Police Quest 2: The Vengeance

The Good
Well the graphics look about the same as they did it the first Police Quest. The controls are easy to use, and it is a good adventure game it true Sierra Style. This is a classic, which doesn't get the credit that it deserves, many people have played the first one, and this one is just as good as that.

The Bad
Come On now, a second police quest, Somebody at sierra must have had a friend in the force.

The Bottom Line
If you have played the First Police Quest, play this one. It is a typical 80's Sierra adventure game that is fun and will make you keep coming back for more.

The Good
Jim Walls' main skill as a game writer, besides making you feel like you ARE a police officer (through his experience), is giving the gamer great characters and a great setting with which to base his game upon. While elements of the game's theme may lack originality, it holds up well under the memorable people that you meet and interact with, and the environment of Lytton.

PQII is more forgiving than PQI. You don't lose the game on the spot when you accidentally leave a print un-dusted.

The soundtrack, composed and performed by Mark Siebert, is very nice. The music is appropriate and atmospheric, and some of the tunes will stay in your mind for a long time. There isn't enough of it, however! A good deal of the game is played in silence.

PQII is quite exciting. There is a little more action than in PQI, and parts will quite honestly have you on the edge of your seat.

I enjoyed the game's graphics. Sierra did some great stuff with 16 colors, and PQ2 is no exception. The colors are bright and defined, and the close-ups and in-game graphics are as nice to look at in 1999 as they were in 1988.

The Bad
Lacks the gritty realism of PQI. For its time, PQI was a very 'mature' game, not to be played by young children. PQII is a little more appropriate for kids - and while still quite exciting, as I mentioned, some of the original 'feel' is lost.

PQII is more forgiving than PQI. You can draw your gun anywhere you please, and even take a pot shot or two in the park.

The skyjacking scene. It simply doesn't belong.

The Bottom Line
Police Quest II is definitely worth your time, and I bet that Sonny Bonds will be one of your favorite game heroes by the time you're through playing.

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.