Beat Cop is a neat twist on the point-and-click genre that focuses less on puzzle solving and a lot more on resource management; I like to call it a juggling simulator. You're trying to make enough money to keep up with your alimony payments, trying to keep the local mafia and street gang happy enough with your presence to not order a hit on you, while also trying to keep your boss happy enough with your performance to not sack you.
The game throws a remarkable amount of busywork at you (ticket quotas, arresting criminals, and sidequests to earn a bit of money on the side - both fair and foul), with the expectation that you won't be able to keep on top of everything and you need to prioritize what you think will be best for your current situation. The really interesting thing about this gameplay style is that most of the busywork only exists to distract you from the overarching story which involves clearing your name of a murder; I think it's cool that simply treading water and completing the mandatory daily challenges will get you to the end of the game with a bad ending, and earning the good ending requires that you actually do a little bit of detective work and go beyond what the game spoonfeeds you.
The game being 90% busywork is a potential pitfall but Beat Cop sidesteps it by being really well-written. The snappy dialogue is straight out of an 80s cop show, and while not all of the humor lands I appreciate the intent anyway. Being set along the same street for all 21 "days" of its playtime also allows the residents and shopowners space to breathe and grow, and enough time for some cool sub-stories to unravel. From the washed-out porn actor getting a second stab at his career to a storeowner with an extremely checkered past who has nevertheless become a well-loved member of the community, Beat Cop's NPCs are almost Dragon Quest-esque in how they gradually feel less and less like exposition coupons and make the game world feel lived-in.
All in all this is a really unique and fun game with a major caveat: it's pretty damn buggy. Sloppy scripting meant that I sometimes missed notifications of critical objectives and got game overs out of nowhere (this happened twice), and the player character sometimes got completely stuck walking in place, with the only solution being to restart the entire level (this happened three times on one particular level and a few more times over the entire playthrough). Since the game is 4 years old I doubt they'll fix the bugs which is unfortunate; it's a unique game experience with both heart and wit.
The game throws a remarkable amount of busywork at you (ticket quotas, arresting criminals, and sidequests to earn a bit of money on the side - both fair and foul), with the expectation that you won't be able to keep on top of everything and you need to prioritize what you think will be best for your current situation. The really interesting thing about this gameplay style is that most of the busywork only exists to distract you from the overarching story which involves clearing your name of a murder; I think it's cool that simply treading water and completing the mandatory daily challenges will get you to the end of the game with a bad ending, and earning the good ending requires that you actually do a little bit of detective work and go beyond what the game spoonfeeds you.
The game being 90% busywork is a potential pitfall but Beat Cop sidesteps it by being really well-written. The snappy dialogue is straight out of an 80s cop show, and while not all of the humor lands I appreciate the intent anyway. Being set along the same street for all 21 "days" of its playtime also allows the residents and shopowners space to breathe and grow, and enough time for some cool sub-stories to unravel. From the washed-out porn actor getting a second stab at his career to a storeowner with an extremely checkered past who has nevertheless become a well-loved member of the community, Beat Cop's NPCs are almost Dragon Quest-esque in how they gradually feel less and less like exposition coupons and make the game world feel lived-in.
All in all this is a really unique and fun game with a major caveat: it's pretty damn buggy. Sloppy scripting meant that I sometimes missed notifications of critical objectives and got game overs out of nowhere (this happened twice), and the player character sometimes got completely stuck walking in place, with the only solution being to restart the entire level (this happened three times on one particular level and a few more times over the entire playthrough). Since the game is 4 years old I doubt they'll fix the bugs which is unfortunate; it's a unique game experience with both heart and wit.