Beat cop is an evolution of Lucas Pope’s 2013 hit Papers Please. Sometimes though, in the midst of that evolution you can lose what makes a game so special in the first place. So does the team over at Pixel Crow manage to retain the addictive gameplay loop while evolving the genre in new and exciting ways? For the most part I would say it does, albeit with a few hiccups along the way.
The game is set in New York in the 1980’s. You play as protagonist Jack Kelly who has been demoted to a beat cop while an investigation that throws shade on your past is ongoing. The game plays out with levels that are broken up into days. Each day you will have different assignments such as a certain amount of parking, tire or headlight tickets to write up. There will also be numerous shoplifters to capture and many of the streets bizarre characters will have tasks they need help with ranging from grocery shopping, to finding abandoned weapons.
There are two factions in the game. The Crew and the Mafia. The Crew own a pawn shop on the far right side of the map while the Mafia own a pizzeria on the left hand side. You can help either, both or none with their various shady activities. Also while writing up tickets you will at times be approached by the owner who will try to slip you a bribe. These can often be tempting as you need to have a certain amount of money for alimony. Money is also used to buy food during your shift which helps maintain stamina and you can also gamble in the form of poker to get the required money you need.
Despite the game initially seeming to free-flow with random events, you quickly notice that each day is designed in a certain way. For instance on Day 3, which is the one I tackle in the let’s play review, Mrs. Hapsburg will always call you to her apartment and send you away to Makefat Yo’Butts for 2 Pink, 4 Apple n’ Jelly and 6 Sesame doughnuts. While initially I was let down by the more rigid structure than I had expected, once it became clear that you would really struggle to get all the available tasks done in one day I began to like the idea of playing through each day two or three times to see all the different scenarios play out.
I have read a lot of hate online for some of the language and dialogue used in Beat Cop. Certainly there are words used that would be seen as offensive to certain races of people and if you wanted to throw a misogyny claim in there as well I couldn’t argue it. I didn’t have an issue with this though. For me it is all about the tone in which the words and conversations are presented. As stated earlier the game is set in the 1980’s and a lot of these words were much more common in that era. I don’t believe the creators in any way meant to upset anyone with the dialogue and because I regarded it as tongue in cheek it didn’t bother me.
Overall Beat Cop is a fun pick up and play experience. I have always enjoyed time management sims and this gives you a lot more freedom than most. One of the best parts of the game is the beautiful pixel art graphics. At a time where I am starting to feel a little burned out on the retro style aesthetic Beat Cop still managed to pull me in. Coming in at £11.99 you really can’t go wrong.
Review code provided by the publisher. Game reviewed on PS4 Pro.