Police 'Em Up Beat Cop Announced
A new police adventure game
Long before they spawned a SWAT FPS spin-off, Sierra's Police Quest games were big on police procedure, often with deadly consequences if you didn't play by the book. Beat Cop [official site], an adventure game announced today and due to launch at the end of this year, may let players write tickets and tow cars but... I wouldn't get your hopes up for obsessive procedure. Inspired by '80s cop shows (not the most formal, that lot), Beat Cop is about a former detective framed for murder and busted down to a beat, trying to clear his name. Might be an interesting one, this.
From the looks of things, your cop will be walking a beat, keeping an eye open for crimes, then whipping out his ticket book, radio, handcuffs, or gun when needed, picking up clues and threads of the plot along the way. Supposedly the story is nonlinear and has multiple endings.
At this point, with only screenshot, a mood-setting trailer, and colourful copywriting to go on, it's hard to separate marketing from what the game might be. But nonlinear beat-patrolling and a nonlinear story sound pretty fun to me. I do like the skeuomorphic belt interface too. Fingers crossed that it'll give freedom to play a nice and clean cop?
Beat Cop is due on Windows, Mac, and Linux towards the end of this year, some time from September onwards. It's made by Pixel Crow, and published by This War of Mine devs 11 Bit Studios.
