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)

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The graphics are starting to get a little outdated.You can still play with them,but it might seem annoying at first.Sometimes,it can be very hard trying to figure out exactly what you have to type to do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

This beats Virtual Cop for sure.

The Good
This was the first Quest which I could compare to a movie in which you were an actor.

Most of you will remember that the "Quest" series only offered fantasy or sci-fi themes until Police Quest came out. It featured a more adult and serious theme. As a matter of fact, even if it was fiction, you felt more as part of the game than other unrealistic Quests of that era.

You could feel the game was designed by an ex-policeman as the game featured some jokes which are obviously seen in police locker rooms. For example, an officer is almost always in the shower and colleagues don't hesitate to find this rather funny. When you try to chat with him, he'll gladly reply "Do you know what's the best thing with this shower Sonny? It's free".

The object of the game was not only to be in "pursuit of the Death Angel". You had to do more down-to-earth cop stuff such as taking care of an accident or pulling off a drunk driver.

Actually, driving around town and pulling off bad guys was fun as it was something obviously not seen in another Quest before. The game actually came with a full-size map of Lytton, map which could still be used for the sequel.

As with any movie, the game reaches an expected climax at the end. However, I remember it being very intense.

The Bad
As it was the case with other Sierra games, the game went over instantly if you performed the wrong action, action which could be rather dull in this particular game. An approach à la LucasArts (in which games you have to be reallly reckless to die) could have been taken since this could get frustrating.

For example, if you forget to walk around your car before driving it, you'll end up having an accident since you didn't inspect it throughfully. Don't even try ordering a beer at the bar when you're on duty, this isn't allowed either and the game will end abruptly if you do so.

Traffic lights... The same goes on if you run over red lights. However, when driving you have a 90 degree bird's eye view of your car and lights are shown using simple rectangles on the street. Considering many people still had monochrome monitors back then, how in hell were you supposed to guess the color if you had one? I had to resign driving around with my siren on to prevent dying!

Technologically, the game didn't bring much, since the AGI interpreter used to develop this game was pretty limited in itself, especially the low resolution which was plain ugly.

In order to advance in one point of the game, you had to play poker - and win a lot. Don't laugh, but I've never played poker before trying this game. Even if it came with a reference card to show you how to play, it was simply annoying.



The Bottom Line
Even if it's old, it's a must if you're interested in being a police officer for a while.

DOS · by Olivier Masse (443) · 1999

Absolute classic

The Good
Police Quest 1 was one of the most impactful games of my childhood! Looking back, playing the role of an authority figure was a very cool and novel thing as a child, and probably one of factors that made it so much fun to play.

The game was ahead of its time, giving the player a bit of the "Grand Theft Auto" sense of freedom and control. Though there were very few locations you could drive to and actually leave your vehicle, driving the streets of Lytton is basically a mini-game unto itself. The game is written that as long as you're in your patrol car at the appropriate time, it doesn't matter where you are - the same red-light runner, drunk driver, etc, comes to you and violates the law in front of you... so its not random chance.

Being text-based, you also have the freedom to type whatever you want... sometimes you'll be surprised at what the game understands and will accept as answers! (Notably, the things you can get away with saying to the red-light runner!!). If what you type is not understood, the game will simply reply with a message of "What is a ______?" and you know you have to re-phrase yourself.

The Bad
Like many other games, once you go through the game and accomplish everything, it's quite difficult to go back and do it again with the same sense of naivete and excitement... it becomes quite formulaic - Do this, then this, then go here, then say this, etc, etc. Re-playability is more for nostalgia purposes, or to show a friend... the theme just doesn't suit multiple plays, as the novelty is in the story and figuring things out.

Driving is fun, but hard! Especially on faster machines, it can be extremely challenging to park your vehicle safely.

Not knowing what to do next can lead to some dull moments. You're driving around aimlessly when the game wants you to go back to the Police Department... in the meantime you're not alerted to this, and you're getting bored. Pre-internet, this was extremely frustrating!

The poker games are monotonous and go on far too long. There's simply no reason for this, the designers could've done better at making this a smaller feature of the game.

The game also makes you follow regulations a bit too much, as in, you have to walk around your vehicle before you leave the yard EVERY TIME to inspect it, or game over, you lose! Save frequently in multiple save files, because you'll be dying regularly and needing to restore your game often! It's also hard to follow police regulations exactly as the game wants you to, as the modern player is extremely unlikely to have the game manual handy! Personally I was helped a lot because my Dad is a police officer, and as a kid I would go ask him "What would you do in this situation?"!

The Bottom Line
It's a challenge, especially if you can get through it the first time without outside help. I've enjoyed introducing family and friends to this game through the years, and typically they really get into it and want to figure out what to do next. It's quite addictive and you're never fully satisfied until you beat it!

DOS · by Condemned (71) · 2009

[ 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.

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  • 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.