Review: “This is the Police” – Unavoidable Corruption

I found myself feeling conflicted as i played through “This is the Police” as I watched the story unfold of Protagonist Jack Boyd, or was he supposed to be the Antagonist? “This is the Police” is a single player video game developed by Weappy Studios that boasts itself as a story driven police strategy game. The game takes place in a city called Freeburg as you take control of Veteran police chief Jack Boyd whom is 180 days from being replaced by the cities mayor. Before the game even really begins you are faced with the major corruption that exists in Freeburg as you are approached by one of your officers who has been in the pocket of the local mafia and owes debt. The game then gives you the choice of whether or not to help this officer by taking on his debt so he can escape the city but whether you decide to help or not the player doesn’t have much option. The rest of the game is set by a tone of corruption as the gameplay cycle of managing the officers activities while also dealing with the unavoidable corrupt activities is only interrupted by various cutscenes taking a look at Jacks greater journey. The gameplay of “This is the Police” proves entertaining at first for lovers of low energy strategy games but it largely doesn’t introduce anything new to interrupt the monotony of the activity. While the game does provides segments of investigations and interrogations, they aren’t very impressive or inventive. The game itself is framed by its story which for what its worth does evoke emotion. Issues arise however in the narrative as by the end of the game I was left feeling that Jack was a victim of circumstance whom never had a chance from the start. I couldn’t tell if i wanted to feel sad for Jack and want better for him or hate him for all he is worth by the end. “This is the Police” is a game riddled with various narrative issues and the second half begins to slowly feel like a slog as there is nothing that keeps the gameplay fresh. I kept playing to find out how Jacks story ended but even the end left me wanting more of a conclusion. If i had to give a score to “This is the Police” I would give it a 7/10, for a game with its issues it was a good attempt at looking into a police story from the angle of corruption. It did keep me curious throughout but at the end of the day it felt a bit too long and that it could have done more to keep the player engaged.