Police Quest: Open Season

This is the forth and final Police Quest game released by the Sierra company in 1993. You no longer play as Sonny Bonds, the driving feature has been removed, it's no longer in Lytton. Only this time it's in Motion capture in the setting of Los Angeles, California created by the late Daryl F. Gates who passed away.

You solve mystery's like in Laura Bow 1 the Colonel's Bequest and Laura Bow 2 the Dagger of Amon Ra. You play as Detective John Carey, who has to solve the murder of Bob Hickman who was killed by a psychopath murderer and the little boy found dead in the dumpster.

You then see the Police chief who sends John Carey to find the killer. The Newswoman bothers Carey who shoves her away and looks for clues and talks to Deputy Coroner, deals with gang members, Interviews Yo Money and deals with Dennis Walker who swears at him and then tries to kill the player. Sherry Moore is interviewed by the News woman which causes a city panic and John Carey is angry with Sherry for the embarrassment she caused with the police department, he later meets with Mitchell Thurman at the movie theater.

Although the driving feature has been removed you can still visit places including the home of Bob Hickman, the alleys of Los Angeles, Yo Money's Mansion, Dennis Walkers apartment, The record store, the bar, the strip club, the office buildings, the park, the junkyard, even the movie theater.

This game requires you to think like a detective and find clues and items, and you have to make correct choices to progress throughout the game, you cannot shoot or point your gun at anybody unless the game requires you to do so mainly the shootout scene. You have to be careful that you don't get killed, otherwise it's game over, luckily you have unlimited continues unless you missed important items.

I enjoyed playing the game but I was shocked with the amount of profanity used at the time with the words Damn, Hell, Ass used frequently and the violent images shown including the severed head and Nazi flags at Dennis Walkers apartment, the drugs featured in the game, and the scene with the topless woman dancer during the PC censorship era.

This was the first game to use the 4 letter S word and the F word the same time Gabriel Knights: Sins of the Fathers used those same words as in Police Quest: Open Season in that same year 1993. The ESRB rating system wouldn't come out until 1994.

Nicolette swears in the game at Yo Moneys mansion. Also you can get Dennis Walker to use profanity including the F word by showing him items or touching his stuff.

Also you get to play 2 mini arcade games at Shortstop Bar, called Asteroid and offroad racing. The Asteroid game plays like the classic atari game, also the offroad 4 wheeler racing is much like Space Quest 1 but much harder to dodge obstacles. They are very slow and hard to play. You're better off continuing your detective work in the game. Also you get to play a shooting range gallery at the Police Academy which is hard to get good at.

In conclusion this game would be considered rated M for violent scenes, strong language and mature themes. This is not a game for kids or sensitive people, it's available on the Police Quest Collection for PC or for download. But be warned there are disturbing scenes in the game. The first 3 Police Quest games toned down the violence and profanity to a T rated level.

Before POLICE QUEST: OPEN SEASON came out there were no games like it. First of all it is from 1993 when most people were still using Nintendos and playing stuff like Mario.

This one was a clever, puzzling game that actually used realistic graphics. Later on games would use special effects with voice-over -- this actually used recorded video. Actors were hired, then rendered into the game.

The quality isn't that great by today's standards but still a lot better than most videogames from back then.

The game also set the stage for MIST (etc.) -- it's a puzzling game where you can pretty much do whatever you want, but are forced into doing certain things to advance. E.g. the game opens at a crime scene investigation, you can interview anybody you want, pick up evidence...but you have to talk to a certain person to advance, otherwise you just get stuck.

It's a hard game and doesn't work on my Windows XP system. It worked on my Windows 98 and I still have the CD -- unfortunately, I don't have the computer anymore.