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Police Quest: Open Season

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Police Quest: Open Season
Developer(s)Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Director(s)Tammy Dargan
Producer(s)Tammy Dargan
Designer(s)Tammy Dargan
Programmer(s)Doug Oldfield
Artist(s)Darrin Fuller
Writer(s)Tammy Dargan
Composer(s)Neal Grandstaff
SeriesPolice Quest
EngineSCI
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Windows, Mac OS
ReleaseNovember 1993[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Police Quest: Open Season (also known as Police Quest IV[a]) is a 1993 police procedural point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It is the fourth installment in the Police Quest series. Departing from the fictional setting of Lytton, California from the first three installments, Open Season follows police detective John Carey as he investigates a series of brutal murders in Los Angeles.

The game was produced in cooperation with former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) chief Daryl F. Gates, who had been recently ousted for his involvement in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.[2] Gates replaced former series director ex-California Highway Patrol officer Jim Walls, who left Sierra around 1991. Sierra employee Tammy Dargan wrote and designed most of the game.[1]

Open Season received mixed reviews and underperformed compared to previous entries. Since release, the game has been criticized as a racist and "reactionary" depiction of crime in Los Angeles.[1]

An updated CD-ROM version was released in 1996; the updated version replaced on-screen text with recorded audio and also provided additional animations, music, and arcade sequences.[3] An indirect sequel and spinoff, Police Quest: SWAT, was released in 1995.

Gameplay

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Open Season uses mouse-based point-and-click gameplay similar to the previous Police Quest III and other contemporary adventure games. Icons for actions such as "walking" and "speaking" are used rather than a text-parsing system as seen in the first two Police Quest games. The player uses these actions to interact with characters and investigate crime scenes.

Like previous Police Quest games, Open Season emphasizes the following of "realistic" police procedure and will penalize the player for failing to do so. The player will suffer negative consequences for violating protocol, failing to file paperwork, or committing sexual harassment.[4]

The game features full-motion video, with much of the imagery based on video recordings of actors or real photographs of Los Angeles. The 1996 CD version replaces in-game written text with audio narration.

Plot

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LAPD robbery-homicide detective John Carey is dispatched to investigate a homicide in a South Central alleyway. Carey finds his best friend and ex-partner Bob Hickman dead alongside an eight-year-old boy. Carey investigates the murder as a gang killing, but over time five more victims are found mutilated in public places and Carey learns the crimes are the work of a serial killer.

Carey's investigation eventually leads to a local movie theater. After being questioned, the theater owner gives Carey a cup of tea and a free movie ticket. Carey passes out while watching the movie and has a vision of the theater owner dressed in women's clothing. Carey wakes up and is thrown out by the owner.

Later, with the aid of his police dog, Carey discovers the serial killer's house and a secret passage leading to the movie theater. Carey finds a captured woman but is knocked unconscious. After waking up, and having realized the theater owner is the killer, Carey fashions a makeshift flamethrower, kills him, and rescues the woman. The game ends with the Los Angeles mayor presenting Carey with the LAPD Medal of Valor.

Development

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Open Season was the first entry in the Police Quest series to be developed without former series designer Jim Walls, who left Sierra due to undisclosed circumstances.[5] The game was developed in Sierra's SCI engine.

Sierra had three box designs in consideration for the game: A bloody hand reaching for the title, a file folder, and the Los Angeles city skyline. The company had a focus group vote on them, and the file folder design garnered almost no votes, with the other two covers splitting the majority. The final decision was reached because parents in the focus group often had a negative side comment about the bloody hand design, so the skyline cover eventually won.[citation needed] The game was released in November 1993.

Whereas previous Police Quest installments included a police procedure handbook that functioned as a proper game manual with relevant gameplay information, Open Season included an actual LAPD policy handbook that, while informative, focused more on LAPD resources such as radio codes, uniform dress, and legal regulations, but largely lacked information that would be relevant in the actual game.

The 1996 CD release of the game included audio dialogue, a two-minute promotional video, and copies of official LAPD documents.[6]

Reception

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Open Season received mixed reviews on release, with some critics positively highlighting the game's adherence to detailed police procedure. Computer Gaming World credited the game for "magnificently" telling a story "about class warfare and poverty," and also credited the game for its photorealistic graphics and a "moody, evocative" score.[7] Electronic Games called it "rewarding and eye-opening," noting that some players may find the subject matter "disturbing."[3]

A review in White Wolf rated the game "Very Good" for similar reasons, but noted qualities of the game that would be emphasized by more negative reviews. "If you don't enjoy meticulous attention to detail, you're going to hate this game," the reviewer James V. Trunzo stated, also noting that the game's author Daryl F. Gates was "famous (or infamous, depending upon your perspective)."[8] Trunzo would later award the CD-ROM version 4 out of 5 stars, stating that "I really enjoyed the disk version of the game, and I believe the CD-ROM version is better...The use of multimedia techniques simply enhances the vicarious experience."[9]

Other reviewers offered harsher opinions. Next Generation gave the Macintosh version 2 out of 5 stars and stated that "the ultimate Sierra police-based game is still a fond dream to look forward to."[10] Contemporary writers also criticized the game for its depiction of Black Americans. Writing in the Journal of African American Men in 1997, Randolph G. Potts argued that Open Season was a "particularly disturbing example" of stereotypes that Black men are more likely to be dangerous criminals. Potts also criticized the game's "Amos 'n Andy-style speech of its African American suspects."[11]

Open Season has received even more negative appraisal in retrospective reviews, with writers criticizing its game design and its characterization of life in Los Angeles. In 2013, Adventure Gamers gave the game 2 out of 5 stars, arguing that the game cared more about "technical features, and not its story or gameplay." The reviewer highlights "banal" dialogue, "ethnic clichés," and illogical and "haphazard" puzzles.[12]

Even more strongly, a Vice retrospective written by Duncan Fyfe in 2018 called Open Season "the most reactionary game of the 90s," arguing that Gates was brought onto the project to generate "controversy" and therefore media attention. Fyfe concludes that the game encapsulates Gates' "violent, racist, paramilitary vision of American policing."[1]

Although Gates' name was on the cover, and he is listed as the game's "author," Open Season was largely written and designed by Sierra employee Tammy Dargan.[1] Dargan had previously written for the television show America's Most Wanted and received some notes from Gates. Gates claims to have not written the game's storyline and said its depictions were not his idea. Dargan defended herself by stating the African American dialogue was based on Fab Five Freddy's rap dictionary Fresh Fly Flavor,[13] a claim that has been called "highly dubious."[11]

Sales

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The first four Police Quest games totaled 850,000 sales by late 1995. However, Markus Krichel of PC Games noted that "interest on the part of the gamer fell slightly" with Open Season (Mainly due to the absence of creator Jim Walls, and those who did play the game weren't happy playing as anyone besides the series's classic protagonist Sonny Bonds), which led Sierra On-Line to experiment with a new direction for the series with Police Quest: SWAT.[14][better source needed] According to Sierra, combined sales of the Police Quest series—including SWAT—surpassed 1.2 million units by the end of March 1996.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The game is listed as Police Quest 4 (PQ4) in the manual. It is also shown in the file names and the credits, and when exiting the game in DOS, "Thank you for playing Police Quest IV: Open Season". The number does not appear on the title screen.
  1. ^ a b c d e Fyfe, Duncan. "How Sierra and a Disgraced Cop Made the Most Reactionary Game of the 90s". Vice. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  2. ^ Cannon, Lou; Lee, Gary (1992-05-02). "Much Of Blame Is Laid On Chief Gates". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  3. ^ a b Walnum, Clayton (October 1994). "Police Quest: Open Season". Electronic Games: 112. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  4. ^ Andy Kelly (2015-08-12). "Police Quest: Open Season was a detective game that wanted you to play by the book". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  5. ^ Walls, James. "Rap Sheet - Jim Walls Reloaded". Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  6. ^ "Making Of Police Quest IV: Opean Season". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  7. ^ Owens, Dennis (March 1994). "The Killing Game". Computer Gaming World. pp. 44–45. Archived from the original on 2017-11-10. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  8. ^ Trunzo, James V. (May 1994). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine. No. 43. p. 44-45.
  9. ^ Trunzo, James V. (December 1994). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Inphobia. No. 50. p. 79-80.
  10. ^ "Finals". Next Generation. No. 9. Imagine Media. September 1995. p. 99.
  11. ^ a b Potts, Randolph (1997). "The Social Construction and Social Marketing of the "Dangerous Black Man"". Journal of African American Men. 2 (4): 11–24. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  12. ^ "Police Quest: Open Season review". Adventure Gamers. 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  13. ^ Tirella, Joseph (April 1994), "Video Vigilante", Vibe, USA, p. 23
  14. ^ Krichel, Markus (November 1995). "Spezialeinheit". PC Games: 40, 41.
  15. ^ Sierra On-Line Form 10-K (Report). Bellevue, Washington. March 31, 1996. pp. 7–9. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018.
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