Policenauts

Policenauts came from the same mind that brought the widely known Metal Gear Solid series. However, it was never released outside of Kojima's native Japan and until 2009's English language patch it wasn't really an accessible proposition for western gamers.

At its core, Policenauts is a detective story that seems to draw inspiration from an unlikely combination of cinematic influences and genres. For instance, the game starts with a film noir cyberpunk setting that immediately screams ‘Blade Runner’ but before things get too predictable; strains of Terminator and even Akira emerge. By the time the protagonist (Jonathan Ingram) arrives at Beyond Coast (the space station that operates as the game’s principal locale), an astonishingly Lethal Weapon-esque, ‘Riggs and Murtagh’ buddy cop dynamic emerges.

Ingram is reunited with former co – Policenaut, Ed Brown, who is counting down the days to his retirement and; in a scene that could have starred Danny Glover himself, all but declares himself “too old for this s**t! Its not quite as comedic as it is derivative but fortunately Policenauts doesn’t make a habit of lifting many scenes wholesale like this. In fact, what becomes clear after several hours of play is that most of the cinematic references are best viewed as homage.

While the detective story takes narrative centre stage, there is a stunningly deep back story that interweaves with the characters, their motivations and the context of their actions. Kojima has used the game as a vehicle for his treatise on space colonization and how the biological, physical and psychological limitations might interrupt (or corrupt) humanity’s manifest destiny to explore space.

Graphically, Policenauts contains some beautifully drawn (if a bit static) characters and backgrounds for the core ‘point and click’ detective game play but these are connected by high production-value (by 90's standards) anime sequences. Of lesser quality are the on the rails ‘shooting’ sections of the game. Originally such sections might have been played with a light gun and one can imagine that they would have been dramatic and fun to play, especially back in the day when the game was first released. Using a mouse (or game pad) instead removes some of the challenge from these sections and aside from one particularly tough sequence near the end of the game, the threat in these encounters usually feels a bit underwhelming.

More positively, there is also a smattering of some time-constrained mini games, most notably among which is a multi-stage bomb-defusing sequence that manages to deliver some genuine tension.

There is a world of imagination and exploration in Policenauts that feels unique. If you can look past (or at least hold your nose at) the peculiarities of the occasional jarring sexism; if you have the patience to absorb the rich, deep and believable science fiction back story; and if you are looking for a peculiar and unique gaming experience that is quite unlike anything that has been released before or since then Policenauts might be worth your time.