Developer : Psygnosis
Release date : October 24, 1997
Synopsis :
G-Police is a 1997 combat flight simulation video game developed and published by Psygnosis for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows.
The game has a science fiction setting inspired by Blade Runner. The story takes place in the year 2097, on a colonised Callisto. The game charts the protagonist Slater’s attempts to discover the truth behind his sister’s mysterious death while working for the titular G-Police. The game begins with the G-Police combating organised criminals before fighting the private armies of powerful corporations in an unfolding conspiracy-themed plot. The gameplay involves piloting VTOL aircraft resembling helicopters, engaging in combat with enemies and protecting allies.
The game made use of cutting edge technology such as force-feedback joysticks and controllers, 3D sound and Direct3D Hardware Acceleration. Critics noted that the game’s graphics were some of the most technically impressive of the time, and that this resulted in poor draw distance; the PlayStation version in particular struggled in this respect. The gameplay was more favourably reviewed, with critics praising the solid pacing and variety of mission objectives, though there were complaints regarding poor controls and unfairly high difficulty.
The early levels of the game depict Slater combating enemy gangs. The G-Police suspect “Krakov” corporation is supplying the gangs with weaponry. Krakov’s president however is subsequently the subject of an assassination attempt by the gangs. During this attempt, Hiroshi Tachikawa—a pilot whom Slater describes as flying his gun-ship “like he was born in it”—dies when his gun-ship crashes after mysteriously malfunctioning. In the interests of morale, his death is covered up; Slater notes this incident is reminiscent of Elaine’s death.
After numerous terrorist attacks on their personnel and property, Krakov blames a rival corporation, “Nanosoft”, and begins openly attacking them with its private army. Lacking evidence for involvement with the criminal gangs, the G-Police protect Nanosoft, ultimately destroying Krakov’s military power. The G-Police, however, investigate exactly why Krakov and Nanosoft were fighting. The latter half of the game depicts a conflict between the G-Police and Nanosoft’s private forces, which attack G-Police after Krakov’s collapse, both out of panic as to the investigation and to tie up loose ends.
In the unfolding plot, the player learns that Tachikawa and Elaine were killed (by the sabotage of their gun-ships) to procure microchips implanted in their brains. These chips can record a pilot’s knowledge and combat skills; Nanosoft desired them to power the artificial intelligence in their weapons. The G-Police commander Horton is assassinated by Slater’s traitorous wingman Ricardo, also to this end. The game ends with the destruction of a large spacecraft by Slater; the closing sequence reveals that Nanosoft had planned to use this to exert military dominance over other corporations.
Source : Wikipedia
