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
This Is The Police is a strategy game developed by the indie company, Weappy Studio. Published by Nordic Games, the game follows the story of Freeburg's Police Chief Jack Boyd in his last 180 days in office. Jack' character is established in the opening, where he visits a private strip club. It's only available for the powerful and connected. Jack is a multitude of contradictions. He employs crude language. He's hypocritical and scornful of others. While in the strip club he talks about rules and decency. He regularly violates his ideals with his behavior. At the pinnacle of the power structure of the city he's another old man yelling at clouds. He doesn't understand other people, and doesn't want to. He's arrogant, believing only he is capable of saving Freeburg from collapse. He is also bitter, because he failed to achieve his dreams. Despite his success he lives in decay with a junk car, a collapsing house, and a wife that abandoned him.
His life hasn't given him everything he wanted. At 60 years old, Jack is hard bitten, cynical, a bastard, and the protagonist. He's a cop that sounds like a mafia don. A white guy going through a midlife crisis. And a cigar smoker addicted to painkillers. He brags openly about his addiction. He is proud of his work. He justifies his habit by saying he needs painkillers to do his job, and he is the best man for the job.
The people he interacts with, mafia, Mayor, lawyers, cops, and politicians seem to like Jack, even though he is an arrogant, rude, dick who sometimes helps the mafia. Sometimes, just for a second, I even liked him. It was his wry sense of humor, and the chuckle in his voice that was less joy, and more amusement. Also, his voice actor, Jon St. John, produces a surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic portrait, for such a despicable man.
Jack wants three things. He wants to remain police chief for the rest of his life, but at least for 180 days. He wants to earn a half million dollars. And he wants to find Laura, his wife, and bring her home. In the crazy city of Freeburg, the player must complete those objectives. Because of days lost in two interludes, the player only has 90 days to earn the $500,000.
Jack interacts with a number of other characters. His main collaborator and antagonist is Mayor Rogers, an corrupt, elderly man who wants to replace Jack with his son in law. The only reason the Mayor lets Jack remain for 180 days is because he needs Jack's positive reputation. Rogers is under investigation for a sex scandal, and needs Jack's professionalism to help him win reelection. He tells Jack that after the election, Jack is done.
From Town Hall Jack meets Troy Star, the Mayor's assistant, Francis Kendrick, the assistant police chief, and Kevin Paulson, Roger's son-in-law.
The other enemy is Christopher Sand, the leader of the Mafia in Freeburg. Another older white guy, he threatens Jack, forcing Jack's cooperation. This Is The Police assumes that the player agrees to assist Sand. I rejected the idea, but the game ignored me, acting as if I had no choice. A second criminal organization, run by a thug named Vicus Varga, appears early in the game. The player must side with one or the other, aiding them criminal endeavors. Refusing to help a gang results in an early loss.
Jack Boyd interacts with his mother-in-law, a inquisitive old lady, in his search for his wife, Laura. He considers an affair with a young prosecutor named Lana.
Finally, Jack meets Eugene Chaffee, an agent of Robespierre, a mysterious character bent on trickery and chaos.
This Is The Police is a strategy game, but one with a story to tell. This is the first similarity it shares with We. The Revolution. For all his deficiencies Jack Boyd is more compelling than Alexis Fidele. The former expresses emotion, and exhibits agency for his life. Fidele seemed like a leaf, blown about without any character to support his decisions. I felt more ok with losing agency in This Is The Police, because I understood the character of Jack (even if I was mostly unsympathetic). Also, the story of This Is The Police was less connected to the gameplay. Only a few big choices connect with the story. The lack of connection isn't great, because it makes it seem like what I do has no impact on the plot. But it allowed me to play the game without worrying about the developer trying to control my gameplay. It also allowed the writer to tell the story they wanted to, without forcing me to jump through hoops. Alexis, of We. The Revolution, was tied to every single day, because he judged the cases every day as a judge. It wasn't possible to separate gameplay and story.
This Is The Police tells its story through Jack's monologues, which are abundant, and his interactions with characters. In between days the player witnesses scenes from Jack's life. The player sees a number of subplots that overlap with each other. Events are abundant in the beginning and end of This Is The Police, but the middle suffers from a dearth of events. Without these to hook the player, the gameplay of This Is The Police fails to engage the player. Unfortunately, many events also seem pointless. The player, over 90 days, has only four press conferences, but whatever the player chooses to say has no relevance on the game. A daily paper prints absurd, but dull headlines. These are never related to the player's actions in game. Even when the player arrests a major criminal, the papers ignore their achievement.
The main gameplay element doesn't reference Jack Boyd. The player sees a side view of the city, its streets and skyscrapers.
The player uses a collection of officers and detectives to respond to calls and solve crimes. The cops are divided into two shifts; A and B. A shift works a day, while B shift comes in the following. The cops are represented with a 2D picture of their face. These are distinct and clear, giving the player a hook to hang a story on. The player can (and must) shape a headcanon personality for officers based on the photo, because they have none of their own. The main mechanic of cops is their Professionalism. This number, which can be as low as zero, represents their effectiveness on the beat. It rises as the cop successfully responds to calls, and falls when they fail. Cops also have energy, a rank (from zero to four), and political views. The energy might impact their Professionalism, but the game doesn't explain. Rank doesn't mean anything. And political views are hidden until nearly the end of the game, and didn't matter then either. The player manages Boyd's department, firing incompetent cops, and hiring when to fill vacancies. To fire, the player needs a reason; old, drunk, missed work, or failed 3 assignments in a row. A cop's card also shows their record, successes and failures.
At the start of a normal day, half of the cops try to skive off work. They offer poor excuses like, “I need to finish this book I'm reading”, or “I want to go to the movies”. Sometimes they have serious excuses, such as “My son was in a car accident”, or “My house caught on fire”. The regularity of these excuses are absurd. They are believable, until they ask, for three days in a row, to go to their parent's funeral. The player can accept or decline their excuses. Does the player's behavior, lax or strict, alter the regularity of their excuses?
The answer, no.
More to follow next week.
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This Is the Police: An Internal Review
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