Welcome to Averno City, 1983, a place where neon lights pierce the perpetual twilight and justice is a daily grind. The Precinct invites players to step into the shoes of a rookie beat cop, offering a unique blend of police simulation and arcade action. This guide delves into what makes
The Precinct is a compelling homage to 1980s cop dramas, exploring its atmosphere, mechanics, and the journey of upholding the law. Drawing some similarities with the earlier GTA vibes, as well as some aspects of GTA VI, this game takes us back into a different era.
Averno City’s Siren Call for The Precinct
The game is a love letter to the classic 1980s cop movies, blending police simulation and arcade action gameplay flawlessly. Players take the persona of Officer Nick Cordell Jr., a newly graduated beat cop, who is responsible for cleaning up Averno City’s crime-scarred streets. The fictional East Coast city is set in 1983, a particular cultural setting.
The central draw of The Precinct is its compelling 1980s neon-noir setting. Its sole emphasis is on maintaining justice from the lawman’s point of view. This is a distinctive departure in the wider sandbox genre, in which players typically play as characters who are outside the law. In addition to this, the game features exciting car chases and a range of sandbox crimes that vary in seriousness.
You will encounter everything from minor deviations to complex heists. A compelling personal narrative underpins these actions, with Officer Cordell Jr.’s investigation into his father’s killing adding a sense of depth to the otherwise mundane drudgery of police work.
The Precinct Is A Retro-Futuristic Vision of Law Enforcement
The Precinct openly credits the gritty, fashionable, and frequently melodramatic cop shows of the 1980s. Art director Lewis Boadle supports this definite 80s visual inspiration. The game employs an isometric camera, similar to those found in classic Grand Theft Auto games. This is situating it on early action sandbox foundations. Averno City is a dynamic personality, a living city world with day and night cycles and changing weather. It is hectic, with ongoing crimes being a product of shifting gang power struggles.
The creator says that The Precinct is an “over-the-top love letter to action games and movies,” but not a difficult sim. It does have “police sim detail” and is a “police simulation procedural.” This blend provides the simulation feel of police work, combining arcade action with minimalist simulation systems.
Procedural tasks such as ID checks anchor the cop fantasy, whereas its “over-the-top” environment permits crazy chases without rigid realism, striking a balance between accessibility and thematic authenticity.
A Symphony of Synth and Shadows With The ’80s Aesthetic
The Precinct plunges players into a specific neon-noir visual aesthetic, with neon-lit backstreets and rain-soaked city roads. Its cel-shaded, realistic art makes things pop, reinforcing the arcadey nature of the game.
Era-accurate cars and payphones anchor the 1980s environment. The atmospheric synthwave score is a staple of its 1980s character, composed by Gavin Harrison and Sleepless Nights. It embodies 1980s movies with throbbing synths, crying saxophones, and propulsive snare drums.
Outside of graphics and music, the game incorporates its 1980s theme into its story with cultural references and a campy, meta attitude, echoing 80s cop show clichés. This serves to deliver a genuine love letter to the past. The graphic and sound elements of Detail are an earnest 80s package, praised for its “atmospheric soundtrack” and the way the city “breathes through the soundtrack.” This sensory combination feeds the player’s feeling of immersion and acceptance.
Patrolling Averno & The Mechanics of Justice
Gameplay in The Precinct centers on patrol shifts, both on foot and in a car or by helicopter, as well as responding to various callouts, ranging from parking tickets to bank robberies.
Basic police procedures include ID checking, frisking, breath analysis, charging, and transporting suspects, with many having on-screen prompts for permissible force.
High-speed vehicle pursuits through destructible scenery are commonplace, segueing into cover-based shootouts with a variety of guns. This is vital to Averno City’s hectic atmosphere, where multiple crimes often coincide.
While procedural details contribute to realism, they can sometimes be carried too far, thereby undercutting pacing. However, the sheer frequency of such high-level crimes and the incessant need for backup are design choices, creating a reactive and demanding city environment. This “dynamic patrol structure” demands improvisation and triage from players, turning chaos into a core game challenge.
Narrative and Progression in The Precinct
The main narrative traces the journey of Officer Nick Cordell Jr. in his first year on the police force, solving his father’s murder, who was a former police chief.
His revenge drives his crime-solving activity. The narrative is interwoven with procedural changes, allowing narrative development to coexist with open-world action, including evidence gathering and demystifying gang plots.
As Officer Cordell Jr. achieves goals, he gains experience points, which level up to earn skill points for skills such as stamina or patrol car endurance. Leveling up also unlocks new weapons, vehicles, locations, and shift types, making game possibilities greater. The storyline, although providing a personal hook, is reportedly less fleshed out or fragmented than the sandbox aspects.
The game’s strength is its dynamic gameplay and atmosphere. The progression system, by unlocking abilities and equipment, influences how players approach justice. This enables more tactical law enforcement and varied patrol methods in the chaotic world of Averno City.
Development Insights and Technical Foundations Behind the Badge
The Precinct was created by Fallen Tree Games Ltd., a five-man UK independent studio that had previously developed mobile games. They made the move to PC and console development in 2015. The concept originated from my desire to be a police officer.
Developing a dense open world presented significant optimization challenges, including physics, dynamic civilians, vehicles, emergent crimes, and complex AI. Despite using Unity’s legacy renderer, they implemented FSR upscaling and global illumination, and a Building Generation Tool streamlined production.
The game experienced multiple delays, from August 2024 to May 2025, due to optimization challenges across platforms.
| Category | Minimum Requirements | Recommended Requirements |
| Operating System | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-7600K / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 | Intel Core i5-10400F / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| RAM Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 660Ti / AMD Radeon R7 370 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT |
| Direct X Versions | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 8 GB available space (HDD supported, SSD recommended) | 8 GB available space (SSD recommended) |
Developers did admit to being “a little too optimistic.” However, publisher Kwalee preferred delays for a quality game, and feedback from demos led to patches. This highlights the tension between a creative vision of an indie studio and technical limitations. Realistically, it’s displaying realistic choices for stability and efficacy. Delays and demo feedback embody a player-centric philosophy, reflecting a desire for a complete and community-friendly product.
The Verdict on The Precinct
The Precinct has received a mixed but generally positive reception. Reviewers praise its intense atmosphere, synthwave soundtrack, and unique police premise, mainly for its intense car chases. Common criticisms include repetitive gameplay loops. Also, primarily minor infractions that can slow down the pacing, and a weak or disjointed main narrative. Issues with clunky mechanics, AI quirks, and voice acting were also noted.
Despite its flaws, many conclude that it delivers a different, enjoyable experience with considerable potential.
Fallen Tree Games hopes for a good reception so that the game can be given time to add new content and updates. There are already ideas for additional crimes and story expansions, and it is open to suggestions from the community. Such potential within the game is massive and solid. However, it may seem it is consistently held back by polish or depth.
Strengths include atmosphere, soundtrack, and chases; weaknesses include repetition, narrative, and AI. Future updates are likely to impact its standing. The developers’ willingness to take advice from the community suggests a plan to invest in long-term player commitment and game development. They will use feedback to inform post-launch content and enhance retention and satisfaction.
