Let us begin this Playback by removing our rose tinted spectacles, placing them on the ground and then firmly crushing the specs into itty-bitty pieces. Nostalgia is horribly overrated because if you do go and look at that ‘awesome’ thing you remember from past, be it game or girlfriend, time has never been kind.
With that in mind, it is rather ironic I have chosen to dig out the long lost but dearly remembered TSA Time Microwave, pop a Ginsters Spicy Chicken Slice in the platter and dial in for 1997. Hold tight!
Welcome to 1997, the year I took ownership of my first PlayStation, which came bundled with a copy of G-Police. Developed by the always excellent Pysgnosis (now Sony Liverpool), G-Police fused mind blowing graphics, jet helicopters and a setting inspired by Blade Runner.
The backstory tells of the depletion of the Earth’s resources and a massive war. Governments no longer hold power and have been replaced by giant corporations that control both the Earth and its colonies in space. The Government Police (G-Police) have been created to maintain order within the colonies, equipped the rotorless jet helicopters.
It’s time to jump in the seat of the VTOL helicopter and take it for a spin, just look at… those… amazing… graphics.
Oh.
G-Police has a draw distance of about 20 metres, awful by today’s standards and the reviews in 1997 were also less than complimentary. IGN noted that the ‘terrible’ draw distance was the ‘low point’ of the game but still gave the title a respectable 8/10. Edge magazine gave G-Police the same score and I personally played the game non-stop, eager to discover the next twist of the story.
Before the dawn of PlayStation, plot and storylines were an afterthought at best. There simply wasn’t enough storage space to give gamers CGI cut scences or FMV (that’s Full Motion Video to you youngsters). Psygnosis had been famous for their short CGI intro movies on the Amiga and ST but now they had 700 megabytes of space tp fill on these new fangled ‘Compact Discs’.
When I first loaded G-Police it was jaw-on-the-floor time, the gorgeous CGI intro movie was at least two minutes long! As the game progressed, more cut scenes detailed the plot and back in the day it really was like ‘playing a movie’.
Flying a VTOL helicopter around the cities of Calisto is still a lot of fun. Missions usually involve cat and mouse dogfights through towering skyscrapers and once you learn how to control the rather difficult VTOL, swooping from behind a neon lit tower and blasting an enemy fighter to pieces is immensely satisfying.
Graphical issues aside, G-Police is still a fantastic game (especially if played on the PSP) with an exceptionaly good story to boot. It is available via the PSN and you can grab the original PSOne discs on Ebay for around three pounds.
One last thought;  Just imagine how good G-Police would look if Sony Liverpool remade the title using the Wipeout HD engine.
lenn117
Ah now there was a great game, especially when you get towards the end and the weapons and ship you have are pretty epic.
Youles
I have no intention of reading the article (sorry), but kudos for the Ginster thingy. I have no idea of it’s relevance but it amused me anyway.
Tuffcub
*Rips up Youles invite to the “TSA winning an GMA” party*
ner.
Youles
Sorry, I have to be picky about what I read as I’m at work. Also, I’m old so know about G-Police from first time around..no offence intended! :)
Youles
I felt bad and read your article – nice read! Hope I wasn’t seen by colleagues.
A lot of mates used to play this, I never even tried it unfortunately. It reminds me of Future Cop LAPD even though they aren’t really similar.
hol
Just one more game begging for a remake, this gens hardware might just be enough to do it justice finally?
MegaBonez
Agreed, a new version of G Police could be amazing!
mugsybalone
Rather difficult to control? There’s an understatement, G-Police played like it had button mapping lifted straight from Microsoft Flight Simulator! Brilliant game though, I loved the look and style of the game back from the original concept art (I remember OPM doing a big feature on it, all neon signs and floating billboards in that Wipeout/BladeRunner-y style). Definitely one of my favourite games on the original Playstation, part of Psygnosis’ mid-to-late 90’s barrage of awesome: G-Police, Wipeout, Colony Wars – those guys were hitmakers.
aerobes
“Psygnosis’ mid-to-late 90′s barrage of awesome: G-Police, Wipeout, Colony Wars – those guys were hitmakers”
This.
While all manner of distinctly average stuff gets sequels, remakes and re-imaginings, it’s a travesty that, WipEout aside,
much of what these guys created has been forgotten about.
hazelam
i remember some of their classic amiga titles.
blood money was one of theirs wasn’t it?
i can still vaguely remember the theme music to that.
mugsybalone
I don’t remember much of their Amiga days, at the time I was more of a Sensible Software person (oh, SWOS, you goal-scoring, superstar hero) though Shadow of the Beast certainly sticks out in my memory as a gaming landmark.
toutski
Yes Blood Money was Psygnosis and it was an epic game! :)
Gadbury
Wasn’t Bloody Money DMA Design Games (of GTA fame before becoming Rockstar North?), although published by Psygnosis…?
I wrote a letter once to Psygnosis asking how to get in to the games industry – they were the boys back in the day!
e8
A great game, afraid i’d forgot about this one. Awsome gameplay.
colmshan1990
Must play this sometime, I have it.
I think I got it from PS+.
hazelam
wasn’t there an option in the game to set a longer draw distance at the expense of a lower frame rate?
i’m sure i remember that being a feature, or maybe it was the sequel.
and wasn’t this the one with diesel or some other clothing company designing the uniforms?
anyway, it was a cool game, i never got far into it as the controls were a bit offputting for me.
Tuffcub
Yes you could lower the rate and increase the draw distance.
HoboCastro
This was one of the first games I bought on Store loved this game. Would love a remake, especially to use analog controls and sixaxis control.
SpikeyMikey23
In space – No one can see the biggest building in the universe until your about to fly into it!
HoboCastro
Haha, so true.
x-revenance
I remember this, great game. Does anyone remember using codes so you could drive around the streets? That was cool at the time, going into the game world from a different perspective.