Game review: Beat Cop is fun despite the flaws
This is a nice little distraction until the glitches kick in – which I hope the developers are working to fix as this game doesn’t deserve to die an early death
Beat Cop
Pixel Crow
3/5 stars
Although it’s fashionable in some quarters to hate the police, there’s something inherently appealing to many about wanting to be a cop. The uniform, the power, the sheer corruption that comes with it. These factors are what make police games so much fun, be they the old-school thrills in Police Quest or new-wave innovations in L.A. Noire.
Beat Cop (available for PCs) takes more inspiration from the former rather than the latter, offering an ’80s-style, pixel-heavy design and point-and-click gameplay. You’re a potentially corrupt detective demoted to walking the streets and handing out parking tickets.
The game mostly comes down to time management, and each day you’re given a list of tasks to complete: ticket quotas, of course, but also a range of activities that might pop up during the patrol. Busting thieves, dealing with shopkeepers, stopping criminals, and once again being pulled to the dark side, as you form allegiances with two factions: the Mafia or the Crew.