The Precinct

In The Precinct, players take the role of Nick Cordell, the newest rookie officer assigned to the Averno City Police Department and the son of a respected officer who died mysteriously while on duty. Nick must navigate the challenges of law enforcement while uncovering the truth behind his father’s death. The narrative unfolds as players complete a variety of shifts, gathering evidence to take down the city’s most dangerous gangs and unravel the secrets hidden within the department.

The core gameplay loop revolves around selecting daily shifts and patrolling the city with your partner, Kelly. These shifts range from issuing parking tickets and responding to street-level crimes to supporting operations in a police helicopter or catching traffic violators. In regards to the shifts you can pick up, the game offers a high degree of flexibility as you can choose not only the type of shift but also the patrol zone. On top of that, regardless of your assignment, you’re free to respond to other calls and intervene in spontaneous criminal activity, which keeps the gameplay dynamic and unpredictable. Additionally, you can participate in several side activities during your shift, such as solving small riddles to uncover stolen museum artifacts, engaging in car races or completing special jumps while driving your police car.

When apprehending a suspect, you can inspect their possessions, review their criminal history, or conduct a sobriety test. These interactions are neatly organized into a categorized menu with submenus, making the process intuitive and straightforward. Once you’ve uncovered their belongings and confirmed their identity, you can choose to either let them go, issue a fine or make an arrest, depending on the severity of their offense. Correctly identifying violations earns you points, while mistakes will reduce your score. Aside from items relevant to their immediate offenses, some suspects may also carry evidence that contributes to the investigation into Averno City’s gangs, which is required for progressing through the story.

Additional actions such as calling for a patrol car to transport an arrested suspect to the station, checking not only their possessions but also the contents of their car trunk if they were driving, or reading them their rights grant bonus points. On the flip side, points are decreased for improper conduct as a police officer, for example when using unwarranted lethal force or injuring civilians. However, in that regard, the game is extremely forgiving in how it penalizes the player, as these infractions have relatively little impact compared to the large number of points you can earn during a typical shift. Personally, I tend to cause chaos in the city with my reckless driving. I was worried I’d be heavily penalized for it but thankfully, the game’s lenient nature spared me from any serious consequences.

Infractions are expected to be handled according to specific procedures outlined in the police handbook, although in practice most infractions follow a similar workflow, with the main difference being whether the suspect is fined or arrested. Initially, I was concerned that players would need to memorize these procedures from the handbook. However, I was relieved to find that the game takes a more intuitive approach, allowing players to learn through experience.

Through the detailed breakdown of its scores, each mission provides feedback by indicating which steps were performed correctly (earning points) and which were missed or done incorrectly (resulting in point deductions). This system gradually teaches players the proper workflows through active gameplay, rather than requiring them to memorize procedures. One drawback, however, is that only a partial list of offenses (no matter if they’re assigned by you or by your partner Kelly) is visible when apprehending a suspect. This means that if a suspect has more than four offenses, there’s no way to tell which ones you failed to assign or which ones you misidentified and this makes it harder to refine your assessment for future encounters.

Experience points earned from each shift directly contribute to your police rank, which in turn unlocks access to better vehicles, new abilities via a talent tree, and more advanced weapons. Similarly, new areas of the city gradually become available as you solve a certain number of crimes in the currently accessible zones. The progression system is well-paced and never feels like a grind. Rewards come steadily and naturally through regular gameplay. On the downside, only a few ability upgrades made a noticeable impact on the overall experience. Many felt minor or situational, leaving much of the gameplay unchanged despite the unlocks.

The difficulty of missions and shifts is generally well-balanced. Even when there’s time pressure or the need for quick reactions, the overall tone remains relaxed. Some missions (particularly the final ones involving the capture of the gang leaders) were noticeably more challenging and required multiple attempts, but none ever felt unfair or impossible to complete.

The Precinct supports both controller and mouse-and-keyboard setups, and both control schemes feel intuitive and responsive. While the game recommends using a controller, each option has its advantages and trade-offs. Depending on what car you drive, the controls can be quite sensitive, and a controller provides more grip. Combat on the other hand feels more precise and responsive with a mouse and keyboard, particularly when aiming and firing, although using a controller has its advantages too. With a controller, your character automatically returns to cover after shooting, whereas with a keyboard and mouse, this action requires an extra key press. Additionally, aim assist is available when using a controller, which can be helpful for quickly targeting enemies. However, this feature can occasionally work against you. For instance, if it accidentally locks onto a target such as a gang leader who shouldn’t be killed but instead captured, it could jeopardize the mission.

For players used to the GTA mission difficulty, The Precinct might seem on the easy side. However, I believe the target audience of this genre is on the more casual side and the difficulty balance is very appropriate for them. Players are not punished for making even medium mistakes, nor does the game overwhelm them with too many simultaneous tasks. It happens, but rather rarely, that the game randomly decides to generate too many events at once. Nick may be chasing one or multiple suspects, and during this pursuit, the game also generates a traffic accident, and on top of that a gang shootout. This could be further adjusted or improved by adding a menu setting to let players control the number or magnitude of randomly generated events.

Overall, The Precinct delivers an engaging and memorable experience through its super catchy gameplay, awesome music and the mix of neon and noir style which gives it a very mysterious yet vibrant vibe. The story is immersive, pulling you in from the start, and the character interactions are equally well crafted. Noticeable as well is the stellar voice acting which brings the main characters to life and adds emotional weight to the narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed almost every moment of the game, and the storyline kept me hooked all the way till the end. At no point did it feel repetitive or dull; the pacing and variety kept the experience consistently fresh and entertaining.