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This Is the Police 2

Bigger. Bolder. Better. This sequel isn’t taking any prisoners.
This Is the Police 2 Game Cover
63%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, optimization
59% User Score Based on 1,771 reviews
Critic Score 61%Based on 19 reviews

Platforms

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This Is the Police 2 Game Cover

About

This Is the Police 2 is a single player tactical turn-based strategy game with drama and thriller themes. It was developed by Weappy Studio and was released on July 31, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

In "This Is the Police 2" , run the sheriff's department in the harsh border town of Sharpwood, managing cops, investigating crimes, and making tough decisions in this story-driven mix of strategy, adventure, and turn-based tactical combat. Navigate a complex narrative with various genres, featuring a cast of morally ambiguous characters, as young sheriff Lilly Reed teams up with fugitive criminal Jack Boyd to maintain order.

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This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
This Is the Police 2 screenshot
+25
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59%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,771 reviews
story427 positive mentions
grinding56 negative mentions
  • The game features a compelling story that continues the narrative from the first game, with well-developed characters and engaging voice acting.
  • The addition of tactical turn-based missions adds a new layer of strategy and variety to the gameplay, making it more interesting than its predecessor.
  • The management aspect of the game is enjoyable, allowing players to develop their officers' skills and make meaningful decisions in response to various calls.
  • The game is heavily bogged down by excessively long cutscenes and poorly written dialogue, which detracts from the overall gameplay experience.
  • The tactical missions can be frustratingly difficult, with a lack of clarity on mechanics and consequences for failure that can lead to significant setbacks.
  • The characters often exhibit unrealistic behavior, such as refusing to work with certain officers or showing up drunk, which can feel contrived and disrupt immersion.
  • story
    1,747 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "This Is The Police 2" is a continuation of the first game's narrative, focusing on the morally complex character of Jack Boyd as he navigates a new setting filled with corruption and challenges. While some players appreciate the depth and dark themes of the story, many criticize its pacing, with lengthy cutscenes and dialogue that detract from gameplay, leading to frustration. The addition of tactical missions adds a new layer to the experience, but the execution often feels disconnected from the story, resulting in mixed reviews regarding the overall narrative engagement.

    • “The story picks up with Jack Boyd—now a fugitive—assuming a false identity and becoming the de facto right-hand man of Sharpwood’s new sheriff, Lilly Reed.”
    • “The plot deals with heavy themes like abuse of power, institutional failure, and personal trauma, all while maintaining a noir-like sensibility that keeps the narrative grounded and engrossing.”
    • “The storytelling remains as good as it was in the previous installment, and continues the story of Jack Boyd.”
    • “The game relies heavily on its story to keep players interested, whilst having a terrible story with some of the worst voice acting I've heard in gaming.”
    • “Every cutscene is so painfully long and just full of filler that doesn't add to the story in the slightest.”
    • “The story is so god awful, feels like they tried to make it suspenseful and cinematic.”
  • gameplay
    798 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay in "This Is the Police 2" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting improvements over the original, particularly in the addition of tactical, turn-based missions and enhanced management mechanics. However, the experience is often marred by excessively long cutscenes and a narrative that detracts from the gameplay, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness and frustration. While some players appreciate the depth and complexity of the new mechanics, others find them clunky and poorly integrated, resulting in a gameplay experience that can feel tedious and unbalanced.

    • “Great combination of story-driven gameplay and XCOM turn-based tactics.”
    • “Fun core gameplay loop when you're managing the station and sending officers out to respond to calls.”
    • “The gameplay has been improved, there's a new turn-by-turn tactical game mode, and the RNG gods aren't as merciless as before when you dispatch your agents thanks to the new skill-check system.”
    • “The gameplay is very slow, boring, and very tedious.”
    • “The gameplay can become repetitive after a small bit but that's mostly cause you'll shoot some lady in a hair salon 4 separate times.”
    • “The gameplay is virtually identical, and the writing in the second game is not up to the standard of the first.”
  • music
    135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received widespread praise for its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, featuring a mix of melancholic piano pieces, jazzy tracks, and ambient sounds that align well with the game's themes. While many players appreciate the soundtrack's emotional depth and variety, some express disappointment over the lack of a music selection feature compared to the first game, which limited their ability to customize their experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant strength, contributing to the game's immersive storytelling and mood.

    • “The soundtrack leans on melancholic piano pieces and somber ambient music, reinforcing the atmosphere of quiet desperation that permeates Sharpwood.”
    • “The music is top notch as well, beautifully composed and with a few classics from the first game remixed.”
    • “The soundtrack is excellent, varied, and perfectly matches the tone of the game.”
    • “Not being able to choose the music for the day sucks.”
    • “I get it, they chose that music for a mood or whatever, but music should enhance the game not completely yank me out of any sense of immersion.”
    • “It's grainy repetitive jazz music and I get the tone they were trying to go for, which was to make it fit with the gritty atmosphere, but it just becomes very annoying, very quickly.”
  • graphics
    133 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are characterized by a stylized, flat-color aesthetic that complements its narrative tone, with many praising the art style and overall visual presentation. While some players appreciate the unique and minimalist design, others criticize the simplistic cutscenes and occasional graphical limitations, noting that the visuals may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the graphics are seen as a strong point, enhancing the game's atmosphere and storytelling, despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “Visually, This Is The Police 2 uses a stylized, flat-color aesthetic that suits its bleak tone.”
    • “The stylized graphics of This Is The Police have received a welcome upgrade with better animations and motion capture which helps convey the story a little better.”
    • “The art style is compelling, the dialogue is all voice acted, cinematic quality mixed in with turn-based strategy and RPG mechanics.”
    • “The ugly - the graphics.”
    • “The art style is pretty minimal, showing character's features more than details, which again isn't a bad thing on its own, but it's just another factor that leads to a lot of cutscenes being like listening to a podcast and squinting at a blurry picture.”
    • “Graphics are mediocre at best, voice acting is bad.”
  • grinding
    64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for its tediousness and slow pace, with many players expressing frustration over lengthy travel animations, cutscenes, and repetitive tactical missions. While some acknowledge that grinding is not strictly necessary for progression, the overall experience is marred by punishing mechanics and a lack of engaging content, leading to a sense of monotony and frustration. Despite some improvements over the previous installment, the game still suffers from excessive grind and poorly executed elements that detract from enjoyment.

    • “Grinding isn't necessary to progress.”
    • “Grinding is only for leaderboards or ranks.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “There is no speed-up option, so you'll have to sit through tedious travel animations and pop-ups. This mostly gets annoying when the timer that ends each day concludes and officers are traveling back from events.”
    • “The gameplay is slow, boring, and very tedious.”
    • “I played this game for 40 long minutes and still absolutely nothing has happened; it's like one long cutscene that is simply too tedious to keep watching.”
  • humor
    39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the dark and absurd comedic elements found in various scenarios and character interactions, while others criticize the dialogue and mechanics as unfunny or overly contrived. Many highlight specific moments and missions that evoke laughter, but there are also complaints about the humor feeling out of touch or poorly executed. Overall, while some find the humor engaging and enjoyable, others feel it falls flat or detracts from the overall experience.

    • “It's the same great humor as the first game; the story continues and the core gameplay stays the same, which is great.”
    • “Some of the crimes are actually hilarious!”
    • “The great variety of interesting calls, new nicely done gameplay features like tactical missions, funny choices during the regular operations, and a story with many pleasant references to the first game create a masterpiece that you want to play again and again!”
    • “It was not funny.”
    • “But this is just a case of terribly broken and unfunny mechanics.”
  • atmosphere
    33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and gritty tone, enhanced by a melancholic soundtrack and strong voice acting that effectively convey a sense of urgency and quiet desperation. While some players appreciate the depth and realism added by character interactions and cutscenes, others find the repetitive music and lengthy dialogues detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game successfully creates a captivating environment that draws players into the challenges of managing a police department in a small, troubled town.

    • “The soundtrack leans on melancholic piano pieces and somber ambient music, reinforcing the atmosphere of quiet desperation that permeates Sharpwood.”
    • “This game has all the right pieces, interesting tactical combat, neat randomized situations, and a dark and fitting atmosphere.”
    • “The music, writing, and atmosphere are amazing.”
    • “Since you can easily get locked into a no-win game, the incentive is just to save-scum if you lose a cop or a raid, which takes away the tension and atmosphere that was so effective in the original game.”
    • “It's grainy repetitive jazz music and I get the tone they were trying to go for, which was to make it fit with the gritty atmosphere, but it just becomes very annoying, very quickly.”
    • “The story and atmosphere of this is the police 2 is so central to the gameplay, and yet the vast majority of it is pointless ramblings or just cringe-worthy.”
  • optimization
    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including stuttering and lag during cutscenes, while others report smooth gameplay without glitches. The limitations on equipment and officer recruitment based on performance can create a frustrating cycle, and the overall pacing and dialogue delivery have been criticized for being overly drawn out and poorly executed. While some aspects, like the beer tab system and loyalty mechanics, are appreciated, the game's technical execution appears to hinder the overall experience for many players.

    • “Officers now have distinct traits, loyalty levels, and skill sets that impact their performance.”
    • “Your ability to buy equipment and recruit officers is limited by your performance; but, you can't improve your performance without adequate officers and equipment.”
    • “About performance, for 2 hours straight, I haven’t seen any bugs or glitches, the game runs smoothly, and everything is perfect from the graphics to gameplay.”
    • “You can't skip certain scenes, runs slowly during missions, can't save when you want to, have to repeat days, predictable events that reoccur; just overall has an initial fun value but is so stale it forces you to redo days.”
    • “I've seen reviews that cite performance issues on different platforms, which suggests optimization problems with the game in general.”
    • “The performance lacks some optimization as well; furthermore, the cutscenes are lagging.”
  • emotional
    28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its ability to evoke strong feelings and create meaningful connections with characters, while others criticize the lengthy and tedious storytelling that detracts from the overall experience. Many users express disappointment in the narrative's pacing and execution, feeling that it undermines the game's potential for emotional impact. Overall, while there are moments of emotional depth, the storytelling often feels burdensome and detracts from the gameplay.

    • “I'm glad I got what I wanted — finishing a story that, although short for me, felt emotionally like a whole lifetime.”
    • “This is probably one of the only games that have pulled such a vast emotional reaction out of me.”
    • “With the amount of time I spent with these characters, I made an unconscious emotional bond with them that I didn't even realize.”
    • “The game is great, it's really fun, but what a disappointment to have to sit through 20 minutes of really boring storytelling that has absolutely no weight on the actual game.”
    • “A good game ruined by a long boring story that you end up skipping through.”
    • “Unfortunately, it's plagued by weird design choices, annoying events, a very slow and boring storytelling, and the lack of some management elements which would make things less frustrating for the player.”
  • replayability
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's replayability is considered limited by many reviewers, primarily due to its linear narrative and scripted events that offer little variation in subsequent playthroughs. While some players appreciate the improvements and find enjoyment in the gameplay, they express a desire for more diverse content and modes, such as an endless or sandbox mode, to enhance replay value. Despite some minor elements that allow for different outcomes, the consensus is that the game lacks significant replayability compared to its predecessor.

    • “There's some room for replayability - there's enough content for 20-30 hours of gameplay on a first playthrough, and it's fun to play more than once.”
    • “Narrative is as good as it was; management has become much more complicated, but it gives a new certain level of replayability; music is tasteful as it was.”
    • “The price is well worth it for what you get; my only complaint is that I've beaten the game, but there's not a lot of replayability like the last one where you had endless mode, which is fine since it's a story-driven game.”
    • “Entertaining game, I've been playing it for a few nights straight now and I've enjoyed every bit of it, although once I'm finished, I don't see it having much replay value as everything seems scripted, so I don't think a new playthrough would provide anything different, maybe a different 'ending' or something but I haven't got that far.”
    • “And the last thing I'd like to mention is that there isn't even any kind of endless mode to this game, unlike the first game, giving this game almost no replay value.”
    • “I enjoyed it, I wish it wasn't so scripted because replayability is practically zero; I wish there were more prompts and diversity of content.”
  • stability
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, such as crashing during cutscenes and freezing issues. While some users experienced smooth performance without technical problems, the overall consensus highlights a frustratingly buggy experience that can render the game unplayable for others.

    • “It even runs great on my old GeForce 480 GTX GPU!”
    • “Issues with loading cutscenes and being buggy in general (having to restart or exit the game).”
    • “Buggy to an unplayable level; all animated cutscenes crash the game, and I encountered a glitch where one cop was stuck at a crime scene, so the day wouldn't end. This happened after one of the turn-based segments, which I completed perfectly, but was undone by this glitch, making me not want to play the game again.”
    • “Do love this game, but these glitches make it actually unplayable. They are so unpredictable, with seemingly no fix to them, ruining the whole game and forcing me to redo days due to random game-breaking glitches.”
  • character development
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising its depth while others criticize it for lacking detail, particularly in the main character, Jack Boyd. Many players feel that the dialogue often detracts from meaningful character growth, and the sequel has been noted for a decline in the quality of character development compared to its predecessor. Overall, while the story remains engaging, the execution of character arcs appears to be a significant drawback.

    • “The story is interesting in its entirety with very strong character development, but has a real heavy caveat in the cons.”
    • “Challenging but fair, graphically enticing and genuinely interesting both as a branching out game mechanics exploration and a character development follow-up.”
    • “The reason I loved the first game is mainly about its simplicity in gameplay and depth in character development; this sequel did a complete reverse of that.”
    • “Character development has turned for the worst.”
    • “The main character, Jack Boyd, lacks the character development that shows us he's turning into the bad guy.”
    • “The character development is kind of bad; in the old game, Jack Boyd was somewhat intelligent and knew what to do for the best, even when things went south.”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of "This Is The Police 2" has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with users expressing frustration over its mobile origins and the inclusion of ads in a paid game. Players feel insulted by the developer's attempt to generate additional revenue through advertising, especially given that they already paid for the game.

    • “This is the Police 2 is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it were a real PC game (it's not)... it's a cash grab from greedy mobile developers. The game ostensibly tries to be a dumbed-down version of 1994's X-COM: Enemy Unknown, only without the UFOs and with cops instead.”
    • “In an insult to gamers everywhere, the mobile app features advertising on the menu screen!”
    • “That might be understandable (but not acceptable) if this was free... but people paid (wasted) money on this, and now the developer is trying to extort even more revenue by advertising to the audience.”
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61%Critics’ scoreBased on 19 critic reviews
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12h Median play time
14h Average play time
5-30h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 16 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

This Is the Police 2 is a tactical turn-based strategy game with drama and thriller themes.

This Is the Police 2 is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, iPhone, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 14 hours playing This Is the Police 2.

This Is the Police 2 was released on July 31, 2018.

This Is the Police 2 was developed by Weappy Studio.

This Is the Police 2 has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

This Is the Police 2 is a single player game.

Similar games include This Is the Police, Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, Beat Cop, Sherlock Holmes The Devil's Daughter, Rebel Cops and others.