*warning - some spoilers possible*
I suppose this should have gone into the gaming section of the forums. Still, the translation patch is only for the PS1 version so that's the saving grace of my error.
I didn't know much about Hideo Kojima's Policenauts until recently, just that it was a Kojima game that came out in the 1990's and was brought to the PS3's Japanese Playstation Store back in 2008. Enter the English translation patch that released last month for the PS1 version of the game. I immediately started looking around to find it and after running the patch, I soon found myself playing as Jonathan Ingram in his journey to find a missing person and uncover the truth behind his disappearance. I finally finished the game the other day so this has left me to wonder if anybody else was interested in the game or had already played it.
To start things off, this is a point and click adventure game with generally static backgrounds. The story is the center of attention and you're essentially along for the ride while engaging in gunfights at certain points in the game. You'll literally be spending the entire game clicking on characters to go through the available dialog options or clicking on the backgrounds to open up new dialog options to move the story forward. If you absolutely couldn't stand Metal Gear Solid's cut scenes or codec sequences, then this probably isn't the game for you. Because of this, the game pretty much lacks any replayability, but hey the ride was fun while it lasted so lets get started.
The basic premise of Policenauts that I touched on above is about a former LAPD officer named Johnathan Ingram. In 2010 the first space colony, Beyond Coast, is constructed and a few years later Johnathon along with four other police officers are selected to be the police force for the first groups of colonists. They were appropriately dubbed Policenauts as they were astronauts with police powers. During a space walking test, Johnathan is sent drifting after his suit malfunctioned while the other Policenauts could only watch in horror. Thanks to an experimental cryogenic module, he was able to stay alive in a cold sleep until he was eventually found around 25 years later without aging. Johnathan returns to LA as a private investigator with nothing but memories to keep him going. Things change when one day his former wife Lorraine, who had since remarried after Johnathan's accident, shows up to request his services in finding her missing husband Hojo. Hojo works for the Tokugawa Pharmaceutical company, created by the former Policenaut Joseph Sadaoki Tokugawa, which is located on Beyond and has a large influence over the colony and the pharmaceutical industry. She gives him some Tokugawa branded caplets and a half of a plant leaf which were given to her by Hojo right before he dissapeared, but Johnathan is unsure if he wants to accept the case. As Lorraine prepares to enter her car to drive away, Johnathan notices a suspicious man across the street who then detonates a bomb in her car. Failing the catch the murderer, Johnathan decides he will honor Lorraine's final request after she dies in his arms and so begins the adventure of Policenauts.
Johnathan Ingram with his blue hair and mullet firing his favorite pistol with armor piercing rounds
The story kept me interested the whole way through and there are a number of twists as all the pieces eventually fall into place. Again, the game pretty much only offers the story so the replayability is practically zilch and with the way people complain about the Metal Gear Solid series, I'm expecting the extremely linear progression and point and click gameplay to be a turnoff to many of today's gamers. Being a Kojima game, expect cameos to his other games. Early on, you'll see a sign that's lit up and says "Solid Snake" and Meryl Silverburgh is even in the game voiced by the same person that later did the voice for her in Metal Gear Solid. Also, if you remember the sound that played during the Konami logo as well as the robots that Otacon talks about in Metal Gear Solid, those both came from Policenauts. The characters of Johnathan Ingram and Ed Brown, Johnathan's friend and former Policenaut, seem to be similar to the duo from the Lethal Weapon movies.
Meryl Silverburgh as she looks in the game complete with a similar outfit, hairstyle, FOXHOUND tattoo and origin of being in FOXHOUND.
As far as graphics go... it's a point and click game with an anime style for the art and FMV's so that's about it. You'll mainly be looking at still images with a little bit of animation where appropriate (like rays of sunlight or moving lips of a character for example). Obviously, don't expect anything amazing out of the pixilated screens, but it's good enough to not be annoying. What you'll usually do is go through dialog options and exploring the backgrounds to open up more dialog options and to eventually move onto the next area. Certain events are thrown in to ramp up the pacing of the story in certain parts but I won’t ruin them. When there are gunfights, your cursor becomes a red laser dot and you'll need to think quick as aiming with the d-pad is a chore and targets rarely remain in one spot (something which feels is a precursor to the Sniper Wolf battles in Metal Gear Solid). I suppose I should also mention that since it's a Kojima game, his style of female breasts and breast humor is here as well.
So in the end, the game was a satisfying experience even if there's little point to play the game again once you beat it. If you don't know Japanese, I suggest the possibility of trying out the english subtitle patch as it does a good job of translating the text. If you do check it out, sit back and enjoy the story even if some of the twists are predictable and most of the music outdated.
