Well, Sonny is an unreliable witness on this one - his official pants were tight enough as it was, but now? Ouch. Just be glad the text box didn't say *"%&!Dwahao! BOOOBIES!@$^&%!"*
Police Quest 2 is my favorite of the series. It still have some of the procedural stuff, but they lighten up on it a bit and make it feel more like an 80s cop movie.
I remember PQ3 being pretty good as well, although it's been ages since I've played it. At the least, it does have very good music since they hired Mr. Miami Vice himself, Jan Hammer, to do the score. However, for the love of god, do *not* play Police Quest 4. It is Paper-Pushing Simulator 1993 - SO focused on procedure that it's incredibly dry to the point of not being fun at all. Not to mention the really questionable decision to hire disgraced ex-LA Police Chief Daryl Gates as its co-designer, which kind of cast a shadow over the whole project. (I mean seriously, who actually said, "Hey, I bet that guy who botched everything about the Rodney King beating would be a great game designer!"...?)
@@jasonblalock4429 I enjoyed PQ4, though it was during the FMV era of gaming where all the adventure games like Police Quest, Gabriel Knight, etc all used Mortal Kombat style captured images of actors as sprites on photographic backgrounds. PQ4 goes rather nuts by the end of it, though, like if David Lynch directed Silence of the Lambs.
So I just played through this today (for some reason I don't understand) and this review is spot on. It kinda felt like the events of this game occurred over like a day or two maybe? What the hell is the actual time frame? It absolutely is just a male cop power fantasy fever dream. Great work!
One of the things I found odd back in the day, but now am certain I can blame Al Lowe for is the command "drop pants" A command so powerful it could make you lose the game, even after you'd just won.
I always thought the stripper scene with Jack was the most realistic scenario in the game. Jack's friends didn't know about his problems when they hired the kiss-o-gram and inadvertently made an awkward situation. It happens.
Ah yes the 80s adventure game. I learned valuable life lessons from them. Such as every mistake no matter how minute, will kill you faster than you can blink.
I just imagine that police guy looking at the script for this game and being so proud of the solid police procedural he helped create. He's beaming with pride, knowing he can expose gamers to what REAL police work is like. Then Al Low pokes his head in and goes "YEAH BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IT NEEDS? TIDDIES!" And thus it was ruined.
It's not like that's not a situation a cop could wind up in. Still, I wonder how Jim felt about having his story have to be fixed; but unless he had a background in entertainment, he should have had a Sierra co-designer from the start.
It's likely that Jim had to sign off on the changes since his name was on it. That said I think Al Lowe's humor (from todays point of view) is dated. It's nothing terrible, but in the 80's, early 90's if you played PQ1 or LSL1-3 you'd probably get the innuendo's but your mind had to fill in a lot of the blanks in the visuals.
"What is WRONG with this game?" I would've expected no less tomfoolery from an ex-cop. If anything, the leisure suit larry guy's additions to the story making the MC a pervert willing to violate protocol when it pleases him just made it more accurate to real cops.
This was my SHIT growing up. My older brother had a Tandy 1000TL and while he was at college, it was me in his room with games like this, Space Quest, The Colonel's Bequest and so on. It makes me happy as Hell to see that you do reviews for not only this one, but most of Sierra's line up, even the Hoyle card game one. You wouldn't have played A Nightmare On Elm St, the PC version as well, have you? I'd love to see a proper review for that as pretty much nobody has done it.
"This game should be titled 'Open Door, Get in Car, Close Door' because I think I did that more than anything else." I haven't played this game in decades and that comment cut right through the dust of my terrible memory.
Ahh... Police Quest, that strange old beast. As an old-school player of the Sierra classics, the PQ series was one that eluded me until the advent of abandonware sites. And PQ1 is indeed a curious game. Whilst I like the idea of "proper police procedures" (something that faded a bit as the sequels went on), it was horrendously over-trivial at times. And as Roses mentions in the video, there was definitely some polar opposites at work creatively on this game. Saying that, I did stick at it as, for all the trivial sections, there were also some fun sections - and the text input allowed for some real mischief attempts and easter eggs. It's the most I've ever needed a hint guide for an old Sierra game, though.
This video was great. My nostalgia went of the roof! I used to play this game when I was a kid, the floppy version, but I didn't have disk 2, so when I got to the car part the game ended!
If anyone wants to play Police Quest but with significantly reduced tedium, I recommend playing the VGA version. They also re-did a lot of the writing for it and generally improved the whole game.
All the intuitive, forgiving gameplay of a typical Sierra adventure game, along with all the clarity and simplicity of several inches of paperwork. In case that isn't enough, there's a story with the emotional depth of a Michael Bay movie and the comprehensibility and tension of Shayamalan's Last Airbender. What a brilliant combination! How did people complete this game without a guide? I'm not sure if _knowing_ how to win would be the bigger obstacle, or wanting to even _play_ it.
I don't think that Activision distributes that anymore at that. I remember the old Direct2Drive version cutting out the classic version for the VGA version, which I'm sure is the version on GOG (outside of the DRM). The old disc based collector's edition had the EGA version...but the most unplayable PQ game was the 3rd one as it was tied to the CPU cycles like an old dos game, back when DosBOX didn't exist (like windows 95 era)
from space quest to kings quest and many more from the Sierra on Line games were fun to play in the late 80s going into the 90s. a big glass of Dr Pepper and dominos pizza on a rainy day in 1988 were good times :)
100% Its sad that ppl today does not even know about this era in gaming in the 1990's. It was a text to point and click adventure that was really special in its own right.
I played this game when I was very young and spent most of the time crashing the car. it was a source of great amusement at the time and I can see from this video it still is
along with king's quest 3, i learned to spell a lot from this game too. there is a glitch when stop the drug dealer's car - when you input "lay down" you immediately fire your gun, the animation will be like you shot him, but the game registers it as normal and you can continue
I replayed the Police Quest games a few years ago, and found that they were still very enjoyable. I didn't really mind the things you complained about. PQ2 is better, though, and probably my favorite in the series. I just wish there were more games like this, I really enjoyed pretending to be a police investigator. It is probably what made the PQ series my second favorite Sierra series (the QFG games were my favorite).
I was so in love with this game as a child who was way too young to be playing it.... Thanks Mom. One of my first experiences in PC gaming at about 8 years old. Hard to decide if I liked this one or PQ4 "Open Season" better. I remember many "too sick for school" days beating these games.... Beating them with my PR-24 Nightstick
I played these games over and over as a kid. Even today, whenever I see a story in the news about police brutality or about an officer somewhere who killed an unarmed person, I can't help but think to myself, "That would have been an instant game over in Police Quest."
You clould have saved yourself some trouble by using F4 to get in/out of your car. And you can also load your gun with F6, draw it with F8, and fire with F10. The tonal shift moments are few and far between. The game is really more about being a cop and making arrests. You could very well be right that Al's had a stronger influence than he should have had. But I don't think it's abundant enough to say it derails the game.
When I was a kid, this was the only Sierra adventure game we had (aside from Mixed-Up Mother Goose). I didn't bother to read the manual because I thought that most of the contents were just flavor (I also didn't know how to look stuff up because I was five). And by my five-year-old logic, the drunk guy was slurring his 'S' sounds and therefore meant to say "sit" (I think the previous text said something about how he liked the furnishing in his cell) and... failed. One thing I did like about Police Quest, as opposed to other adventure games I have played, is the fact that there is no moon logic whatsoever. Like other Sierra games, it is brutal, but at least you can figure everything out by following the rules. Also, one of the death conditions in the game is that you can be nice to Helen Hots (don't give her a ticket), and she will give you her phone number. Call the number, and the captain answers the phone. Given that it is a distant memory, I am not sure if it's just the game punishing you for ignoring the story (the captain often takes the place of the spiteful god/narrator typical of "Quest" games when you screw up), but I think there's an implication that you just called the boss' wife or daughter.
Don't worry, Roses, they get better. Though, probably not as good as the Laura Bow series as far as mystery, pacing, plot, or character. But relative to each other, better ...
Great video as usual. I played the VGA version before the EGA, which lightens up on some of the hardcore procedural stuff (e.g. - you can drive your car without doing the walkaround). I have very fond memories of the VGA version, and I love the first two sequels, but I know a lot of people who had the same criticisms you did. For me, it was more that PQ was just unlike the typical Quest game. I love the music in the VGA version too. The EGA version is notably more frustrating. Oh, and I have always and will continue to pronounce it “Lye-ton”.
Yeah, PQ2 did have some better character development. And just so you know, you can actually just press F4 to get in and out of your car. And in PQ2 you can also press F6 to load your gun, F8 to draw and holster it, and F10 to fire it. (I *think* those apply to PQ1 too, but there's never any need to shoot anyone in that one.) Also, I won't spoil who the "gremlin" was, but you can find out by looking up the personnel records on any computer in the office in PQ2.
"Wow, Sweet Lips! Was that hot, or what?" Good lord, Sonny. For a cop, you talk like someone in a corny "we don't know how actual humans talk" sexual harassment training video for retail workers. P.S. Next time PUR uploads, I gotta say "Jiggers! A new Roses video!"
This was the first Sierra adventure game I ever played. The idea that I could type in commands and explore on my own was mind-blowing to me. As a kid in Christian household, this was how I learned to play poker. I kept a save right before the poker game so I could play again and again. I used to play this game once a year or so, and I still enjoy it, but it has its warts for sure. The driving is grating. You forgot to walk around your car? You’re SOL!
OMG same!!! I was 12-ish and this was way before the internet and I couldn't get hints or anything... it was all trial and error (and a lot of saves) lol!
Police Quest I has a soft spot in my heart as the first Sierra game I ever played (and shortly thereafter, the first Sierra game I ever purchased - while on vacation with my parents in Switzerland, no less). However every time I play it, I realize it's worse than I remembered from the previous time. On the other hand, Police Quest II is a remarkable improvement. While nowhere near as good as Sierra's best, it's still a very coherent and well-thought-out story, quiet suspenseful at times, and generally manages to maintain its tone throughout (minus the airplane hijacking...). I recommend it even if you really didn't like the first game, just don't expect a Colonel's Bequest or a Gabriel Knight. Also forget the last two games. They will ruin your happiness forever.
I always suspected that the procedural stuff was a form of copy protection. It's just not possible to play without the game manual (see also, King's Quest 3). I spent forever trying to arrest the drunk driver before finding the command in the manual, "administer fst". Maybe it's common knowledge in the US that this is a Field Sobriety Test but... eh.
I can't say I agree with the idea that this game is either tonally inconsistent or a power fantasy. A "Power Fantasy" would have Sonny Bonds stop the Death Angel by kicking down his hotel door and opening fire. As for the tone... the idea is just that its incidents in the life of a cop, tied together by the Death Angel plot thread. Sometimes silly things happen. Also, your first call about "tonal whiplash" was him having to pull over a hot woman who was speeding, when hot women getting to break the rules because they're hot is literally one of the oldest cliches in the book and something most people learn in high school.
I agree. Power fantasies are usually about making the player/reader/viewer feel powerful or live vicariously through a powerful character to indulge their fantasies. This game does anything but that. You can't even drive a car comfortably without smashing into a curb causing a major accident and you can die at the slightest drop of a hat for making minor mistakes.
As many times I died and failed at this game I stil have some fondness for it. However I have little interest playing this game 30 years later.. Damn, I'm old. (dare I say: too old for this shit)
I was around 11-12 when I first played this game. I marvel at how my younger self had the patience and tenacity to play this game to the end, not least considering English is my second language. Testament to the adaptability of the young mind, I suppose, but today I'd be put off by the text parser alone.
I'm so jazzed to see a new video from you in my feed, every single time! You're one of the few youtubers that I know that primarily covers old adventure games, especially the ones when adventure games were in their prime. It's just as entertaining to see the bad ones as the good ones due to your presentation and commentary. I truly hope you don't disappear into the sunset like a many other youtubers have since the adpocalypse. I love your stuff, please keep up the great reviews! You and LGR are my top 2 favorites.
Despite being the same game, the remastered version is so much better! And the series does get much better in later games. But, I also grew up on it. While a part of me hopes you’ll do another let’s play someday, I love your videos and hope you have a happy holiday season!
I love Police Quest; I even replayed it in the VGA remake. Police Quest III was a master piece. Wish they made more of them; after that it got reduced to an action game with Police Quest (4) Swat; and it just took over instead of it being a side series with more games in the main series.
I just recently played the VGA version of this game for the very first time. I enjoyed the procedural aspect of it and I found all of the out of place elements just made it feel like I was in an 80s buddy cop movie. So I LOVED it. Then again I also recently started playing the leisure suit larry games, and they pretty much hit my comedy spot just right too.
PQ2 is better, and it was actually my first Sierra game. I split the cost with a friend. He got the 5 1/4's & I used the 3 1/2 disks. There is a lot less typing of procedures, and for the most part, you don't even need the manual. I know this, since my friend had the manual for the first few months. Your partner actually takes care of most of the procedural stuff, that you would normally be typing in, like radioing dispatch. It feels much more refined, and you can just type "Drive to ..." instead of dealing with pixels.
Oh wow, nostaligia. I didn't even notice the weirdness as a kid. Still, I loved the later games much more, and have a special soft spot for Blue Force (unrelated I know, but same genre).
Haha i loved this game as a kidlet! i got so fast at typing "open door". Then one day i saw a friend type "o d" and it did the same thing and my jaw dropped, haha.
I remember playing this game before and after learning how to touch type. I'd even credit this game with encouraging my efforts in learning to touch type.
I learned to type playing these types of games too. I didn't know i just had to type 'o d'! Mind blown. I was proud enough to work out I could write 'Open door' instead of 'Open the door'.
Wow I just found this video and it is spot on. I played this as a kid, a kid who loved Sierra games and cop shows. Man did it kinda suck though. You either died in a car crash the moment you put on your siren or got in a standoff and realized your gun was in the hold at the station or courthouse. I don't think I ever got to the main storyline so it's good to finally see how it all turned out.
The first Police Quest game was my favorite, and I felt every subsequent one got worse and worse. I also loved the driving section, which is best enjoyed while reading the full-sized fold-out map that originally came with it IMO.
Great video, I grew up playing Kings Quest and Gold Rush but could never get into Police Quest. Interesting to see more of it finally vs giving up early on as a kid.
I loved the PQ-series. I played the first one a lot as a kid, and actually beat it. (and english is not my native language!) But I think you'd enjoy the other games more, especially the fourth one, which has a lot of procedures and mystery solving, but it has a very dark tone.
This game featured some very useful shortcuts. "O" for open, "C" for close, "D" for door... which lead to the somewhat ironic "O D" command for opening doors. There may be others I've forgotten about, but with all the doors to be opened and closed, this made the game a lot less tedious. Gold Rush! didn't have these shortcuts, but added some others instead, like "L" for look and "G" for "get" and "T" for "talk". Oh, and on a hunch, I figured out that "FST" must be an accepted abbreviation for "field sobriety test" - and thankfully it was.
I remember playing this with my cousin back in the day on a black and green monitor, when i was about 6 - 7 years old. I believe the PC was an intel 8086. But it was a blast because it had a "built in speaker" so we could hear the "music". And it was such a new thing back then since it was interactive. You could type what you wanted your character to do and you got answers and developed further in the story. And back then it was really a new exciting thing to what came before. Atari with space invaders and of course Commodore 64 with its arcade games... But this was something different. You took part in the game itself. You made a great video but i have to say, if you were not there which you obviously weren't you won't get it. Peace.
I used to really like how this game forced you to go through the insanely pedantic steps of actually following police procedure, it's kind of an amusing counterpoint to police fiction which is all about slow-mo jumps through the air firing dual pistols. I got a kind of obsessive compulsive pleasure out of reading the manual and painstakingly following every step. It was almost a disappointment when it got to the end and it started to be exciting.
They shoulda let the cop n the funny guy work on it together! That woulda made it funnier as well as mesh better, so long as they could stand each other.
Thanks for all the older games you make. I love the trip down memory lane for many games and I love seeing games I never had or heard of because I was too young to find them besides having my dad take me to the mall computer game store once in a blue moon. I love Laura Bow. Hugo Haunted House or something was another game I remember but struggled a lot with being like 7 or 8 years old trying to type in sentences correctly.
I really enjoyed this series. I remembered my parents purchasing the entire series for us when i was a kid.....For our 1996 Packard Bell computer with a whopping 1GB hard drive! These games and Phantasmagoria were my introduction to Sierra games.
The traffic stop with Helen Hots was probably not Al Lowe's doing, but meant as a challenge cops actually do face, probably on a regular basis. You have two options: ignore her attempts at seduction and give her the ticket, or let her go in which case she'll give you her number. Call this number at any point in the game, and you're fired - game over.
Police Quest 1 will always have a special spot in my heart as part of the first three Sierra games I played. It isn't perfect and PQ2 does a far better job but it still has its charms. It is a nice change to be playing in the "modern" world instead of fantasy or scifi. Tonal problems and chore work are problems for most of the PQ games, some cop it far worse than PQ1 though.
There are only two video game genres: Games that get better with alcohol, and games that get playable with alcohol.
6 лет назад
The original EGA Police Quest was accurate and realistic, except for the fact an officer like Sonny could afford to drive a Corvette. In the VGA remake, they changed his personal car to a Camaro.
Police Quest II is my fav of the series. As for PQ I, I remember having to use the nightstick in the courthouse was a pain since it hardly gives you time to type. But it has been ages since I've played PQ. Looks like I better add it to my list of games to eventually revisit.
Well I gotta give you credit, you did the review that won the poll even though it was on a game you didn't like. And the review was actually really on point
had a 286 when I was 9 in 1989 and it had 3 Sierra adventure games on it: Police Quest, King's Quest 4, and Leisure Suit Larry (which was hidden from us kids)
OMG, we played this game on my dad's Windows 95 PC. The music gave me flash backs as did the crashing over and over and over again. The one part of the review that made me exclaim out loud was the comment about a manual. "Manual! did we have a manual?"
I distinctly remember a part where you go to a cafe because the bikers next door keeps parking in the cafe lot, so you have to confront them in the bar.
Just got home and **OOOOOH** PuR! Gotta see this before anything! ^_^ Not much to say myself cause I've never played a Police Quest. I knew you had to eventually tackle one though, and I do have to say I really want to try a version sometime.
This series was so weird (even though I loved it as a kid) going from KQ3/LSL/SQ1 style adventure game (PQ1 and 2) to more lucasarts-style point and click adventure game (PQ3 and 4) to an FMV-heavy action adventure (SWAT) to an isometric strategy game (SWAT 2) and finally settling in on a Rainbow Six-style first person shooter (SWAT 3 & 4)
