Policenauts
1994
Audio: Japanese · Subtitles: Japanese
- shooter
- adventure
- visual novel
- action
- science fiction
- mystery
- single player
The story
Policenauts is an interactive movie/graphic novel/adventure game with a hard science fiction storyline, written and directed by Hideo Kojima, and published by Konami. It was initially released for the PC-9821 computer platform in 1994, followed by remade versions for the 3DO in 1995, and the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996. The game has never been officially released outside Japan, despite plans for an English localization of the Saturn version. On August 24, 2009 (in honor of the 46th birthday of the game designer, Hideo Kojima), an unofficial English translation patch was released onto the internet. The game is set in a primarily first person perspective and uses a point-and-click interface: the player can move the cursor and have the protagonist (Jonathan Ingram) analyze objects around his environment or talk to other characters in the game. Like in Snatcher, the game features shooting segments where the player must defend their character from incoming enemies. The player can use the shooting trainer at the police department to test their reflex and accuracy. There are numerous puzzles in the game, including an event where the player must dismantle a bomb by following their partner's instructions. The console versions of the game all include support for their respective mouse peripherals. The Saturn version features light gun support for the shooting segments. The game was notable for being an early example of extensive voice recording in video games. It also featured a theme revolving around space exploration and occasional full-motion video cut scenes. The gameplay was largely similar to Snatcher, but with the addition of a point-and-click interface and some first-person shooter segments. Policenauts also introduced summary screens, which act to refresh the player's memory of the plot upon reloading a save, an element Kojima would later use in Metal Gear Solid. The PlayStation version of Policenauts could also read the memory card and give some easter eg
What it’s like
Soft-focus anime stills with a grainy, slightly washed look, bright clean interiors of a near-future police station and sun-bleached space-station corridors, and the occasional jolt of full-motion video that breaks the stillness. The point-and-click screens are framed like a slow graphic novel, each panel lingering while the cursor drifts over a desk, a photograph or a face. Sound is mostly warm, unhurried voice acting, a gentle synth-and-piano score that swells during quiet reflection, and sudden bursts of tinny shooting-gallery noise. Its vibe is wistful and talky, with a gentle melancholy that suits a slow evening alone, a rainy weekend with a controller, or a patient rereading of a favorite sci-fi mystery. Pacing is deliberate: long conversations, careful investigation and quiet stretches between tense moments. Its emotional register is nostalgic and earnest, following a grieving detective slowly reconnecting with the people he has pushed away and the wider frontier of space he once dreamed of. Violence is brief and infrequent, mostly in short shooting sequences and a few tense stand-offs, with no gore and little graphic cruelty, though some scenes carry dread and grief. For fans of Kojima's talkative, cinematic storytelling, of Japanese science fiction with a human heart, and of patient point-and-click adventures.
More games like Policenauts
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Policenautsand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
