POLICE QUEST

There are actually two versions of the original Police Quest, whose full, unwieldy title is Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel. There’s the 1987 original, which has basic 16-color graphics and uses the classic Sierra text parser. And then there’s a VGA remake, released in 1992, which features a point-and-click interface, slightly reworked puzzles, and vastly improved visuals and sound. The first release has its charms, and is undoubtedly a classic of the genre. But for this retrospective I decided to revisit the 1992 version because, honestly, it’s more fun to play—especially by modern standards.

was a collaboration between developer Sierra On-Line and retired police officer Jim Walls. When it was first released, most videogames were either fantasy or science fiction. But this was (and still is) unique in that it saw you stepping into the shiny black shoes of a regular traffic cop. Walls wanted players to experience the mundane reality of the job, as well as the car chases and shootouts. The result is games were used to train real cops.