Keep Law and Order! Police Simulator: Patrol Officers Available Now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox

[Valantar]

On the one hand my first response was, oh this is going down like a lead balloon. But on the other hand who do we replace all the all the corrupt, racist, sexist, thug police that are in-place, they have to come from somewhere. This could be seen as an indirect recruitment drive or sorts?

This is actually a really interesting point. Though IMO if it were to be seen that way, it would need to explicitly and directly engage with the problematic sides of US policing today - militarization, use of force, instititionalized racism, overpolicing, lack of training, corruption, resources allocated to weapons and tactical gear rather than community support and outreach, lack of accountability, the list goes on. It would need to raise those issues as real issues and make players try to avoid them, work around them, counteract them if possible. If it didn't engage with those, but instead tried to recruit "friendly" or non-authoritarian people into the police just by portraying it as a first responder/community outreach/helping people type of job, that would likely backfire severely once anyone swayed by that messaging actually tried joining an actual police force - and it would still serve as propaganda, unintentional or not.

Digging a little deaper, Aesir Interactive and Astragon (Farm simulator) are based in München, Bayern, Germany. Where (someone correct if im wrong) the police aren't nearly as bad as they are in other countries.

That's true - and it's a bit odd, really, with a German developer making a "police simulator" set in the US. But also understandable in terms of sales potential - the US is a massive gaming market, and rather unlikely to be interested in a Berlinerpolizeisimulator. Still kind of odd to land on that game though - and with them being located that far away, it raises the question of who they have consulted with to make the game's setting and action believable. If they've consulted with US police forces or anyone closely tied to them, especially if those are the only groups consulted, then that only underscores the copaganda angle, sadly.

 

[bonehead123]

Well, here in the US, we don't need no stinkin gamms to see (bad) cops, crooks, crackheads, pimps, ho's, boozehounds etc acting out in so many ways... just walk down the street of any mid-large sized town/city or go to a live sporting event or concert or any other public gathering/occasion.... you will get your fill of the above so fast that you might neva go outside again ... ..

Surely gamm dev's could find somethin moar productive to do with their time, yes ?

 

[Aquinus]

to drug investigations

Since the police in the US have such a great track record regarding drug (ab)use.

This is the last thing we need considering most people are already checked out from reality here in the states.

 

[the54thvoid]

Whoo-wee.

I tell ya, I don't think any mod particularly wants to wade in here but seeing as I've got beers to drink, I may as well say this:

The OP refers to a PC simulator game. I don't see much talk about a game. Pretty sure nobody talked about archaeology when the latest Tomb Raider or Uncharted games came out. So why is everyone talking about actual 'real' policing? Talk about the game. Hell, the most on point comment was the one that mentioned it was like a reverse GTA. US policing is not on trial here and TPU is not the forum to discuss it anyway.

If you can't make a light-hearted, jovial comment about what could be a fun (or bizarre) game, please don't waste your keystrokes. Now I'll go do some chins ups and see how many tomatoes get thrown my way.

 

[R-T-B]

Virtue signals are the most important of actions.

Not what I meant exactly, but the standards are low so whatever.

Heck, would the MS Flight Simulator have sent a message after 9/11????

Ironically the media was very upset about MSFS aftet 9/11. You can still find the outrage clips on it.

 

[claes]

Whoo-wee.

I tell ya, I don't think any mod particularly wants to wade in here but seeing as I've got beers to drink, I may as well say this:

The OP refers to a PC simulator game. I don't see much talk about a game. Pretty sure nobody talked about archaeology when the latest Tomb Raider or Uncharted games came out. So why is everyone talking about actual 'real' policing? Talk about the game. Hell, the most on point comment was the one that mentioned it was like a reverse GTA. US policing is not on trial here and TPU is not the forum to discuss it anyway.

If you can't make a light-hearted, jovial comment about what could be a fun (or bizarre) game, please don't waste your keystrokes. Now I'll go do some chins ups and see how many tomatoes get thrown my way.

Probably because as much as archaeology is steeped in structural violences, neither of those games claim to be a simulator where you do mundane things like read a book (traffic citations) or have coffee with a professor (interview a witness or potential subject).

I think @Valantar has been pretty explicit about all of this, and has managed not to talk about the conservative backlash against policing and law and order in the US, which would make this a “political” discussion rather than a systemic or ideological one, at least for those that think there’s a difference.

It’s strange to me that you all make these editorial decisions and are then surprised at the outcomes. Does anyone want to buy this game, where you can’t fantasize about being a pimp or going on a homocidal rampage like you can in GTA? Probably not. Will users defend what they see as “realistic” encounters in policing? Seems obvious.

 

[the54thvoid]

FYI - mods don't discuss news posts prior to posting, we don't have prior knowledge. We're not paid staff. We're volunteer sheriff's

 

[claes]

My apologies

 

[zlobby]

We're volunteer sheriff's

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

 

[R-T-B]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

That's also how Jar Jar Binks got made... so I'm told.

 

[kapone32]

Well, here in the US, we don't need no stinkin gamms to see (bad) cops, crooks, crackheads, pimps, ho's, boozehounds etc acting out in so many ways... just walk down the street of any mid-large sized town/city or go to a live sporting event or concert or any other public gathering/occasion.... you will get your fill of the above so fast that you might neva go outside again ... ..

Surely gamm dev's could find somethin moar productive to do with their time, yes ?

You are talking about the long term effects of the Free Trade agreement with China and others but mostly China for manufacturing which is where that population that you see that has become disenchanted as result of the gravity of what that caused. What I don't get is that there are about 20-50 Games released every month and you as the User have the power. What this thread does illustrate though is what people don't understand about who the police are in the USA. What do you think happened to the Slave Catchers in Southern States after the war? Many Southern States did not abolish slavery officaily until the late 20th Century. Why do they have sheriffs and police? If you look at it most police forces in America were created after the end of the Civil War. Today (thanks to social media) what has been going on incessantly is now readily available on Youtube. The biggest hurdle in curbing Police violence in the USA is to break the Unions. A Game about being cop doesn't really matter as Sleeping Dogs would be much more divisive as you can be the Cop and the Criminal.

 

[Mistral]

I was going to ignore this title, but all the hate in this thread is seriously pushing me to try it out...

 

[sepheronx]

I was going to ignore this title, but all the hate in this thread is seriously pushing me to try it out...

@Valantar does a fantastic job advertising this game.

 

[Fasola]

I was going to ignore this title, but all the hate in this thread is seriously pushing me to try it out...

Stay strong, don't give in into the great PR in this thread. These German-made simulators are rarely worth it. Do check the artwork section on Steam for a laugh.

Warning: nonsense

 

[Valantar]

@Valantar does a fantastic job advertising this game.

The funny thing is that due to my work I'm probably more likely to buy and play this than most people here. A critical perspective of the PR surrounding a thing only gets you so far after all - the really interesting thing would be to critically engage with what it is actually like to play the game.

 

[claes]

I was going to ignore this title, but all the hate in this thread is seriously pushing me to try it out...

@Valantar does a fantastic job advertising this game.

When the trolls become the trolled…

The funny thing is that due to my work I'm probably more likely to buy and play this than most people here. A critical perspective of the PR surrounding a thing only gets you so far after all - the really interesting thing would be to critically engage with what it is actually like to play the game.

When the trolled becomes the troller

As someone that does not live in the US, I find the politization of this post about a police simulator very disturbing.
This is a simulator and a game. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

Heck, would the MS Flight Simulator have sent a message after 9/11????

Funny thing, they did. They removed the twin towers from the game, which only became a third-party add-on this year (afaik), while the FAA considered putting limitations on who could access flight simulators and congress debated whether they should exist at all.

 

[caroline!]

Just here to say the first mission is boring af, you have to give tickets to parked cars. But I was able to arrest a guy carrying a knife, he's a bit hidden between two buildings.

 

[R-T-B]

Funny thing, they did. They removed the twin towers from the game, which only became a third-party add-on this year (afaik), while the FAA considered putting limitations on who could access flight simulators and congress debated whether they should exist at all.

Yep, anyone who thinks that MSFS wasn't underfire after 9/11 didn't live in the US then.

 

[Valantar]

Yep, anyone who thinks that MSFS wasn't underfire after 9/11 didn't live in the US then.

My memory might be skewed by having read too much game studies as an adults, but IIRC that debacle definitely wasn't limited to just the US.

Just here to say the first mission is boring af, you have to give tickets to parked cars. But I was able to arrest a guy carrying a knife, he's a bit hidden between two buildings.

To me that sounds pretty realistic honestly - being a beat cop is reportedly boring AF.

 

[R-T-B]

My memory might be skewed by having read too much game studies as an adults, but IIRC that debacle definitely wasn't limited to just the US.

I can only speak for the USA because I was well, there. It was a weird & sad time.

 

[mechtech]

pffffffffffffff please

we all know the original was police quest by Sierra circa 1987

 

[sepheronx]

Just here to say the first mission is boring af, you have to give tickets to parked cars. But I was able to arrest a guy carrying a knife, he's a bit hidden between two buildings.

Why didn't you shoot him?

If this was UK police, and he didn't have a license for that knife, he could face execution.

pffffffffffffff please

we all know the original was police quest by Sierra circa 1987

Listen gramps, we are now in the 3D and possibly 4D realm now. We have far more pixels and we got Polygons.

When I want to fill a guy who jaywalk with lead, I want to make sure it's in 3 dimensions.

If only they made this game M for mature so we can have same kind of graphical squibs like in Soldier of fortune double helix.

 

[the54thvoid]

Why didn't you shoot him?

If this was UK police, and he didn't have a license for that knife, he could face execution.

err, what? My humour circuit isn't working at the moment. That's satire, right?

 

[sepheronx]

err, what? My humour circuit isn't working at the moment. That's satire, right?

You were arrested for carrying a spoon in London?

Yes, it's humor. I'm assuming you're British. And no, I don't have a license for my humor either.

 

[the54thvoid]

You were arrested for carrying a spoon in London?

Yes, it's humor. I'm assuming you're British.

Half British. Half Scottish. Half Welsh. Half Italian. 109% bad at arithmetic.