As an 80s baby I grew up playing Sierra games on PC and one series my brother and I would play a lot was the Police Quest series (along with Space Quest). I found a website where you could play Sierra games (first one I played was Leisure Suit Larry since I wasn't allowed to play it as a kid) and I am considering doing a replay of the Police Quest games and basically a total retro gaming dive until Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 comes out (my main gaming at the moment is Modded Skyrim, Sims, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla).
Can anyone recommend any good cop games whether old or new?
Sam and Max hit the road
Beat Cop is a newer game with a heavy 80s movie retro vibe. You're a beat cop who has to patrol his district and do cop stuff.
Not really cop games, since they're cyberpunk, but you can look into the Shadowrun games since you like RPGs (Returns, Dragonfall & Hong Kong) (Returns is the worst, DF the best).
I really enjoyed playing DF & HK.
Adventures with a cop theme might be Gibbous (Cthulhu/noir adventure with a humorous (!!) take) or Cognition: Erica Reed.
They're not the best you can play but I had fun with both of those games.
Regarding adventures in general (since you liked the *Quest games):
Gabriel Knight, King's Quest and all (old) Lucas Arts games (Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Loom, ...)
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
You seem to like RPGs. Not a cop game, but have you tried the classic RPGs Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment?
I have not. Yes, RPG's are my favorite type of game for sure. I've heard of Baldur's Gate but never played it. Planescape as well. I can check them out.
I would argue Planescape Torment was the best game story ever written.
2nd best story is Star Control 2 http://sc2.sourceforge.net/ playable on modern systems. But you need to be able to handle the interface and controls of the gaming before times.
One of the first "open world" (open galaxy?) experiences where you can explore in almost any order but you find clues to the big mystery everywhere.
You have excellent taste. Neither game has been matched since.
Also some of the best strange one-liners.
"Our reinforcement procedures on your landers are complete. Now if your crew will stop putting their hands out the windows, they will be protected against hostile life-forms."
"Juffo-Wup fills in my fibers and I grow turgid. Violent action ensues."
"Let's be special together. <Spicy games> are fun."
The writers must have been on DMT.
Thanks!
Currently, only the "Enhanced Edition" of Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 seems to be for sale anywhere, a version updated in 2013 of a game that came out originally in 1998. I think it's highly arguable whether it's actually better than the original + a couple of mods. What makes it worse is that Beamdog- the company who "enhanced" it, not the company that originally made it- are SJWs and injected their own characters and writing into the game instead of just updating it for current computers, and then proceeded to take down sales of the original so you can't even buy it except their version. New characters include a character who announces himself as trans in the three dialogue lines you have with them. So they took a classic game, added their own shitty shoehorned agenda-driven writing, and removed the originals from sale.
So pirate the originals in good conscience. You can get them from gog-games.com.
The good news is that Larian are developing Baldur's Gate 3, after having made Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2, the best RPGs to come out in the last ten years.
I've got the GoG installers for the original versions if we need to make this happen.
Nice offer, but I should have been a bit more clear: gog-games.com is not official GOG, it's a site that hosts the GOG installers for free. It's a piracy site. The official GOG site doesn't list the original BG games any more, but gog-games still does.
You still have access to them, but you can can't purchase them without giving money to Beamdog now as far as I can tell.
I’ve played the unfinished BG3 and it’s pretty great. I just wish it would come out soon. :(
I wish it was actually BG3 and not some other game wearing it's skin.
You need to find time to play both of them. Baldur's Gate has more to dig into mechanically, but Planescape is the one game where after finishing it I wished I could forget it entirely. Not because it is a bad game, but the exact opposite. It's a game I wish I could experience fresh for the first time all over again.
Either way I'm gonna recommend you avoid the Enchanced Editions as Beamdog added subpar content and the classic versions are just that: Classic.
Cool. I love RPGs. My friends told me I can’t just play Skyrim forever
People keep telling me if I like Skyrim I’d like Fallout
If you like RPGs with solid stories, more so than Elder Scrolls, you'll love them. A lot of replayabity as well.
Sounds good. I'll check steam. Also getting Xbox gamepass soon so I may just check there.
I can’t really think of too many Cop games off the top of my head. There’s L.A. Noir, of course.Lethal enforcers, if you like rail shooters. I think there’s some good SWAT games out there, someone already mentioned Sleeping Dogs. Judgement is a spin-off of the Yakuza series where you play as a cop. If you want more of a story-based detective kind of game then I would recommend Snatcher and Policenauts, those are really good Cyberpunk noir kind of games. There’s some pretty heavy police mods and roleplay servers for GTA5 as well. Oh and you play as a cop in Parasite Eve, but that might stretch the definition of a cop game a little. Max Payne is kind of a cop game.
If you like crpgs the newest Pathfinder is pretty good. Also one of my favorite games of all time, Live A Live just got a remake for the switch. Check it out, it’s kind of a precursor to Chrono Trigger, it’s an awesome rpg with a great story. It works pretty well on the Yuzu emulator if you don’t have a switch. Daggerfall Unity is pretty awesome, theres a lot of cool mods for it and it’s free.
Cool! Thanks!
The Sherlock Holmes series of games is pretty good evidence and conjecture based gaming. The company also made a Cthulhu type mystery solving game, but it has problems with the publisher.
Tex Murphy is also fairly good. Obra Dinner is good the first time. Thimbleweed Park is also on a list of games I'm sure you know about.
LA Noir is a more modern version. It has it's good and bad parts. The cinematic feel does get annoying at times.
Discworld Noir is surprisingly good. You play a private investigator in Pratchett's universe.
The same goes with Blade Runner. It's mystery unless you know the movie.
I can't find the name, but there was a series where you investigated real crimes that had happened and try to figure it out with actual evidence and witnesses. LA something or other.
The last express is bizarre and amazing. Real time clues and hints as you figure out what is happening.
Then we have games like Sam and Max which is more slapstick in nature and not really mystery.
Fantastic list!
Would like to note that Sherlock Holmes - Crimes and Punishments is by far the best of those games, and is really, really good. The others are very hit and miss.
Yes, the graphics, story, and evidence is the best in that one.
Cool! I'll check those out. I have read a Discworld book and enjoyed it. I plan on reading more but a game that takes place in that universe sounds cool.
This Is The Police is a neat little indie game where you take the role of a beleaguered police chief fighting corruption and bureaucracy in a small town. It's mainly a resource management game. The soundtrack is awesome.
I'll second a few games mentioned by others. I really enjoyed Sleeping Dogs, LA Noir, and the turn based SWAT games.
You could also try playing as the greatest detective of all time, Brent Halligan, in the point and click adventure Mystery of the Druids.
I saw Sleeping Dogs being recommended but no one mentioned the True Crime series, namely the first(streets of LA) I never played any other personally but that might catch the cop itch. Was back in the PS2 era.
Did you ever play the later SWAT games? Nothing like your other mentions (tactical FPS vs. adventure games), but a "cop game" for sure. The recent indie release "Ready or Not" is a spiritual successor.
I have been meaning to give those a try. Also I saw a police simulator on Steam I wanted to try.
SWAT3 was my jam back in the day but playing now requires just a little finagling with old game controls (you'll want a config to rebind things) and some understanding of the complexities of the simulation which you can figure out over time. If you want a more relaxed experience than SWAT4 or Ready Or Not are fine entries.
Lately I dug an old Sierra title that's all but forgotten: Lords of Magic.
That game is an absolute gem of a title, if a little niche.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPvrEIZein0
That’s one Sierra game I never heard of. Thought I knew them all
Did you ever play the Tex Murphy series?
Quick synopsis: you're a detective in a post nuclear-war future trying to make ends meet. You're given an assignment that eventually ends up drags you into a conspiracy involving a plot to take over the world.
The game has lots of humor in it, quite a bit of puzzles, and the storyline is great.
Here's a link on GOG, sorted by oldest to newest, so you can start from the beginning.
https://www.gog.com/en/games?query=tex%20murphy&order=asc:releaseDate
You can also get it on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=tex+murphy
If you wait for a sale, you can get the games for dirt cheap.
Cool! Will check it out. Thanks!
No problem. 👍
If you're looking for something more light-hearted, check out the Sam and Max series.
It's detective work with puzzles.
Here's a video of the first game, check out the first 5 minutes to see if it's something you'd be interested in.
https://youtu.be/C7qBJak98cs
Not a cop game but similar to the Sierra games you liked:
Quest for Infamy
Kathy Rain
Gemini Rue
Technobabylon
Resonance
1954 Alcatraz
Full Throttle
Football Game
Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok (very like a Quest for Glory)
The Order of the Thorne - The King's Challenge (super good old Sierra clone)
A New Beginning
The Samaritan Paradox
Yesterday
The Next BIG Thing
Runaway series
Cop(ish) games in that style:
Cognition
Face Noir
VirtuaVerse
The Darkside Detective series
Tales of the Neon Sea
Lacuna
Blackwell series (Blackwell Legacy, Blackwell Unbound, Blackwell Convergence, Blackwell Deception, Blackwell Epiphany)
Dry Drowning
Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
Gabriel Knight series
Still Life, Still Life 2
Moebius: Empire Rising (modern, Jane Jensen-written)
I'd advise all of these. The only one I haven't played is the last one, Moebius.
Awesome! I’ll write these down. As a lifelong Simpsons fan I love your username
respectful nod
I'd rocket VirtuaVerse, Technobabylon, and Gemini Rue to the top of your list.
Additionally: The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes 1 (1992) + 2 (1996), by Mythos Software. These are kind of hard to find. As in, it's sort of hard to even find them in a search engine. Try abandonware sites.
Ooh also also, you might like Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (of Zero Punctuation fame)'s old adventure games, the "Chzo Mythos."
Thanks!
Cop games off the top of my head: This is the Police 1 and 2 + Rebel Cops, Door Kickers, Door Kickers Action Squad, Police Stories.
Someone mentioned you like RPGs. I haven't played it, and don't know too much about it, but you might like Gamedec, a cyberpunk detective game.
Cool thanks! I’ve been meaning to check out this is the police
Of the games I mentioned, Door Kickers is probably what I've played the most. Fun real-time-with-pause tactics about breaching locations.
This Is the Police/Rebel Cops is also somewhat similar, but turn-based. Quite fun.
Observer is a Cyberpunk detective game. I haven't played it, but it seems pretty cool.
Thanks!
Anachronox (detective), Oni (cop), Project Eden (Agents).
On the non-cop, mixed RPG, side you should check out Harbinger (H'n'S), Arcanum, Encased, Fallout 2 (WRPGx3).
Swat is a sequel to the cop game you mentioned. In the same vein Ready or Not.
Ready or Not seems like exactly what you're looking for.
Will check it out
If you have a Saturn, maybe try out Virtua Cop. It was one of my favorites growing up playing it in arcades.
Thank me later op : https://store.steampowered.com/app/494740/Police_Quest_Collection/
I’m salivating. Thanks!!!!
Max Payne weren't about solving anything via puzzles but they were all textbook noir detective stories. The older ones are quite dated by now but 3 still holds up even if Max wasn't on the force anymore by then.
Definitely try out the Blade Runner game from way back when. It was very recently remastered on Switch but is also on Steam. The thing is, it's a shitty remaster. Many say the original still looks better.
Sounds good! Thanks!
Since you mentioned Starfield and Elder Scrolls...
For classical still working RPG, Daggerfall Unity
For a good game, but shoddy port if you have ultrawidescreen, Dragon's Dogma.
Cop games,
https://store.steampowered.com/app/997010/Police_Simulator_Patrol_Officers/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/539470/Police_Stories/
Obviously not exactly what you really wanted, but these a relatively good. I haven't played the two cop games though, and I am currently playing Dragon's Dogma which is surprisingly good.
I’ve been meaning to get that cop simulator on Steam! Thanks for the game ideas
Rocket League >
❤️
I know you are right but Skyrim is my all time favorite and I keep having visions of Starfield as Skyrim in space. Also I keep thinking Bethesda is too smart to infest Elder Scrolls 6 with sjw garbage. Although im sure im being naive
Myst was kind of boring. Nothing wrong with puzzles but a little action would’ve been fun
My brother and I played it together and we both kept thinking some action was just around the corner. My dad bought my first game for my PlayStation. It was Riven the sequel to Myst
Ha! That’s true