The Precinct

It may not feel original, but The Precinct knows how to take that familiar beats and give you room to uphold law and order/cause chaos to your heart’s content.

The gunfights are just OK, though. On the plus side, there's a system of crouching behind cover, like in a standard cover shooter, and a choice of several weapons that we can carry. But with the camera showing the action from above, even further away than in Midnight Fight Express, they're neither spectacular nor particularly engaging, and come down to pointing the cursor at the target. Fortunately, gunfights happen much less often than car chases, and it's in this area that The Precinct shines the most.

Some shortcomings and omissions regarding its AI and overall content don't prevent The Precinct from being an excellent throwback to an older gaming era.

So if you want to give this police GTA a try, know that it's a good option. It's not without its flaws, but with a well-constructed, rather interesting and entertaining approach, and boasting admirable execution given everything it offers (which is certainly no small feat).

The Precinct is an engaging and atmospheric neon-noir cop simulator that, while not without its flaws, delivers a unique and satisfying experience. Its combination of immersive city patrols, crime-solving mechanics, and customization options make it a compelling addition to the genre. The game's occasional partner quirks and interruptions in the dispatch system might detract from the experience, but they don't overshadow the overall enjoyment. If you're into gritty crime thrillers with open-world gameplay, it's definitely worth considering.

The Precinct is a great 80s cop simulation in an old-school GTA aesthetic. The patrol segments are super fun and rewarding when the AI is not fighting you and the game itself. Driving is stiff, rigid and sometimes too sharp to be consistent and needs more work, but the overall feel of the game is amazing and I hope the patches will come rolling out to make it stand out even more.

A competent open world action game that answers how fun it would be to be a cop in a gta like game. The answer? Pretty fun.

The Precinct is a game with personality, taking a police approach that's unusual in sandboxes. The dirty, decadent ambiance suits it perfectly, and the arrest mechanics are a real standout. The problem is that we grew a little tired of being a cop early on. It perfectly captures the routine of being an average cop.

The Precinct is a proposal that pays tribute to the police TV shows and movies of the 80s, with a somewhat repetitive experience, a city with a very well achieved mood and chases at full speed.

If some clunky mechanics don’t bother you and the more mundane aspects of police work get you excited, The Precinct might be the game for you. Working best when it leans into its ’80s cop movie aesthetics, this title can feel more like a promise of something great at times, but for the right audience is definitely going to feel like a refreshing and exciting entry into a decidedly small genre.

The Precinct is genuinely fun, but its padded progression ultimately weighs the experience down with repetition and tedium. If you're simply looking to indulge in the fantasy of being a cop, this is arguably one of the best options out there right now. But as an indie title, its limited content clearly isn't built to sustain the kind of long-term play you'd expect from something like GTA.

Instead of offering players the freedom to walk the blurred line between justice and corruption, The Precinct mostly keeps them bound in a city sandbox. This lack of narrative risk makes the game feel more like a simulation of procedure than a true exploration of power or responsibility. But if you can overlook that, there’s an atmospheric underworld in need of old-fashioned justice.

If you're not bothered by the repetitive nature of a simulation game and think, "I can roleplay as a cop for hours without getting bored," then you'll probably enjoy the game. It offers a much better experience than the so-called “cash grab games” on Steam. However, if you're someone who cares more about story and is looking for fun gameplay mechanics, you're likely to be disappointed.

It’s much harder to create an enjoyable video game where you play as a police officer than one where you play as a criminal – and the reason is quite simple: in the latter, the core of the fun lies in the illusion of having no rules, in the freedom to do whatever you want. In the former, however, it’s precisely the adherence to protocol that forms the foundation of the experience, making any attempt at a free-roam style game, like The Precinct, inevitably more “simulative” and routine-based. This, in fact, is something Fallen Tree Games’ title does very, very well. Set in a convincingly stylized 1980s atmosphere with a fitting soundtrack, The Precinct offers a gamified version of just about every aspect of being a virtual cop: issuing fines for vandalism, dealing with gang wars, handling traffic duties, calling in backup, investigating murders, and even stopping robberies in progress. Where The Precinct struggles is in its gameplay loop. By its very nature, it doesn’t easily lend itself to a long-lasting gameplay experience, and its momentum starts to fade a bit before the game itself actually ends. Technical rough edges still present in the build also occasionally hold it back from fully shining. Yet despite these issues, it remains the most successful “police simulator” to come out in a long, long time — less rigid than its competitors, sharp in its atmosphere, and incredibly stylish in its direction and art design. It may not be GTA, nor its opposite with a badge, but it’s a game with personality. And while it’s true that playing the good guy in a video game can feel less exciting than playing the bad one, The Precinct proves that it can still be satisfying.

The Precinct won't appeal to everyone. Its serious approach, its desire to make you take responsibility, its disenchanted atmosphere, and its offbeat gameplay choices won't please fans of easy action or total freedom. But for players looking for a different kind of action game (and for roleplay enthusiasts), with a real underlying vision and intelligent gameplay, it's an experience worth trying. Despite the technical hiccups, The Precinct is a game we can only recommend. Because it has substance. Because it dares. And because, beneath its retro crime story style, it surprisingly speaks well about our times.

An atmospheric police patrol simulator with promising elements, yet it never truly evolves beyond the daily grind of police life.

A city in the style of a classic GTA game needs the hand of the law - you. You protect it with a police badge on your chest, a penalty block, a gun and your foot on the accelerator. The activities are varied, the size of the city is more modest, characters and cars sometimes get stuck.

The Precinct’s focus on proper arrest protocols and penalising excessive force requires a certain level of patience that not everybody will possess (and it’s a system that eventually wears out its welcome) but I genuinely enjoyed prowling the city for procedural crimes while the story lasted – and the soggy, neon-splashed ’80s setting works wonders. Fallen Tree Games had a previous crack at emulating the top-down shenanigans of classic Grand Theft Auto back with 2019’s American Fugitive, but putting the action on the right side of the law in The Precinct has proven to be far more arresting.

Is The Precinct that reverse GTA experience some people make it out to be? Yes and no. While Fallen Tree Games isometric police sim tries diligently to offer the player plenty of cops versus crooks action and an intriguing story, it also bogs down the action with mandatory patrol jobs to farm essential XP. Combine that bureaucratic drag with visually limiting camera options and progress obstructing bugs, and you might consider turning in your badge and gun.

While I sound down on The Precinct, it’s an enjoyable experience. There is something oddly satisfying and novel about playing on the other side of the oft-imitated Grand Theft Auto formula. But while all the building blocks are here for what I hope will become a franchise for developer Fallen Tree Games, it just feels like those blocks haven’t been put together in the best way.

Racing after an armed robber, crashing through road signs and dodging civilians, only to jump out of your patrol car, take cover behind your vehicle and engage in a firefight with the crazed assailant is as fun in The Precinct as it sounds. Unfortunately, once they’re in cuffs, the monotony of processing the soon-to-be prisoner drags the experience down. Combined with a shallow story told in an uneven way, the repetitive gameplay loop tarnishes the badge and gives the boys in blue a bad wrap.

The Precinct has everything it needs to put on a great show, but it forgets the most important thing: entertainment. It starts with an intriguing idea and develops it through a solid procedural structure... which, however, begins to creak too quickly. The narrative is stripped down to the bare bones, the game world is fascinating but remains superficial, and the gameplay, despite some brilliant intuition, struggles to renew itself over time. And yet, there are moments in which everything seems to work: hair-raising chases, a well-crafted moral system and that pinch of satisfaction in enforcing the law - at least while it lasts. Those who want to immerse themselves in the guardian of law and order might find something interesting here. For everyone else, The Precinct risks turning into a long, monotonous patrol.

The Precinct is a campy love letter to ’80s cop dramas, blending street-level patrols with high-speed chases in an open world. While it nails the tone with stylish set-pieces, exciting car chases, and a synthy soundtrack, the clunky implementation of mechanics and shallow upgrades hold back its more simulated gameplay. The Precinct may not always follow protocol, but it sure knows how to throw a siren-blaring good time.

Walking your patrol as a rookie in The Precinct will fill you with wide-eyed hope thanks to some great arcadey Police gameplay, packed with chases and satisfying arrest work. Much like a disillusioned veteran, however, over-exposure to the same shallow mechanics, predictable story and lack of consequences will have you eying up retirement sooner than you may have envisioned.

The Precinct looks the part and briefly plays it, too. Its early hours make you feel like a genuine cop, but it quickly becomes clear that the game lacks the structure and depth to sustain its premise.

The Precinct stands out as a promising production, especially in its initial hours, with the nostalgic atmosphere it offers, its arcade-style police action, and the interesting design of Averno City. The different approach it brings to police mechanics is also commendable. However, this positive start is overshadowed in the game's later stages by repetitive gameplay mechanics, a mission structure lacking depth, an unexciting story, and some technical problems.

There are no interesting events in The Precinct. Just endless patrols in muddy courtyards.

The Precinct may boil policing down to a numbers game, but they never add up to much. [Issue#412, p.116]