Police Quest 2: The Vengeance

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Name: Police Quest 2: The Vengeance Year: 1988 Publisher: Sierra Developer: Sierra Platform: PC Genre: Adventure Total rating: 69.6% - rated 11 times rate now: please log in to rate Submitter: Insaneman Added: Jan 01 2005 Warez status: Warez

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Author: Bokkie Date: May 04 2005 - 11:54 Score: 70 points

You finished Police Quest 1, enjoying yourself immensely in the process despite having to type absolutely everything in, but now you're wondering, what next? Well look no further friend, because Bonds, Sonny Bonds, is back. He's decided to keep his blond hair from the end of the first game and looks generally better thanks to his upgraded graphics but can he still cut the mustard as far as making a good police game goes? Watch this space.

The story carries on right from where the first left off. The punk you put in the slammer after the first game is out, and naturally wants revenge. So bad things start happening to people involved in his incarceration. And you, as Sonny Bonds, have to put a stop to his plans. This was before the days of game developers hiring movie script writers, which means the plot is fairly simple and none of the "twists" are really going to shock you, (except when Sonny gets killed... but thats only because you messed up).

GAMEPLAY
As can be expected, gameplay has changed considerably since the first. Now you can use your mouse a bit, pushing F4 will get you out of your car quickly, you don't have to drive anymore, you just pick a location and go and a couple of things like that. All just small changes. And I know this might sound crazy but gameplay, despite getting a little easier, is actually not as good as the first.

The big downside of the PQ1 (having to type in everything) is still largely there, but the fun element of driving the car has been removed, and with it has gone some of the sense that the plot was not completely linear (even if it was). The whole focus of the gameplay is now on the story and so it doesn't include any diversions, such as the speeding lady or drunk guy from the first. The sense of really being involved in a cop's life is missing as a result.

Some of the strictness regarding procedures has been eased. You might view this as a good or a bad thing, depending on wether or not you thought they added to or choked the gameplay of the first. Of course procedure is still important but not every little detail of it. You won't lose the game for not checking your car before you get in every time.

One positive thing that has been added to the gameplay, is that there are a lot more things that you don't have to do, in order to win the game, and in some cases, there are several ways of achieving a goal. This adds a little extra challenge to try and find as many points as you can.

Gameplay has definitely suffered a bit since Sonny's first outing, but if you didn't know about the first one you'd probably think it was great. So maybe I'm just being picky if I give it a 6.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
After all my gripes about gameplay at least I can be positive about the improvemens in the graphics. Now you can see more than just two big pixels representing eyes on a whole blob of face pixels. There are much better drawings for all of the areas you visit and there is more of a sense of space than before. The EGA/ VGA difference is also quite clear and, with more colours to choose from, we have a lot more shading and lighting effects drawn in. Small touches that all add up to a much brighter picture. Graphics are thumbs up.

Sound Blaster was clearly too new a technology back in those days, so sounds haven't changed from the beep-beeeeep-bip's of the first. You can turn them off if they get too much but that would be defeating the whole object of going retro. Sound on this one isn't the best thing since sliced bread, but you can live with it.

OVERALL
It is impossible to look at a sequel without comparing it to the first and, of course, as most people know, you can't always trust sequels. Sure there are exceptions, but most of the time, sequels lack the originality of the first and despite better graphics, are just more of the same, packaged slightly differently so you think its better. Police quest 2 falls right into this category better than a guy with a turned up collar and bell bottoms at an Elvis convention. This is not a problem if you really enjoyed the first outing, but if you're looking for something fresh and different you ain't gonna find it here. I highly recommend you download it if you liked the first and want to carry on the story, just don't expect any miracles. So in answer to the question, "Can Sonny still cut the mustard?" Yeah he can, but the mustard's a little softer than before.

	Type / Title	Downloads / Views	Action
	Warez: Not available for download	0	Protected
	Cheats	2187	Read
	Game manual: Homicide Officer's Guide	27	Download
	Copy Protection Codes	3958	View

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By Brokendownflier - Jul 07 2006 - 20:50 This series is ESA protected and will not be found on CGN. Do not post links of places where it can be downloaded nor ask for it to be emailed to you as those comments will be deleted.

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