Back in October 2024, as part of Steam’s Next Fest, we got our first hands-on with Fallen Tree Games’ Action Adventure game The Precinct. After being delayed, we are finally being let out into the city of Averno as fresh beat cops. So, what exactly is the Precinct?
First Day on the Job
Set in the same universe as Fallen Tree Games’ previous release, American Fugitive, The Precinct is a 3rd person top-down action adventure game where you follow the career of a young police officer Nick Cordell Jr.
If you follow me personally, then you will know that I have a soft spot for simulation games, so when I played the demo of The Precinct, its almost simulation gameplay loop had me hooked.
After a quick cash course on how to be a cop in the 80s, you are thrown out into the mean streets of fictional Averno City to find out the truth behind your father's death.
Before we get into this review, I must say the music in The Precinct is perfect. It's that sleezy '80s synth that just screams you’re about to get into some sort of gun fight or car chase.
During each shift, you are given an area of the city to patrol. As you are patrolling, you will come across crimes taking place that must be stopped. These could be anything from littering to vandalism or even mugging. Each crime must be approached by the rule book. You must identify the perpetrators and call into dispatch for an ID check. While this is happening, your "cop hunch" will go off and alert you if they are feeling nervous or if you can smell alcohol on their breath. After the check has come back, you can then search them. This might come back clean, or you might find some contraband in the form of hidden weapons or narcotics. Then you must decide if the crimes are severe enough to warrant an arrest or just a fine.
Some of the crimes are straightforward, while others require a bit more work. Especially if a perp pulls a knife on you or decides to bolt, and you must give chase. When the crime has been resolved, you are given a score on how well you did and whether you issued the correct infringements. If you get anything wrong or falsely arrest someone, you will be marked down and lose XP.
I had a bit of trouble differentiating between assault and evading arrest. Often, I would be questioning a perp, and they would pull a weapon and attack me. I would arrest them and charge them with assault and evading arrest. However, more times than not, I would be marked down because all they did was try to kill me, and that's not evading arrest.
Once you have made the arrest, you can call for a squad car to take them to lock up, or you can bring them back yourself. You do get more XP for returning them yourself, but it takes time away from crime-fighting.
This loop is extremely addictive, and I found myself staying out way past my shift had ended, just busting crims.
Climbing the Ranks
As you progress through your shifts, you will be rewarded with XP and ability points to spend on upgrading your abilities, like being able to sprint further or commandeer civilian vehicles when your cruiser is destroyed.
Speaking of cruisers, as you progress, you will be able to take on more specialized shifts like focusing on speeding or violent crimes. One of my favorite shifts is the vehicle shift. Instead of patrolling on foot, you are in your squad car cruising around looking for drunk drivers or vehicle theft.
The driving is incredible in The Precinct; the vehicles are big, boxy 80s gas-guzzling Plymouths that handle like a tank. Thankfully, most of the environment is destructible, so when you get into a pursuit, it feels like you are in the Blues Brothers movie, just smashing through anything that's in your path.
While a chase is happening, you can call in reinforcements like spike strips, roadblocks, and even helicopter support. You are also able to take the chopper out for a spin during some of the later missions.
Taking Down Organized Crime
The main story of The Precinct is told through the dismantling of gangs through major crimes. How it works is as you are doing normal patrols, every crime committed and evidence gathered has a chance to be connected to one of 2 gangs, this chance is purely RNG-based. Once you collect enough evidence, you will be able to do a mission related to that particular gang.
What would an 80s action game be without epic gun fights? Remember, this is the 80s, and you are a police officer, so you have a taser and a revolver. You do unlock different weapons as you progress, but I found it so much more realistic just carrying around the revolver.
The aiming is a little weird, you hold down the left trigger to aim. A crosshair will appear, and you just move it around like normal and shoot with the right trigger. It feels weird, but you get used to it very quickly.
There are also a few different side missions available, in the form of street races, different police car training exercises, lost artifacts, and jumps. Everything except the artifacts are on the map from the minute you start and are not hard to find.
When you reach rank 18, you unlock an artifact finder that will let out an audible beep when close to an artifact, making them very easy to find.
My only gripe with The Precinct is the street races. The cars are big, sluggish beasts to drive. However, when you do the street races, your opponents have pinpoint handling, and their cars do not move when you bump into them. Your car is made of marshmallow and will spin out at the slightest inconvenience, ping ponging between cars and buildings. The last few races were very difficult, especially when the checkpoints didn't register.
Performance
Playing on the Xbox Series X, The Precinct ran pretty well. I didn't get any lag or frame drops, but I did get a lot of dashboard crashes. One of these crashes led to me losing my save and having to start again. Losing almost 20 hours of progress. I loaded back in after a dashboard crash, hit continue like normal, and it played the opening scene into the first dialogue. I realized it was from the start, quit out, and realized that there was no option to load. So be aware that there is no manual save option, and if you start again, your game is lost.
The other problem I had was crashing my car too hard would spawn me under the map and kill me. Not a big problem, just a little annoying.
Verdict
The Precinct is an incredible journey into the other side of the action genre. Rather than breaking the law, you are upholding it. Rather loosely, but still upholding it.
The almost simulation style of its gameplay loop had me hooked right from the start. Making sure I was doing everything by the book.
Sure, it has a few annoying little glitches, but nothing that completely ruins your experience. I'm also not going to hold my lost save against it; things happen.
Gamer Social Club was supplied a copy of The Precinct for this review.
The Precinct was reviewed on Xbox Series X and will also be available on PlayStation 5, PC (via Steam/Epic), and Xbox Series X/S
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