I finished my replay of "Police Quest III: The Kindred"!

I wasn't even tailing him so close...

Police Quest III: The Kindred was a replay for me, so I remembered most of the game, which is the only reason I could finish it in three hours time. And even then I had to restore several times, because I got killed or because I forgot to take along essential items.

What an ominous shadow...

After that first day on the job, things picked up pretty fast, resulting in a couple of very short days. I thought it very peculiar that Sonny leaves for work when it's already 1 pm, reaches the office in 6 minutes, then quits again around 4 or 5 pm only to get back home at 10! I really wonder what the guy is doing in those missing hours...

There goes my evidence...

As far as the case is concerned, turns out there are some pentagram-loving serial killers on the loose. I was able to locate a witness of the mall attempt, found my suspect in a bar but then the following chase went awry. Then suddenly a ghost from the past popped up, leading to a final showdown with lots of driving back and forth, followed by some treachery as well though luckily I came prepared for that (though I did get shot down for not paying enough attention first).

Incoming!

I finished the game with 447 out of 460 points. It's so easy to miss stuff in this game! It's not always obvious where to go and what to do, the clues are very subtle, and it's all very procedural. Before playing you really should read through the entire manual and study the police procedures described there, and then when you encounter something hopefully you realize how you have to act. I don't recall how long this game took me when I played it for the first time in my teens, but I can imagine it was quite a while before I figured out every little aspect.

You can find the Police Quest Collection on Steam!
It's also available on GOG!

Classic replay: "Police Quest III: The Kindred"

New game!

It's been ages since I played Police Quest III: Kindred. I used to love this series, and I kinda still do, even though growing older I've learned about all the discrimination, prejudices, stereotypes and racism that hangs above it like the sword of Damocles. You just don't see those things as a kid... I know it's not the most popular series Sierra ever released, but I've always preferred games in more realistic settings and characters above fantasy and sci-fi games.

The struggles of leadership diplomacy...

In this third title in the series, Sonny Bonds has been promoted to Sergeant and thus has to take on a leadership role. The game starts with you giving that day's briefing, then interviewing one of the officers about a complaint against her. Said officer also needs help later on when a chauffeur she pulled over refuses to sign her citation, and procedure calls for a superior on the scene.

Never heard of this field sobriety test before...

This first day in Lytton you need to take care of an almost naked man upsetting some people in the park, and then patrol the highway. You need to pull over a couple of speeders, one guy driving too slow and holding up traffic, and another swerving from one lane to the other and back. Nothing truly exciting happens until at the end of the day you get called to the scene of an assault on the mall's parking lot. 

Uh-oh...

After one hour of playing, I reached day two. It's a replay for me, but I was a bit rusty and I had to restore my game a couple of times. First I forgot to pick up my nightstick in the changing room. Then I forgot to retrieve my gun after leaving it in the locker outside the prison. Finally I got run over on the highway.

A cop's salary seems to do you okay...

At the start of day two, I'm assigned back to homicide to investigate the previous night's murder attempt. So bye bye uniform, we're ready to hit to street plainsclothed! I found some evidence on the crime scene, so let's see if we can figure this case out again!