Police Quest 2: The Vengeance
Description official description
Little time has passed since the events of Police Quest, when Sonny Bonds climbed the ranks of the Lytton police department and became the key element in the arrest of Jesse Bains, the notorious drug lord. After the trial, Sonny's application to the Homicide division was accepted and proposed to Marie, who had her prostitution charges dropped and started a new life away from the streets. Life was good - until Bains escaped, taking advantage of a low-security prison and an inexperienced correctional officer. Sonny is now in danger from a vengeful Bains and is saddled with his new chain-smoker partner Keith. Sonny goes to the field again to capture Bains, but things are about to get awfully personal...
Using Sierra's new SCI engine, the graphics are more vibrant than in the first game, but gameplay remains basically the same, with the player ordering Sonny to move to a place in the scene (either using the directional keys or the new mouse interface) and a parser interface to interact with the game world. Game sequences are more varied, and include a shooting range, an underwater search or searching the inside of an escape vehicle. The driving sequences are gone, and the player can relax while reading the chatter between Sonny and Keith as they move from location to location. The approach to the game, however, is radically different. While the first (for a large part) is based on street police work, this sequel is oriented into forensics field work such as collecting evidences that link Bains into the happenings of the game.
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Credits (DOS version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 72% (based on 22 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 80 ratings with 11 reviews)
Best of the series! Loved underwater diving, overall great adventure game!
The Good
It was a great game from Sierra, I really enjoyed the Police Quest series of adventure games and this was one of the better stories. Not too hard but kept u interested the whole time. Classic game here people.
The Bad
For its time it did everything well and achieved what you were trying to do in an adventure game. They scrapped the driving from the other games but i actually liked it.
The Bottom Line
Classic piece of adventure gaming history. This game makes you wonder where the good ol games have gone.
DOS · by Jay Gand (4) · 2003
Wall's second PQ game doesn't fail to disappoint
The Good
This game is quite possibly the best that Jim Walls has ever created. In the last Police Quest outing, Officer Sonny Bonds patrolled the streets; booking people for speeding, dealing with drunks, and arresting drug dealers. He eventually went undercover and apprehended Jessie Bains, the head of the illegal drug cartel, and Bains was sentenced to ninety-six years in prison.
One year passes and Bonds gets promoted to Detective, but it was not long when Sonny found out while working for Homicide, that Jessie Bains had escaped from prison. The story gets more interesting as throughout this game you learn that Bains is killing whoever provided testimony at his trial, including your girlfriend Marie Wilkans (who, by the way, looks even more incredible than she was in the last game).
As usual, you start the game at the police station. I like how the station is structured. The lieutenant's and sergeant's office is gone, but these are replaced by two new offices, with one being the Homicide office. The station also boasts a shooting range where you can practice your shooting skills. PQ2 has more locations than its predecessor. You get to visit the Oak Tree Mall and the airport for the first time.
Because of its great storyline, I was eager to find out what happens next, whether it was your next task or the game simply showing a cut-scene. Like a real police officer, you can die in the game dozens of ways, and sometimes I felt afraid that performing a specific action will lead to my death.
I really enjoyed the stuff you have to do in the game. You have to adjust your weapon's sights as you are involved in a shoot-out early on in the game. You also have to deal with hijackers on board an airplane, and disarm a bomb set by them. The main thing is attending crime scenes,which involve a bit of forensic work like dusting for prints, taking blood samples, and taking pictures of the scene.
PQ2 is the first game in the series to use Sierra's more-advanced SCI0 engine. It provides the game with double the resolution of its AGI cousin. This resolution gives the graphics more detail to them, and there isn't a black area reserved for typing commands. In this game, as soon as you start pressing a key, what you see on the screen is paused and a dialog box appears, allowing you to enter commands. This technique is ideal if there is a timed event and you need to quickly type in a command without worrying what would happen if you fail.
Another plus is the support for sound cards that were introduced at the time. Whichever sound card you have, the sound is excellent and the background music blends well with what is happening on screen. In my opinion, though, the sound is superb through the Roland MT-32. Mouse support Is also added, so you can click on anywhere and Bonds can walk there, or still use the keyboard to move him around.
I don't believe that PQ2 is too short at all. You will be too much occupied with the situations that the game throws at you, and these situations often take about ten minutes to complete, with you trying to figure out what is it you need to do.
The Bad
If there was anything bad about the game, I would say that PQ2 lacks the driving mini-game that was found in the previous game. When you get into your squad car and drive out of whatever location you're at, you would use the arrow keys to navigate your car to your next destination, all the while crashing into other cars and stopping for traffic lights. This is sadly missing in this game. On the plus side, it was fun to listen to Keith as he starts yapping in your ear.
The Bottom Line
Police Quest II is my favorite game of the series. It has such an interesting storyline, and you will be occupied with the situations Bonds finds himself in. There is some great music and sound effects thrown into the mix as well. Any PQ fan should at least play the sequel at least once.
I would love to see a remake of PQ2 right after a proper remake of the original, not that disastrous remake that Sierra made without the supervision of Walls himself.
DOS · by Katakis | カタキス (43091) · 2013
Nearly 16 Years on, and its still one of the best yet!!!
The Good
THE STORYLINE. What a riveting story line. Even as a 9 near old back in 1992, I could understand and become excited by the storyline.
An all-time classic. This game was nearly responsible for me becoming a police officer. Nostalgia galore, I put this up there with the Tupac albums that could have been, the Bruce Lee Flicks we should have seen. It actually makes me depressed that no-one has made a police "quest" game in years. I take personal pride in the fact that (especially since I'm a computer science undergraduate myself) such a dated and "unpretty" game.....is still one of the greatest ever written by humanity. In terms of story, playability and entertainment....it has only been matched by Monkey Island 2 or perhaps GTA3 Vice City.
The fact that by the age of 11, I could type at a rate of 32wpm at least and had a reading age of 17-- SOLELY DUE TO THIS GAME!!! It is fair to say that modern day computer game are abusive to concentration span and perhaps intellectual development, but this game proved that it doesn't have to be like that.
The Bad
The fact that it took me one full year when I was a kid to leave the police station!, because I didn't know you had to press F3 to get into the car and make your partner keith enter the car also!!!!! LMAO This was the biggest puzzle in the game. I still never have seen it written in the manual. (just like in police quest 1 the VGA version, I was stuck in the final scene for 6 months because I didn't know the number for the taxi - and still don't know where I was supposed to get it)
Well of course, they're are many features which may be unbearable to users nowadays.
The graphics are extremley dated.
The input system means you must use exactly the correct "keyword" or "phrase" at times, even when you know the correct course of action.
The Bottom Line
If I were to be honest, I would have to admit that only a very patient person or a diehard fan could sit down and play this game today.
Its simply too dated(and possibly too complex) for modern users.
Modern computer players don't like to think, they just hit the fire button.
However, if I've just managed to convince you, yes YOU, well you can download the game absolutley free at any abandonware site, and it would nearly fit on your mobile phone these days.
DOS · by kubakuba (9) · 2003
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
About PC-98 version's 16 color mode | Infernos (44105) | May 25, 2023 |
Trivia
Easter Eggs
- If you're clever enough to "hack" into the office computers, you discover that Laura Watts, Sonny's narcotics partner from PQI, was found out to be the "Gremlin" that antagonized Dooley. She quietly retired from the force after she was caught.
- Look around in the airport, and you will see Larry Laffer (and hear a quick rendition of 'For Your Thighs Only').
- Take a second look at the Victor Simms picture from the manual. Remind you of anything? ("Get your stinkin' paws off me, you damned dirty ape!")
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Police Quest 2: The Vengeance Soundtrack
Police Quest 2: The Vengeance Soundtrack available for download (for free).
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Andy Roark.
Amiga added by POMAH. Atari ST, PC-98 added by Terok Nor.
Additional contributors: Alaka, Echidna Boy, formercontrib, Picard.
Game added May 29, 1999. Last modified January 29, 2024.