Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (AGI)

Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (aka Police Quest I) is an adventure game produced by Jim Walls for Sierra On-Line, and originally released in 1987 built on their AGI engine. It was remade in 1992 using 256 color VGA graphics and the SCI engine.

It is the first game in the Police Quest series and spawned three direct sequels as well as the spin-off series SWAT.

Setting and characters
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel is based in the fictional town of Lytton, California. The player character is Sonny Bonds, an officer with the Lytton Police Department.

Back of Box
Forget the mindless garbage you've seen on television. A police officer's job consists of more than high speed chases and "Dirty Harry" shootouts. Drug traffic, homicide and violence provide the backdrop for their everyday existence. It's a grueling, thankless career of unending responsibility, and unexpected jeopardy.

Now, to salute those blue knights who serve and protect, Sierra introduces Police Quest. An adventure game that lets you experience what it's like to be a real police officer.

Police Quest takes place in Lytton, a small town with a growing problem. A major criminal, dubbed by the press as "Death Angel," is creating havoc in the community. Drug trafficking, robbery and murder have made the streets unsafe, and the crime wave is escalating.

In Police Quest, you take on the role of a street cop in uniform. You'll deal with the routine of police life, handing out tickets, attending briefings, and even discovering your best efforts tangled in the red tape of the judicial system. If you make a good cop, you may be asked to go "go undercover" in an assignment to infiltrate "Death Angel's" gang, and bring the racketeer to justice.

Throughout the game, you must follow standard police procedures. You can't shoot first and ask questions later--unless you want early retirement. One careless mistake, and you could make an arrest that won't hold up in court, or you might let a dangerous suspect get the upper hand.

Police Quest is a Sierra 3-D Animated Adventure. It is a game, but with its unflinching situations and real-life dramas, it isn't fantasy.

Features:


 * Over one hundred city streets and four highways provide the landscape for hot leads and high speed pursuits.
 * A realistic crime computer provides access to vital information on suspects.
 * An authentic map of Lytton helps you keep track of where you are and where you need to get to.
 * Incredible 3-D graphics! Move behind, in front of, and around objects.
 * Full sentence input and optional joystick control.
 * Pop-up text windows for easier reading.
 * Multiple solutions and variable scoring. Play Police Quest over and over again, and try to top your previous performance.

A gripping story, Police Quest is a factual account as told by ex-police officer Jim Walls. With 15 years on the police force, Jim Walls has brought to life the essence of what it is like to be a cop, from stopovers in the local coffee shop to shootouts in Central Park.

Plot
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel casts the player as Sonny Bonds, a police officer assigned to traffic duty in the fictional town of Lytton, California. His supervising officer, Sergeant Dooley, reveals in the morning briefing that the local teenagers are getting out of hand and are using cocaine. “We need to find the scumbag that’s supplying them,” he says. As well there is a report of a stolen 1983 black Cadillac which Bonds and his fellow officers are ordered to keep a lookout for.

During his regular patrol, Bonds is sent to investigate a car crash. Upon investigation of the accident, Bonds discovers that the deceased driver of the vehicle, a drug dealer named Lonny West, has been shot in the head. After Sergeant Dooley arrives on the scene and takes control of the investigation, Bonds returns to his regular patrol. After a coffee break with fellow officer Steve, Bonds goes back on duty and gives a speeding ticket to a beautiful woman named Helen Hots (In the remake she is replaced with Tawnee V. Helmut), handles some bikers who are troubling a local eating establishment, and arrests a drunk driver. The shift finishes and Bonds visits "The Blue Room", a local hangout for off-duty police officers, where he talks with his friend Jack Cobb about Jack's daughter's drug problem.

After returning to duty, Bonds locates the stolen Cadillac and pulls it over. With the help of Officer Jack Cobb, Bonds arrests the driver, Jason Taselli, and identifies the car as the stolen vehicle with a new light blue paint job. Further investigations reveal drugs which help to link Taselli with the murder of Lonny West. Partly due to his work on the case, Bonds is promoted to Acting Detective with the Narcotics division. Further investigations reveal the name of the drug lord to be Jessie Bains, "The Death Angel", and that he is also involved in an illegal gambling operation at the Hotel Delphoria.

Going undercover, Bonds infiltrates the gambling ring at the Hotel Delphoria with the help of prostitute Marie Wilkans, and is taken to a card game with Jessie Bains. Gaining Bains trust, Bonds is taken to Bains hotel room where Bonds calls in his backup who gun Bains down.

Development
The game is the most realistic of those developed by Sierra by the late eighties (when compared to Leisure Suit Larry, King's Quest, or Space Quest), and featured many puzzles where proper police procedure is required to succeed. It was released for the IBM PC, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST and Apple IIGS. A SCI 1.1 enhanced version in 256 color VGA was released in 1992.

Police Quest I was the first sierra game to ship completely un-copyprotected, allowing players to install on a hard disk or make up backup copies. However, the need to knowledge of police procedures from the manual was copy protection in itself.

Reception
Police Quest I was reported to have been used as a training tool for Police officers:

“ Police Quest has proven to be a practical, effective training tool officers enjoy using. It safely demonstrates to rookies the consequences of failing to observe proper police procedures and can serve as a valuable refresher course for experienced officers. ” — Rich DeBaun, Interaction Magazine Spring 1992

"Police Quest is a serious training tool... Luck does not play a party in successfully completing the program. The simulation is based on skill and knowledge... The depth of training is enormous." - Law and Order Magazine.

Credits

 * Design / Writing / Dialogue / Story: Jim (James) Walls
 * Programming: Al Lowe, Scott Murphy, Greg Rowland, Ken Williams
 * Interpreter / Development System: Bob (Robert) Eric Heitman, Chris Iden, and Jeff Stephenson
 * Graphics / Artwork: Jerry (Gerald) Moore and Mark Crowe
 * Music: Margaret Lowe
 * Apple Version: Sol Ackerman
 * Apple IIgs Version: Carlos Escobar
 * Macintosh Version: Mark Langbehn (Fairfield Software)
 * Programming (Macintosh): Greg Rowland (and Company)
 * Run-Time Interpeter (Macintosh): Chris Iden and Jeff Stephenson