by A few weeks ago, I looked at This is The Police – a game where you act as a police chief three months from retirement. There was a lot of polish in that game, but it was all overshadowed by a lack of any real choice or any event randomization. You are forced to work for the Mafia, and actually trying to help your town (instead of just working solely for yourself) is just going to lead to disappointment or death. Still, there were a few interesting moral options (not that they mattered, which was the problem) and a bunch of interesting features (like being able to collect LPs and playing them while you dispatch). I would have liked it they just hadn’t tried to have an “interactive” story1 – which, coincidentally enough, is exactly where 911 Operator comes in.
911 Operator is what happens if you took only the mechanical bits of This is The Police and made it into a game. And it’s almost exactly what I was hoping for from This is The Police. I’ll admit, it is a little disappointing to not have to try to deal with the outrageous demands from City Hall. I also think This is The Police had better staff management mechanics and a bit better interface. But overall, 911 Operator is the way to go for actually feeling the pressure of trying to help people with limited resources. Similar to This is The Police, you manage the day-to-day happenings in your corner of a city – dispatching police, fire, and ambulances where necessary. The primary distinction is that here, you actually answer 911 calls and determine if action needs to be taken for many events – which is pretty cool. The calls are quasi-randomized – in just the right way – to keep them unique (at least for a few hours), with a few scripted events sprinkled in. For example, when I got to the second city of Albuquerque, I was surprised by a call that sounded like suspiciously familiar story:
But this is where the trouble comes in as well. Randomization is hard, and you need a massive pool to keep things fresh over long periods – otherwise these Easter eggs or scripted events will stick out too much. 911 Operator is quite good, but it could definitely stand to have about twice as many voice actors and randomizable lines – though I suppose that’s a complaint that can be leveled at any semi-random game. Having a choice of Operator voice would have been nice as well, but the voice actor is good enough that it isn’t too much of an issue. I do wish the 911 Operator developers had had twice the time or budget to expand on their concept, but the game that they made is still quite worth it, I think. And hopefully, since it is on version 1.0, the developers may be able to do just that in updates or DLC (and quash a few bugs along the way).
My bottom line is this: This is The Police feels like the grimdark faux-noir that leeches into so many films and games due to its contrived and unavoidable plot. 911 Operator feels like Sim City 2000 or Sim Tower – games that were just plain fun mechanical toys: so, to Tier One it goes.
Addendum: I’ve also realized this is an educational game. Being a 911 Operator means you have to talk people though bad situations – and making the wrong choices makes things worse. You don’t throw water on oil or electrical fires, you prevent people from moving impaled people, and YOU ALWAYS SAY WHERE YOU ARE AND WHAT THE PROBLEM IS FIRST. It’s fantastic.
1Actually, if you’ll permit me a moment to complain about This is The Police: You know what is a moral choice? Being forced by the Mafia to either work for them or let your best friend be killed. You know what isn’t a moral choice (or even a choice at all)? Being forced by the Mafia to either work for them or let your best be killed…and you still have to work for them. If you aren’t giving me a choice, don’t act like you are – that will just anger me and make me hate your game. Make my choices (moral or otherwise) alter my game experience. That would have been good game design: working for the Mafia makes things easier and keeps your friend alive. Not working for them makes your work a bunch harder and means your friend dies, but it gives you the chance at a “good” ending.