This Is The Police: A Coup of A Conclusion

This Is The Police:

This Is the Police: An Internal Review

This Is The Police: Jack Boyd Tells His Story

This Is The Police: Responding With Absurdity and Excessive Force

This Is The Police: A Coup of A Conclusion

One recurring question is, does the player's behavior change anything? The characters always claim Jack Boyd is honest. I played about as honest as possible, yet I wouldn't call Jack honest. The other characters are either so corrupt, Jack seems like a shining knight by comparison, or they are as naive as a newborn baby.

Do officers behave differently if the player is lenient, or strict? Does the story change significantly based on decisions? Online game guides insist all calls are predetermined. It seems there is little for the player to effect. Even an effective police force does not deter crime in advance.

For most of the game, the mafia, run by Christopher Sands, are the main criminals. In the early game, the player is forced to maintain, if not positive, then, at least neutral relations with Sand. This Is The Police doesn't explain the details, but there is a threat of violence. Nor does the game give the player a method to measure their relationship. Mostly, the player aids the mafia; looking away when they commit crimes. A mafia war, between the established crime boss and an upstart, forces the protagonist to choose a side. In this section, the player is compelled to aid a criminal enterprise. The player must actively send officers to commit crimes, or cover for the mafia. If they don't, they lose. Both sides are equally distasteful, in their own distinct ways.After the mafia war ends, the player investigates the winner. They can successfully neutralize the organization. But if the mafia's opinion of the player deteriorates too much, they kill the protagonist. In the latter half of the game, a scrap of paper appears beside the newspapers. It shows the opinion of the mafia, and of the town hall. The opinion ranges from -3 to +3. Both groups are incredibly fickle. The rating can drop from +3 to -3 in a single day. A -3 isn't necessarily a death sentence, but avoid stringing them together for multiple days. If the player is killed, they can reload the same day. Many times, this overrides the death. Sometimes, after reloading the day I would die again. On the third time I dodged death. I died eleven times between the 75^th and 87^th day. On the 85^th, as the investigation closed in on Christopher Sand, I died twenty times before I gave up. I had to go back two days, and halt an investigation into the abduction of a little girl connected with the Sands. A few days later, with the mafia defeated, I was freed from the threat.

Then the focus shifted to Town Hall. Throughout the half year, Mayor Rogers asks Jack Boyd to break up peaceful protests; feminists, union works, African Americans, and students. I refused every time. If the writer wanted the player to hate the Mayor as much as the Mafia, they succeeded. If the player repeatedly resists the Mayor, Rogers cuts positions. It's ironic that the Mayor, who is focused on reelection, sabotages it by taking away my officers. Fewer officers results in more crime. It angers his allies in Freeburg. If the player keeps the Mayor happy, they can request upgrades every week for; a pay raise, more cops, more detectives, and SWAT team upgrades. An especially good relationship lets the player make multiple requests per week. Throughout my one hundred and eighty days I wondered; why doesn't everyone realize I'm aiding the mafia. This Is The Police warns the player of the potential for moles in the police station. On day 104 Markiplier testified against me. I lost 50% of my salary, and some staff. I helped the mafia the minimum amount possible to still finish the game. Two weeks before day 104, I had jailed the mafia boss and broken their gang. Despite my behavior, This Is The Police punished me. It's likely this is just as scripted as the rest of the game. A final thought on City Hall. When Freeburg goes to hell in Act III, I lost my deputy. I could no longer look at my stats or perform special actions. I barely employed the special actions, but I enjoyed looking at my success rate. It makes no sense to remove this element.

While it's not saying much, the investigations are preferable to responding to calls. So I was thrilled when The Dentist came to town. The Dentist is a subplot; a serial killer terrorizing the Freeburg. It implements a different investigative mechanic. I was on his tale. I was going to catch him. But then This Is The Police said I couldn't keep chasing him. It wasn't that I beat him, but that I had violated an obscure rule that the game hadn't properly explained. Let me explain. The FBI came to town to try to capture The Dentist. The Dentist told me I couldn't help the FBI. So I didn't. But, without telling me, one of my officers or detectives communicated with the FBI behind my back. To stop this, I was supposed to anticipate this unexplained mechanic, learn how to investigate my own employees without being told, and discover the snitch. So I lost, not because I was defeated by the puzzles, but because the game is obtuse. This is doubly frustrating because The Dentist is later revealed to be connected to the main plot. Again I ponder; does catching the Dentist alter the story? Probably not. At last the two factions vie for control. The Mayor, so focused on his election, is forced into a violent confrontation with his rival, days before the vote. The player, as Jack Boyd, has to decide which side to support. Regardless of his pick, the player must conduct an assault on their opponent's base of operation.

Why am I forced to participate? I already have my $500,000. I want nothing to do with this coup, but the game railroads the player into choosing a side.

The last fourteen days are excruciating. The Mayor has ripped apart my police station, and I have to participate in This Is The Police's final mini-game. Detectives interrogate City Hall workers, looking for weaknesses to exploit in the assault. A map of the city block depicts spaces to place different SWAT units. The map has twelve spaces, and the player controls twelve units, but the player can put more than one unit on a space. The placing seems obvious. The hints acquired by the detectives seem blatant, but This Is The Police offers not explanation, no rules, no numbers. Despite its seemingly easy nature, my assault failed. I will never know why it failed. There is no explanation. The player is allowed to reload, shift the pieces around on the board, and try again. Inevitably the player will hit on the correct combination. I have no clue if there is a single solution, or multiple acceptable configurations. The assault is not a multi-step process. It simply requires the right pieces on the right spaces. When the player finally wins they are not rewarded with an animation; only a frame saying, “X was shot during the assault,” and a two paragraph note from the victor of the coup (not Jack). A final scene, five minutes later, offers a measure of closure. Regardless of which faction the player chooses, they betray Jack, forcing him to flee the city, setting up WeappyStudio's sequel, This Is The Police 2.In conclusion,

This Is The Police is a strategy game with only two mechanics; calls and investigations. Responding to calls is nearly mindless. It is a simple task to build a force capable of handling all but the worst cases. Investigations almost achieve the difficulty of a puzzle, for a twelve year old. The final minigame, orchestrating a coup, is poorly explained and effortless. The only worthy threat, The Dentist, is withdrawn if the player does not understand the secret rules. This Is The Police never expands its initial gameplay. The mechanics remain limited in size and scope. As a result, gameplay feels like treading water with a mafia thug holding a pistol; no progress, but the constant threat of defeat.

The actor for Jack Boyd carries the story. He isn't sympathetic, but he delivers a convincing portrayal of a desperate, suffering, egotistical police chief. This Is The Police develops a cynical, pro-cop setting that pressures the player to accept its worldview, where power rules, and everyone is corrupt. Despite this critical flaw, the interweaving of the major events and subplots are the superior element of This Is The Police. Unfortunately, the story runs out of gas, with fewer events as the story nears its conclusion.

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