Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel

aka: PQ, PQ1, Police Quest 1
Moby ID: 146
Amiga Specs

Description official description

Sonny Bonds is a small town policeman who must fight against the rising tide of drugs in his city. The game is based on real police procedure and adheres carefully to following the rules of police work. Beginning as a patrol officer and working into detectives, Sonny will chase down the infamous Death Angel and put an end to his criminal underworld.

A typical Sierra parser game built with the popular AGI engine, Police Quest differs from the others release by the company in the realism of the setting and travelling, that is done by car, controlled by the player using a overhead view (instead of the cabbie of Leisure Suit Larry or walking around in Space Quest). Some sections of the game require the player to be efficient driving the car (as there are a fair number of chases, and traffic rules also apply to the player).

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Credits (Amiga version)

11 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 22 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 109 ratings with 12 reviews)

A classic adventure with loads of originality

The Good
This game was the second Sierra adventure I played, and it still is one of the most memorable. The character development is awesome with a wide range of NPC's all with distinct personality's and stories to learn throughout the game. The humour in the game is great - from the locker room banter to the angry sergent to all the funny descriptions at each location you go to.

This game redefined what adventures were when it was released - up until then adventures were solely based in the fantasy realm whereas this was an engaging story based on real-life happenings and characters. The need to follow police procedures to advance the game and gain maximum points was a great way of giving the game more depth and also implementing the copy-protection - and it was a very convincing way of making you feel like you really were a cop.

The learning curve of the game is nicely set with a few easy patrols and crimes to solve early on. As you delve deeper into the plot, more characters are revealed and more of the overall story becomes apparent - and everything interconnects nicely, with things getting harder as you get deeper into the game. The finale is brilliant and a truly great ending to the game, after the perfectly paced build up.

This game has that magical 'charm' that most of the early Sierra adventures seemed to have, but which got lost pretty much after the first batch of point and click adventures. Definitely lovingly created. It is possible to finish this game and miss out on a lot of the extra points and a couple of interesting side stories to uncover too. A good incentive to replay the game to find out everything.

The graphics are the blocky AGI original style, but are never the less colourful, charming and convincing, drawing you magically into the world of Lytton. Great atmosphere, and a who lot more attractive than the rubbish VGA re-release.

The Bad
Not a lot wrong with this title - it probably wouldn't be that much fun to your fan-boy, top-20 commercial game players who saturate the market these days (anyone who bought the bland Matrix Reloaded game for instance), but anyone who has a love of great adventure games should check this out and play it through - without using any walkthrough's (it really makes it a lot more fun and satisfying). Also, play it using the Sarien AGI parser because you get the three-channel sound instead of PC speaker nonsense.

The Moby score of this game is a bit low in my opinion - perhaps conceived by someone who played it using a walkthrough or something and not enjoying it fully. Or maybe I'm biased because I loved these Sierra games dearly when growing up. I would've given it 4.5 out of 5. It doesn't deserve 5 out of 5 simply because there are other adventure games that are even better than this - Kings Quest 3 and Monkey Island 1 for example.

The Bottom Line
A classic adventure, that drags you into its world with lovable characters, a great plot, cool cartoon graphics, awesome set-pieces and is a perfectly paced game that escalates into a worthy conclusion. This and Police Quest 2 are by and far the best in the series, and are right up there with the best Sierra adventures (Kings Quest 3, Space Quest 1-4, Manhunter, Larry 1-3).

DOS · by Anthony Bull (24) · 2003

One of the best text adventures

The Good
Regardless of the game, I like the idea of a text adventure about police work. So you're "fighting evil" like in any other game, but in a more realistic, procedural way. Doing all the preparations, considering safety etc. But I think the game might have been boring if Sonny Bonds hadn't been a bit like Roger Wilco. Sonny is supposed to be a 15 year veteran, but because the average player isn't, Sonny is treated more like a rookie, mocked and told off for making mistakes. Also, there's some light mockery of the police in general, good for those who have run-ins with the cops and I guess, acknowledging that sometimes the law sucks and deserves a bit of mockery. Undoubtedly, any mockery is balanced with deadly seriousness. The encounter with gunman "Marvin Hoffman" was probably the height of the tension in the game, you had to follow step-by-step procedure or be shot dead.

The Bad
The more I played the game, the more I started to feel that, as faithful to police work and police life it might be, it's a bit too black and white when it comes to cops and robbers. There's a bit of a "time to clean the filth from the streets" attitude. As the only villain in the game of any real depth, I think Jason Taselli/Marvin Hoffman is pretty respectable, he doesn't come quietly. One of the biggest problems with the game is Jessie "The Death Angel" Bains. As far as I'm concerned Taselli/Hoffman is the real death angel. Bains is only introduced late in the game as a friend of Taselli's and there's nothing to suggest he's bigger and badder than Taselli.

The Bottom Line
Well I still think it's one of the best text adventures, regardless of what one thinks of the cops. Maybe Space Quest 1 is a little better, because you're playing a very average fellow who is somehow given the chance to become the savior of his race.

DOS · by Andrew Fisher (697) · 2018

It's Still a Very Fun Game to Play

The Good
Police Quest was the first adventure game I played and it's still one of my favourites.It's quite long for a game of this age and the story takes a few twists.Some scenes can get quite intense including one where you have to make a drug bust.There's lots to do in Lytton City so you never actually feel like your on a linear path,even though you are.There's actually an ending to this game and it's the best one I've seen in a game this old.

The Bad
The graphics are starting to get a little outdated.You can still play with them,but it might seem annoying at first.Sometimes,it can be very hard trying to figure out exactly what you have to type to do something.I had trouble pulling someone over in the game even though I had my siren on.Finally,there's a poker scene near the end of the game that's pretty tough and requires patience and time.

The Bottom Line
If you were ever interested in what a cop does,play Police quest 1-4 and learn the basics.While 2 and 4 have you playing detectives,1 and 3 have you playing more of a cop on his beat.All of them are good and should all be played.

DOS · by SamandMax (75) · 2001

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Trivia

Cell Block Love

The love story between Sonny and Marie is retold - from Marie's point of view, and tongue-in-cheek - in the song Cell Block Love in Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out.

Development

The game was written by Jim Walls, a former California State Police Officer, who also wrote the following two Police Quest games.

Humour

  • The unmarked cadillac used by the narcs is said to be confiscated from a recent arrest when Sonny looks at it personally, but if the player selects "See Object" and selects the key to the cadillac, the game will inform him that it is a government issued, unmarked car.
  • If Sonny trades his integrity for some quick sex with Helen Hots, she will give him a telephone number to call her at. If he calls this number, he may reach the Police Commissioner's wife. It doesn't end well for his career.

References

  • When the feathers of the chicken on the desk fall on the ground and the player types "pick up feather" the reply will be "Do that in King's Quest III"
  • When the chicken is in Dooley's office, the Astro Chicken tune from Space Quest 3, 4 and 5 is played.
  • Entering certain words in the crime computer comes up with amusing results. Some that work are programmers 'Al Lowe,' 'Ken Williams,' and 'Jim Walls.' Various dirty words also have listings.
  • Another King’s Quest III reference can be found in the beginning of the game. Enter the briefing room and pick up the newspaper lying there. Browse through it until you stumble upon an article about a town called Daventry under siege by a three-headed dragon. Daventry is the town in which the fantasy adventure King’s Quest III is played. In the article, a gnome is mentioned as well. This could well be the one sitting on a chair in front of a cabin at the end of King’s Quest III.
  • The pimp from Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards makes a cameo appearance in the game. He can be found behind bars at the Lytton City Jail.

Information also contributed by -Chris, B14ck W01f, Erwin Bergervoet, Jason Mugrave, Ju, just Ju..., Sciere and uclafalcon

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Related Sites +

  • Crap Shoot
    A humorous review on PC Gamer
  • Hints for Police Quest 1
    These hints will help you solve the game.
  • ScummVM
    supports the DOS, Macintosh, Amiga and Apple IIgs versions of Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel under Windows, Linux, Macintosh and other platforms.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 146
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Andy Roark.

Amiga added by POMAH. Apple IIgs added by Kabushi. Apple II added by Terok Nor. Atari ST added by Belboz. Macintosh added by lampadario.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Jeanne, Jayson Firestorm, Macs Black, Patrick Bregger.

Game added May 29, 1999. Last modified January 29, 2024.