G-POLICE

How it was in 1997?

G-Police is a 2 CD action packed game wrapped around a compelling story. There are 35 explosive and very challenging missions guaranteed to thrill action fans. There are however, a couple of irritating stumbling blocks on the road to gaming nirvana.


You play a cop charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order on a futuristic world. Your beat is on Callisto which is one of Jupiter's moons. Callisto is a dark and foreboding world with cities encased in domes. It's a lot like Newark, New Jersey after dark.



You pilot a DASA - Kamov AG60 HAVOC close air support gunship. The HAVOC can be fitted with a variety of lethal weapons that includes: cannons, lock-on missiles, rockets, bombs, lasers and even a deployment beacon. Some missions even include a wingman.

The in-game options includes a map that displays your current location and other vital information. You can also access a mission briefing screen to review your objectives. There are several views in either the cockpit or outside your craft. The external views, although interesting to look at, are not practical for play.

The missions cover a wide spectrum of objectives i.e. scanning objects, following suspects, destroy air and ground targets, protect and defend, and even making arrests. Missions have 2 sets of objectives and therefore some strategic planning is required. The primary objective must be completed in order to move on to the next mission. Completing secondary objectives increases your score and unlocks secret missions. There's also plenty of outstanding Full Motion Video (FMV) throughout the game. Crucial information is revealed in the FMVs that will help you in future missions.

The graphics include FMV scenes which are definitely visual treats. The game graphics are very good and include some nice touches like your HAVOC's shadow on the ground or spent bullet cases spewing out of the gun. Objects did not break apart when up close. Distant objects or targets do not come into view until you're fairly close. This presents a problem in a dogfight or when looking for distant objects. This is deliberate so the frame rate remains smooth. There is a graphics setup menu which allows you set "View Angle" and "View Distance". The frame rate is proportional to the viewing distance you set. Even if you set the viewing distance to the max, you still must be fairly close to objects before you can see them.

Except for some annoying crackling, the entire sound package is very good. There's a lot of well-acted speech, great sound effects and a mood setting sound track.

The Big Negative (and there's no excuse for this) is "Control". When you're talking about "flight modeling" you are in effect talking about "control". Does the simulation seem realistic? Does it maneuver and handle the way you'd expect a futuristic craft would? Unfortunately in G-Police the answer is "NO!". If humans design crafts 100 years in the future and they handle like this - we are doomed.

The game was played with Sony's Dual Analog Pad in both digital and analog modes. Controller input in either of these modes was extremely touchy. Precise and accurate steering was very difficult. Staying on course, chasing a moving target and aligning your gun sight with a target was highly frustrating. It's just totally unbelievable that a futuristic craft would handle in this manner. Considerable patience and hours of practice are required until you become proficient at piloting your HAVOC.

The Bottom Line: G-Police provides plenty of slam-bang entertainment and exciting fun. Other than the control issue which is a major stumbling block to a higher score, this is a solid enjoyable game.

Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 8.8
Learning Curve: Moderate
Difficulty: Hard
Control: 6
Manual: Good
Replay Value: Low

FINAL SCORE: 8.3

G-POLICE

Rated 4.1/5 based on 1 reviews