This is the Police 2

The core is solid, but there's simply too much bloat.

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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.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

53%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,203 reviews

story309 positive mentions

grinding39 negative mentions

Engaging story that builds on the first game, with interesting character development.
Improved gameplay mechanics, including officer skills and tactical missions that add depth.
Unique art style and great voice acting that enhance the overall experience.

Excessively long cutscenes and dialogue that can detract from gameplay and immersion.
Frustrating officer behavior, with many refusing to work or follow orders, leading to challenging gameplay.
Tactical missions can feel clunky and punishing, with a lack of save options during critical moments.

story
1,215 mentions
25 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The story in "This Is The Police 2" is a continuation of the first game's narrative, featuring a dark and engaging plot that explores themes of corruption and moral ambiguity. However, many players find the storytelling hampered by excessively long cutscenes, slow dialogue, and a lack of character development, leading to frustration with pacing and engagement. While the tactical missions add a new layer to gameplay, they often detract from the overall experience due to their difficulty and the game's insistence on story over gameplay.
- “The story is just as engaging and interesting as the last game, and you constantly want to see what will happen next.”
- “The story in 'This is the Police 2' is solid and manages to maintain the same level of intrigue as the first game.”
- “This is the Police 2 is a great sequel to Jack Boyd's story.”
- “The story consists of endless cut scenes and lore dumping dialogue.”
- “The story is just so incredibly rambly... scenes go on way too long and don't have very strong writing.”
- “The story painfully slow, and from my 75 minutes, very boring.”
gameplay
536 mentions
27 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "This Is the Police 2" has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the improvements and new mechanics, such as tactical operations and enhanced officer management. However, the excessive length of cutscenes and a focus on narrative often detract from the gameplay experience, leading to frustration over pacing and repetitive elements. While some find the core gameplay engaging and fun, others criticize it for being overly punishing and lacking depth compared to its predecessor.
- “The new gameplay takes all the fun of the previous game and adds a new layer which is welcome and fun.”
- “The gameplay has a lot of variation, giving you different interesting things to do in order to keep the game fresh.”
- “The gameplay is improved with much more thorough choices and more complex management of your police forces.”
- “The gameplay is randomly punishing to the point of hilarity.”
- “The start is very good, but the proportion of storytelling/gameplay is way too story-focused.”
- “The actual gameplay itself can have me hooked for hours on end.”
graphics
94 mentions
44 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the improved art style, animations, and overall aesthetic, which is described as minimalist and visually intriguing. However, some players criticize the static cutscenes for being dull and monotonous, detracting from the overall experience. While the visuals are generally considered a strong point, there are concerns about limited graphical settings and performance issues on lower-end systems.
- “Great stories, voice acting, gameplay, and visuals.”
- “I finished the game, it's good, the art style is great, I enjoyed the rotoscope animation and the journey of Jack Boyd continues in a darker way than I didn't expect.”
- “Fantastic artwork and visuals, along with the soundtrack.”
- “As it stands, there are only two resolution options available, and few other graphical settings that can be changed, so if your computer isn't so good, you might have a difficult time.”
- “The graphics are novel and the voice acting is first rate, but the rest of the game falls flat on its face.”
- “Graphics are mediocre at best, voice acting is bad.”
music
90 mentions
51 % positive mentions
46 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its emotional impact and atmospheric quality, while others criticize its repetitiveness and lack of variety compared to the first installment. Some players appreciate the beautifully composed soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience, though the inability to select tracks as freely as before is a common point of disappointment. Overall, the soundtrack is generally regarded as a strong element that complements the game's narrative and mood, despite some flaws.
- “The music is top notch as well, beautifully composed and with a few classics from the first game remixed.”
- “The art style, music, and voice work are all excellent and perfectly accentuate the mood of the moment.”
- “The soundtrack really set the tone; when dramatic things happened in the story or on a raid, the soundtrack added an ominous and threatening sense to the situation, which really fit since this game is dark.”
- “The music is awful.”
- “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.”
- “Unfortunately, you can no longer choose music, like you could in the first one.”
grinding
45 mentions
7 % positive mentions
7 % neutral mentions
87 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, with many citing long dialogues, repetitive missions, and slow-paced tactical gameplay as major drawbacks. While some appreciate the challenge of certain missions, the overwhelming sentiment is that the game becomes a grind, detracting from the overall enjoyment and leading to a sense of burnout. Despite some improvements over the previous installment, the tediousness remains a significant issue for many players.
- “Grinding isn't necessary to progress.”
- “Too much grinding.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The game is tedious and grindy, and gives you even less of a hint of what you need to do than the first one.”
- “I had fun at first but it became repetitive and tedious very quickly and I don't think I'll ever play it again.”
- “The turn-based layer of the game makes it tedious.”
humor
26 mentions
96 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it genuinely funny through creative scenarios and quirky character interactions, while others criticize it as unoriginal or overly reliant on repetitive jokes. Many appreciate the comedic elements in crime handling and character dynamics, though some feel the humor can be out of touch or overshadowed by the game's serious tone. Overall, the game offers a blend of black humor and lighthearted moments that resonate differently with players.
- “But other than that, that is my only complaint. After seeing other YouTubers play a game like this and getting it for myself, the story is something anyone would enjoy, and the unique game style is even better. My favorite action is 'hitting the prisoner with a towel' that made me laugh so hard.”
- “Some of the crimes are actually hilarious!”
- “The humor in parts of the gameplay lifts it up a bit, however.”
- “But this is just a case of terribly broken and unfunny mechanics.”
atmosphere
25 mentions
44 % positive mentions
44 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is described as immersive and gritty, effectively capturing the tension and emotional weight of managing a police department in a small, snowy town. While many players appreciate the engaging story, art style, and atmospheric music, some criticize elements like repetitive jazz and lengthy cutscenes for detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the game successfully creates a unique and compelling atmosphere, though opinions vary on its execution and impact on gameplay.
- “This game has all the right pieces, interesting tactical combat, neat randomized situations, a dark and fitting atmosphere.”
- “The music, writing, and atmosphere is amazing.”
- “The atmosphere of the game is done well and you begin feeling as if you are in charge of a small snowy town away from it all - this quickly changes.”
- “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.”
- “Unfortunately, the wrongdoings of this game ruin the atmosphere and gameplay beyond recovery.”
emotional
22 mentions
68 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
32 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players expressing a strong emotional connection to the characters and a gripping narrative, while others criticize the lengthy and tedious story that detracts from the overall experience. Many highlight moments of emotional tension and depth, but the overwhelming sentiment is that the drawn-out cutscenes and lack of engaging storytelling hinder the emotional impact. Overall, while some players find it a meaningful emotional journey, others feel it falls short due to its pacing and narrative execution.
- “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 story feels very real, emotionally, and the characters are much more defined.”
- “A good game ruined by a long boring story that you end up skipping through.”
- “The ridiculously long boring story you have to read through before you can play is terrible.”
- “Really, really expected to like this, but the first hour's ~10 minutes of gameplay is completely drowned in the most boring story I've ever played/watched.”
optimization
18 mentions
17 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report smooth performance and no bugs, others criticize the heavy reliance on poorly executed cutscenes and awkward dialogue that detracts from the gameplay experience. The game appears to demand more hardware resources than necessary, leading to lagging cutscenes and a lack of user-friendliness. Despite some positive gameplay elements, the optimization issues significantly impact the overall enjoyment.
- “The better gameplay, better graphics, better performance, better dialogs, and the general atmosphere is much more... not better but more marvelous.”
- “I didn't have any performance issues.”
- “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.”
- “The premise of the game is so intriguing yet the developers decided to prioritize this badly delivered narrative - technically a low effort vector-art slideshow with very painfully badly written dialogues and voice performances.”
- “It is wholly unoptimized to be user-friendly.”
- “The performance lacks some optimization as well, furthermore the cutscenes are lagging.”
replayability
15 mentions
20 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
27 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is considered limited, with many reviewers noting its linearity and scripted nature, which significantly reduces the incentive to replay. While some aspects, like varied call outcomes and management complexity, offer slight replay value, the consensus is that the game lacks meaningful decision-making and diverse content, making it feel repetitive after the initial playthrough. Suggestions for improvements, such as an infinite sandbox mode or random tactical missions, highlight the desire for a more engaging replay experience.
- “You can end calls in several ways, with each way needing different skills or equipment, thus adding a bit of replayability, too.”
- “Narrative is as good as it was; management has become much more complicated, but it gives a new level of replayability; music is tasteful as it was.”
- “My only little concern is the replayability of the game; it would have been better if tactical missions and patrol calls were random from one day to another.”
- “It's so linear and samey that replayability is essentially non-existent anyway.”
- “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.”
- “Summary: I really enjoyed the gameplay and prefer the various improvements to the first game; however, I did not enjoy the overall experience as much, and the replayability seems much lower due to less meaningful decision making - the basic story will always play out the same way.”
stability
12 mentions
8 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
92 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, including crashes during cutscenes and game-breaking issues that make it unplayable. While some users experienced smooth performance without technical issues, the overall consensus leans towards a frustratingly unstable experience that detracts from enjoyment.
- “Not even good as the first one, buggy.”
- “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 did 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
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
17 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the depth it adds to the narrative, others criticize the lack of growth in the main character, Jack Boyd, who fails to convincingly transition into his role as an antagonist. The sequel, in particular, is noted for diminishing the strong character development that was a hallmark of the original game, leading to disappointment among fans. Overall, the voice acting is acknowledged, but it does not compensate for the perceived shortcomings in character evolution.
- “The narrative keeps you engaged, and character development adds depth to the overall experience.”
- “The story is interesting in its entirety with very strong character development.”
- “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. He could actually think a little bit.”
- “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.”