was no way to speed up time in between dispatch calls, and there were at times several days in between before there was some additional story exposition. By the third act, I was already feeling the strain and just wanted it to end.

The story wasn't anything that grand, but for the game, it was well suited. I cannot go into it much without spoiling anything, but I will say that it led in a direction I had not entirely been expecting, which makes me want to play the sequel - This is the Police 2 - even more. The voice actors also brought it all to life and did an amazing job. I will say this as well - I didn't realize that the voice actor for the Chief of Police (who you play as) was the same person who voiced Duke Nukem. I only realized it was him when I saw his name in the credits. The fact that he sounded so different impressed me a lot.

Now it will be a while before I get around to the sequel, but at least I should have a good selection of other games lined up until then. In fact, there are a couple that I am really itching to get my hands on. But patience; patience... In the meantime, I can now look forward to UberSoldier 2.