And to top it off, an absurd and disturbing “feature” in Policenauts allows the player after numerous repeated “risky” clicks on the chests of unsuspecting characters, to grope each and every woman you come across with no consequence. Throughout the game, Jonathan makes tons of awkward comments hitting on women. Where Policenauts takes from the best of American cinema, it also takes from some of the worst of Japanese culture. The game has more than a few awkward moments though. The pinnacle of gameplay in Policenauts is a unique bomb-defusing sequence that has all of the tension and difficulty of a real-life situation, but with some “break the fourth wall” humor that is experienced when you fail to defuse the bomb in a timely manner. You’ll participate in a car chase scene that seems lifted straight from Miami Vice, and a shootout towards the end of the game that defies the imagination and pokes fun at the strength of buddy cop movie protagonists. But where Snatcher’s shootouts were stiff, boring events that felt shoved into the game at the last moment, Policenauts’ sequences are exciting and varied. Included to flesh out the gameplay are fabulous animated shootout sequences, continuing on Kojima’s addition to Snatcher. Since Kojima relies on tried and true tropes throughout the game, there aren’t as many plot twists or “Keep you guessing” moments in Policenauts, instead focusing on high energy action sequences. If anything, the main critique for Policenauts is that the plot is almost too straightforward. Video game characters don’t generally ooze cool, but the ones in Policenauts do. Jonathan’s “Varsity jacket with red collared shirt” and blue hair look is what makes him the darling for avatars and signatures on bulletin boards and social media platforms throughout the internet. Each character dons unique clothes, hairstyles, and facial features that make them stand out from your average character actor.

One also cannot overlook the well-designed characters that makes it a memorable game. Unlike the creative writing story that we all had to write in ninth grade that borrowed and stole from our favorite shows and movies, Policenauts feels familiar without feeling derivative.

Kojima is unapologetic about lifting of major plot points and visual motifs from his favorite American movies to use in his games, but much like Snatcher, which took blatant cues from Blade Runner, Terminator, and Alien the blend of American plot points however surprisingly does not distract from the overall motif of Policenauts.

Policenauts english rom