Set in the mid 1980's, the game tries to emulate the gritty cop action flicks and TV shows of that era.
From corrupt cops to Mafioso trying to win you over, your job is to not only to do the grunt work of your average beat cop (writing tickets, arresting shoplifters, doing small errands for the community), but you are also trying to figure out a mystery that starts to unravel on your first day.
With a boss who is riding your butt just like any TV Police captain would, you have to deal with your smart-mouthed partners, as well as make sure you make enough money to pay your bills and your ex-wife's alimony check.
Mix all that with at least two rival criminal factions who want to either kill you or bribe you to look the other way, each day comes with it's list of challenges and twists.


The game is semi-top down, side-scroll style with pixel art and plenty of animations.
The streets can feel very busy at times, sometimes too busy as you are trying to do your job and a lot of events can be going on around you.
The graphic style serves this game very well and conveys the right amount of information without unnecessary detail.
The streets feel active and alive with hardly any element in the game being static.
Something is always moving, flashing or glowing.


Sadly, there are no voice over in the game, and sounds are mostly limited to environmental audio, music and the occasional siren from a police car.
That being said, with the large amount of dialogue throughout the game, I can understand why an indie priced title like this didn't go with full-voiced dialogue.
The more I play it, the more I think they made the right choice, as at times there is so much going on that too much talking could be overwhelming.


Gameplay can be a two sided coin.
On one side it's a fun take on being a fresh recruit for a city police department.
On the other side, this is a job, and it can take dedication and work to do the job properly.
As retired law enforcement myself, it's nice to see a game that doesn't just focus on the dangerous or exciting events, but also shows the duller, grinding aspect to police work.
Beat Cop seems to fairly show how easy it could be to turn a blind eye to crime for personal gain, or how sometimes there is no "good" choice, just the lesser of two evils.
The gameplay can become quite hectic and it might take a couple restarts to figure out how to manage your time effectively to meet your quota and still be a pro-active officer to the community in which you serve.

No one really holds your hand or explains anything in great detail, sometimes you are just going to have to go with your best instincts.
Sometimes your instincts will be wrong.
The game does offer a "rewind day" feature, which should be helpful for the moments when you 'accidentally' clicked the wrong choice.

Just like real police work, there are consequences to not doing your job properly.
From someone complaining to the mayor's office because you unfairly towed their car, to Internal Affairs (IA) busting you for taking bribes from an undercover unit, mistakes can cost you everything and other times, only you know the mistake you made.
This is NOT a realistic police simulator, and it's not meant to be, but this game gets more right than than it gets wrong.

PROS AND CONS:

- Actually simulates big-city police work in regards to the daily grind, the moral issues officers may face and the random problems citizens can present while you are just trying to solve a crime.

- It looks fantastic with plenty of animations, with bright colorful scenes.
Each store and location on the street feels unique and has it's own flavor.

- The game isn't afraid to make fun of itself or take the job too serious at times.

- It has an interesting story built around a quota based grind system that plays out over the course of your days on the job.

- While I think the 'tutorial' aspects of the game could have been more fleshed out, the game doesn't dump everything in your lap from day one, rather it ramps up your daily duties over several days.

- Boredom will not be an issue. Even though I have restarted the first mission several times, I am always finding something new or different I didn't see before.

- For those not familiar with how police officer's have a morbid sense of humor, the way they treat each other may seem harsh or unnecessarily cruel, but it's just their way to handle the stress of seeing the worst of society on a daily bases.
Even though your 'buddies in blue' may call you things you wouldn't dare say in front of your mother, it's all done mostly out of respect and love of the comradery that is a bond between "the thin blue line".

- The audio is a little lacking.
But it's a catch-22 because more audio may have made things too hectic, so I'm still on the fence about that as a con.

- If you're not a fan of pixel art, you may not enjoy this, as it's all pixel art.

- The game could use a little slower and more detailed introduction to the game.
By the third day you might be running from point-to-point and without some gameplay experience (I.E.. a couple restarts) it's going to be hard to get some things right the first time around.

- The workload can get hectic and might take a little getting used to.


BEAT COP is a simulation of the day to day grind of being a beat cop on the streets of a big city.
For anyone that likes cop dramas or more adult themed games, this game should be great.
If you are interested in law enforcement as a career, and although, and I stress, this isn't real police simulation, it does touch on some real issues that police can face that not many other games have touched on.
This game can show you that if your not ready to be tested, both physically and mentally, on a daily bases, then police work might not be for you.

If you are someone who loathes law enforcement in general, you will not like this game, not because it glorifies it, but just the opposite.
Some people don't like when something they don't agree with is humanized or doesn't confirm their bias.
However, if you have an open mind, this game could actually change your view on law enforcement just a tiny bit for the better.

I don't recommend this to kids as the subject matter (langauge, sex, violence) is too adult and it's set in a time period that wasn't so politically correct, so they might not understand some of the nuance of that era or get all the references.
I heartly recommend this game to everyone else.
It's decently priced and you can see the love and attention the developers put into this game.

NOTES:

Thank you for reading my reviews.
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Even if I don't like a particular genre or gamestyle, I still try to point out facets that others may enjoy.
Thumbsdown should be for poorly written or just plain incorrect reviews.


* GAMEPLAY TIME IS MUCH MORE THAN LISTED ON STEAM PAGE*