History VideoGame / PoliceQuest

Starting with ''Police Quest: Open Season'' (non-officially known as PQIV), the series came under the helm of LAPD Chief Darryl F. Gates (Walls having moved on by that point). ''Open Season'' was the last to focus on a specific, named detective -- this time, LAPD Homicide Detective John Carey. Working from Parker Center, the player now has to cope with much more violent, graphic crimes. The player is introduced to Carey on the first screen, with a dead cop in an alley by a dumpster -- a dumpster which, when opened so the Criminal Investigative Division can photograph it, reveals the body of a six-year-old boy.

For a page on the last three SWAT games, see ''VideoGame/PoliceQuestSWAT2'', ''VideoGame/SWAT3'', and ''VideoGame/SWAT4''.

''Police Quest'' is a series of {{adventure game}}s developed and published by Creator/{{Sierra}}. Similar to an interactive PoliceProcedural, the first three games had players take the role of Sonny Bonds, a police officer in the city of Lytton, California.

''Police Quest 1-3'' were produced by Jim Walls, a retired California state trooper, and the situations Bonds encountered were true-to-reality, following police procedures to the letter. If you stepped out of line during a bust, the judge would toss your case out of court. If you went crazy with your gun, or didn't properly care for your vehicle, that was it -- game over.

Starting with ''Police Quest: Open Season'' (non-officially known as PQIV), the series came under the helm of LAPD Chief Darryl F. Gates (Walls having moved on by that point). ''Open Season'' was the last to focus on a specific, named detective -- this time, LAPD Homicide Detective John Carey. Working from Parker Center, the player now has to cope with much more violent, graphic crimes. The player is introduced to Carey on the first screen, with a dead cop in an alley by a dumpster -- a dumpster which, when opened so the Criminal Investigative Division can photograph it, reveals the body of a six-year-old boy.

The later games in the Police Quest series were ''Police Quest'' InNameOnly -- and only for the first two installments, after which it is most often known as the ''{{VideoGame/SWAT}}'' series. This series frees itself from the limits of a set character by placing the player directly in the role of a 'SWAT Pup' -- a trainee, on his first real assignment. Like the first games, the SWAT series adhered strictly to police procedure. The player is trained in the basics of SWAT teamwork ('basics', because SWAT teams don't generally make their full tactical procedures known to the public), and is expected to obey the rules. Even attempting to fast-forward through the first game's opening cutscene (where the Element Leader gives his welcome speech) has the Element Leader take you to task for interrupting him, and warns you ''very'' firmly that you should ''not'' do it again. ''Ever''.

Sonny Bonds does return to the ''Police Quest'' series, though, in ''VideoGame/PoliceQuestSwat2'', as a selectable team member, and in ''SWAT 3: Close Quarters Combat'', where he is now SWAT leader, which seems a natural progression for him by then. In ''VideoGame/SWAT4'' Sonny has a cameo as a veteran member of SWAT and trainer of new SWAT recruits. The ''SWAT'' sub-series is peculiar in that the first entry was primarily an InteractiveMovie, the second an overhead RealTimeStrategy game, and the latter two tactical {{FPS}}s, notorious since ''any'' downed civilian, suspect or bystander, costs points from your total score. SWAT teams ''really are'' the babysitters of the populace.

[[http://www.sarien.net You can play the first game free and legally in HTML5, here.]]

Currently, you can purchase the ''Police Quest'' collection, [[http://www.gog.com/game/police_quest_1_2_3_4 containing I (including the VGA remake), II, III, and IV]], as well as [[http://www.gog.com/game/police_quest_swat_1_2 Police Quest SWAT 1 and 2]] (there is a bundle you can purchase for $5 off) on Website/GOGDotCom. For the record, [[AllThereInTheManual both collections contain all the manuals and supplemental material to help you figure out your way in the game.]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:General Tropes]]

** In the third game, Lytton turned into a city fairly quickly, and is starting to become this again.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Police Quest (including VGA remake)]]
!!Police Quest (and its VGA remake) contains examples of:

* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: The bikers who are hogging the parking spots in front of the café next door very much look and act this way. You have to convince them to leave with as little force as possible. [[spoiler: Which requires beating the shit out of one with a nightstick in self-defense.]]
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The VGA version at least gives the player the option to skip the poker segments near the end of the game. You have to play and win to get all the points, but that was a nice bone to throw players not interested in mastering poker.
* BettingMiniGame: You are required to play a game of poker against three other characters twice. In the remake, you have the option to skip this and choose to win, or even [[SchmuckBait lose.]] Of course, [[LastLousyPoint you won't win the points you get for playing and winning legit]].
* BigDamnHeroes: In the original, [[spoiler: if you told your backup the room number of Bains's room before going in, they will make it just in time to save Sonny. Subverted in which it buys Sonny enough time to shoot Bains himself.]] Not so flashy in the remake though.
* ABirthdayNotABreak: Jack, Sonny's fellow officer, talks about how his life is screwed up (his daughter is doing drugs - foreshadowing a related event -, he has a drinking problem, and his wife is ready to leave him). Subverted shortly after as his depression fades with the surprise party and the gag dancer showing up to lift his spirits. [[spoiler: Things do not get better for him, though: his daughter later dies of a drug overdose, and the second game personnel files show that he quit.]]
* BribeBackfire: Helen Hots (the woman who ran the red light) will attempt to buy you off with sex if you don't give her a ticket. Telling her no is the correct course of action. She will immediately and flamboyantly lose her temper. Of course, you could accept the offer for sex, which the [[WhatTheHellPlayer narrator berates you for.]] You can follow up with it later, only to discover she is the wife of a big-shot member of the police force, which is very bad news for you.
* BrieferThanTheyThink: Because there's no day-night cycle and no break from any of the action, the game appears to take place in less than a single day, with the first patrol shift starting at 1pm, the second shift at 7pm, and the sting happening at night. With all the events going on, many players feel the timeline is quite a bit longer.
* ButtMonkey: The mysterious Gremlin has made Sergeant Dooley the target of several amusing (to everyone but him) practical jokes. Though the audience only gets to see two first-hand (the live chicken left on his desk and the memo soaked in mace), Dooley's reaction makes it clear that the prankster is a serial offender.
* ButThouMust: If the player doesn't stick in the application for a transfer to narcotics, the division will request him to be promoted anyway.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: If you neglect to walk around your car before leaving the station, you ''will'' get a flat tire.
* ChekhovsGun:
** Taselli/Hoffman has a tattoo of a flower above his left nipple. This is important for preventing a judge from giving him bail (by showing that Taselli and Hoffman are the same person, and since one is wanted by the FBI in multiple murders, giving him bail would just let him get away), and for [[spoiler: identifying his corpse after Bains kills him and dumps in the river after Taselli escapes prison]].
** Opening Sonny's locker at the start of the game reveals two outfits in addition to his uniform. The first set is Sonny's off duty civilian attire, which he wears to The Blue Room for Jack's birthday. The other is an old pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that becomes his outfit as a detective.
** Defied with Sonny's service revolver. While you gain points for taking it from the locker and loading it, it never gets fired throughout the game. The Derringer concealed in the trick cane does get used, but [[CutsceneBoss without the player's input]].
* ChickMagnet: Sonny receives several suggestive comments from his female co-workers with one officer in particular wanting desperately to *ahem* partner up with him. One traffic stop attempts to seduce him in order to get out of a ticket, though actually taking her up on it is a bad idea. Finally, by the end of the game, Sonny hooks up with his old school friend, "Sweet Cheeks" Marie Wilkans.
* ColorCodedSpeech: In the VGA version, some characters have a different color for the speech window than white while speaking. This gets a frightening effect when you discover one of the characters in the game is the Death Angel, causing their window to go from brown to red.
* ContinuitySnarl: Occured due to the decision to replace Hotel Delphoria's male bartender Woody Roberts with a female bartender named Alexandra Parker in the remake. This causes a continuity error since ''Police Quest II'' also features Roberts when he gets killed by Bains for testifying against him. This was {{Hand Waved}} by saying that the remake --despite otherwise being nearly identical to the original-- exists in its own continuity; ''Police Quest II'' is therefore not its sequel.
* CutsceneBoss: The final shootout with Bains requires no player interaction, though it is Sonny who fires the deciding shot.
* DrinkingOnDuty: Defied. Doing so will give you an instant game over. On the other hand, a beer or two is OK if you are off-duty (e.g. Jack's birthday party) or are undercover.
* DyeOrDie: In the first game, part of your disguise for going undercover (as a pimp!) involves a blond dye job. Apparently Sonny (or Marie) liked the look: he keeps it for the second game, going back to brown in the third.
* EvilLaugh: Heard on the game over screen in the remake.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: The narrator of PQI enforces this by pointing out (twice) that a fellow officer uses the shower all the time because he's too cheap to use his own.
* GenderFlip: The bartender at the Hotel Delphoria is a male in the original version of PQI and a female in the VGA remake.
* GoodGuyBar: The Blue Room is the local hangout for Lytton PD cops off duty. The place is even owned by a former LPD officer.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The first half of the game is "a day in the life of a patrolman", with occasional links to the overarching plot[[note]]The accident you're called to on patrol is the victim of the BigBad's [[TheDragon Dragon]], and is the first tentative lead in a case that leads to the BigBad himself, for example[[/note]]. The second half of the game is the setup and execution of a drug sting, and has a significantly different feel from the first half.
* HandyCuffs: A drunk driver will ask if you can handcuff him on the front because he isn't feeling so good. Do this, and he will knock you out shortly after (or immediately in the remake).
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Sonny can fire his gun while it's still holstered with [[NonStandardGameOver predictable results]].
* JigglePhysics: In the original PQI. Not in the traditional sense, because the AGI engine certainly couldn't handle that, but a closer look at Marie's sprites shows her chest bouncing nonetheless.
* JiveTurkey: Jefferson, the janitor in the first game. Understanding what he says may take some concentration.
* LittleUselessGun: Averted by the derringer hidden in the cane that Sonny is given when he goes undercover. [[spoiler: He ends up using it to shoot Bains non-fatally in the climax.]]
* LuckBasedMission: The two illegal poker games near the end of the game, which require luck (or {{Save Scum}}ming) to make enough money. You can skip them in the remake at the cost of points.
* TheMall: You never go inside, but if you look at it on the map the game points out if some hostile foreign power for some reason wanted to decimate the town it would destroy the mall on any weekend.
* MeaningfulName: A minor character is named Helen Hots. She's the only character in the game to have a fully rendered human portrait, and is also the only character who you can ask for sex from (even though it will never happen).
* MinorInsultMeltdown: Helen Hots, the first person you pull over in the game, tries to talk her way out of a ticket by seducing you. When you (correctly) remain professional and write the ticket, Helen delivers a series of insults and threats to Sonny that get increasingly unhinged, to the point that when you're walking away, the narrator lampshades the ridiculousness:
--> ''You're doing your job, you're ''trying'' to promote safe driving, and then people like her have to rain on your parade.''
* MoodWhiplash: An infamous aspect of both versions. Due to Creator/AlLowe being brought on board as a writer to "make it less depressing", there are a few instances where the change in tone shifts pretty hard. The racy Helen Hots episode, the Gremlin placing a molting chicken on Dooley's desk as a prank (which Jim Walls claimed to have happened while on the force), one officer making a lewd joke about the difference between oral and rectal thermometers (the taste), and a scantily-clad dancer at Jack's birthday revealing herself right after Jack complains about how the Death Angel had personally affected ''his daughter'', all present humorous interludes in an otherwise serious story.
* MortonsFork: The fate of [[spoiler:Jason Taselli]]. You end up jailing him and it's a race against time to get a No Bail warrant to keep him locked up. Fail to do so, he gets bailed out and escapes. Succeed, however, and he will jump a guard and escape anyway. Not that it matters in the end, as either way, [[spoiler:Bains murders him for being too much of a liability and dumps his corpse near the Clearwater River]].
* MotorcycleDominoes: You can knock over the parked bikes in front of Wino Willy's for a few laughs. "Someone has to answer to four angry people!"
* MutualKill: When pulling over Taselli, getting out of your car before waiting for backup will make him get out and shoot you. If you're quick enough, you can shoot him too, but he'll still get you anyway. If your backup is with you, making a wrong move will prompt Taselli to pull his gun on you and get shot by your backup officer - though too late to stop Taselli from shooting you.
* PoorCommunicationKills: A non-lethal example is not keeping Laura informed during a drug bust, which can result in the dealer running away.
** During the sting operation at the end of the game, your backup gives you a fake pen with a small transmitter in it. When you're following the BigBad back to his room, you need to make sure they know which room it is before you go inside, [[spoiler: because Bains is about to find out that you're a cop and kill you, and your backup needs to distract him so that you can take him down instead.]] Failing to do that will get you killed for trying to do everything on your own.
* PressXToDie: In many cases, typing "remove clothes" will lead to an instant game over. Even if you are in the locker room or in the shower.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: Sonny carries a .357 revolver as his police sidearm (the game was developed and released before the shift by police forces to semi-automatic handguns).
* RuleOfThree: There are 3 bars in Lytton, the Blue Room, Wino Willy's and the Hotel Bar. Sonny must visit all three at some point in the game.
* TheStoic: In the remake, Sonny has even more speaking parts, and his portrait is shown in a weird, robotic looking expression that never changes [[spoiler: even when he's disguised]]. Try to imagine him talking like a robot the whole time.
* TakeOffYourClothes: Can be invoked on command, where you can walk out of the locker room in nothing but a towel, or even type in the right command to immediately strip. You will get a game over either way. You can even ''give'' your clothes to the front desk!
--> "Sure, we'll take it. But ''you'll never get it back!''"
* ThreatBackfire: The bikers will intimidate Sonny, and one will proceed to take him on. Intimidating them back with the nightstick will make them cower away. In the remake, the leader still won't have a problem wanting to beat you down, but Sonny does actually fight back with the night stick (taking him down with one strike), convincing the biker that assaulting an officer (especially an armed one) isn't a good idea.
* UselessItem: Enforced with messages, which the game will throw away immediately, forcing you to note the contents down or commit them to memory. The only truly useless item in the game is the briefcase, which only serves to hold your ticket book, notebook and pen (if you put the briefcase back in your locker, the game automatically returns all three items to it, so you ''must'' keep the briefcase on you through most of the game).
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: Downplayed with the bikers at Wino Willy's. If you try to talk to them, the head biker will murder Sonny's sorry ass. You will have to beat the head biker up with the nightstick to "persuade" him and his gang to leave. ''Shooting'' him, however, will give you a game over.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Police Quest II: The Vengeance]]
!!Police Quest II: The Vengeance contains examples of:

* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Getting all the points in the game requires you to go out of your way to do things completely unrelated to your investigation, most notably [[spoiler: accessing confidential personnel records with your captain's login information to find out that a colleague is under investigation by Internal Affairs and letting him know, so that he can go into rehab instead of getting fired]]. There is no hint in the game that you ''must'' do this for points.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Featured in the endgame. It's played down as the air is less than fresh. There are pockets of methane gas in some sections that kill you if you stick around too long. And the gas isn't visible, only the messages about teary eyes and difficulty breathing let you know of its presence. [[spoiler: One of the pockets is too large to navigate safely, and will suffocate you if you can't find some way safely past it.]]
* AllThereInTheManual: Going through the personnel files on the police station computer is not necessary to complete the game[[note]]Though it ''is'' necessary for 100% Completion[[/note]], but it does tie up loose ends from the first game, including the identity of the Gremlin.
* AscendedExtra: Keith, a minor character from the first game, becomes your partner in the second.
* TheBadGuyWins: Bains really wants to kill anyone that helped put him behind bars. [[spoiler: He succeeds in killing the bartender from the Hotel Delphoria, Woody, as well as Donald Colby.]]
* BreakingTheFourthWall: You can call Sierra customer support and let them know that you'd like help. Then the guy on the line will inform you that it actually isn't a support line and tells you to use a real phone instead.
** You can also attempt to call the BBS line, which then tells you to call this number in real life if you actually have a modem to learn about Sierra products and promotions.
* BuddyCopShow: This game has shades of this, though it's downplayed.
* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry Larry Laffer]] is waiting in the airport, just past the metal detector.
* TheChase: Downplayed. After getting ambushed by Bains at Cotton Cove, you have the option of rushing to your car to chase him down. The chase will quickly go south, given that you lost sight of Bains before you even started the engine, but it does count as informing dispatch to be on the lookout for Bains car.
** Immediately after your investigation at Cotton Cove is completed, you overhear another chase happening, when a patrolman runs across Bains car. Bains loses him in traffic, but it's enough to point you to the airport, your next destination.
* ChekhovsSkill: You are required to attend to the firing range and practice shooting and making sure your gun is aligned. [[spoiler: You then engage in a couple of gun fights that require you to have those sights fixed before hand, especially the last one with Jessie Bains]].
--> "It appears that all the firing range practice has paid off."
** Interestingly enough, at the beginning of the game, Bonds actually has less-than-acceptable firing scores, which is what necessitates the shooting range practice.
* ColdOpen: The game starts with another normal day at the office. Bonds shows up, gets his stuff from his locker, and works on his weapons training in order to pass his upcoming competency test. He's also told that Bains somehow managed to get a retrial, and he spends some time reviewing the file in preparation. Then Bains escapes, and the chase is on.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover has Bains holding Mary hostage and he has a full-beard, but in-game he only has a mustache.
* CulturalTranslation: The Japanese version has a closer to manga art style.
* DamselInDistress: [[spoiler:Marie is kidnapped by Bains halfway into the game.]] It's possible to ''not notice this'' (although the game won't properly progress until you do).
* DeathByIrony: Try going through the metal detector at the airport while drawing your gun.
** This is if you ''don't'' show the guard your badge, of course. If you do, then he will let you through and allow you and Keith to keep your guns, apparently confident that cops won't try to hijack the plane.
* TheDeterminator: Jesse Bains will make good on his end statement in the original PQI and go after everyone involved in his conviction. Including [[OhCrap Marie.]] His having gotten shot at the end of PQI won't stop him at all.
** Sonny is essentially the Light Side mirror of Bains in this department. Based on the narration and his few spoken lines, Bonds is methodical, professional, and properly detached throughout the entire game, but ''he will not stop for '''anything''''' to bring Bains down and protect Marie.
* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The events take place over two days, with Bains breaking out of jail and escaping on the first day, and his RoaringRampageOfRevenge happening on the second day [[spoiler: until Sonny guns him down]].
* FirstDayFromHell: Luis Pate, a correctional officer who recently started working at the Lytton jail. He had the misfortune of being Bains' HumanShield and means of escape. He then [[WeHardlyKnewYe gets killed off]], as Bains assumes his identity in order to rent a car and catch a flight.
* FromBadToWorse: It starts bad when the chief of homicide informs you that Jessie Bains has managed to get a retrial based on an appeal about improper jury instruction. It gets worse when he informs you that Bains has escaped from prison and taken a correctional officer hostage. When driving to the jail house, Keith laments that "s#!* has hit the fan."
** [[spoiler: It gets even worse as the dead bodies pile up, Marie gets captured, and you learn that Bains has a hit list. Bonds is the last name on the list, presumably because Bains wants Bonds to suffer.]]
* GoodiesInTheToilets: One of the toilets at the airport has a gun in its tank that Bains discarded after he used it to assassinate a few victims. It must be found and picked up as evidence.
* IHaveManyNames: Jessie Bains has many alias including: Death Angel, Frank Magpie, Frank Sloan and William Cole. [[spoiler: He adds "Luis Pate" - the jailer's name - to the list to try to throw Bonds off his pursuit.]]
* IllKillYou: You can find a note in a trunk that contained [[spoiler: the corpse of Woody from the first game]] that says "You're a DEAD man, Sonny Bonds!"
* ItsPersonal: Clearly, Bains feels like his quest to kill everyone that testified against him is this. And while he's a SilentProtagonist, Bonds feels the same way in trying to stop him, especially after [[spoiler: Marie is kidnapped]]. However, the game makes it clear that Bonds needs to ''not'' succumb to this in order to succeed: he needs to be methodical, meticulous, and most important of all, he needs to [[spoiler: act only in self-defense]], because if he makes it personal, Bains will get away [[spoiler: or Sonny will go to jail.]]
* ItsUpToYou: Your partner Keith doesn't do a lot except for smoking and following you around. The worse offender is when you decide not to stop the terrorists - [[HaveANiceDeath you get a message chewing you out for doing nothing.]] What about Keith?! He was sitting next to Sonny and didn't pull his gun either!
** Somewhat a theme of the whole game, really. Sonny does rely on other people, but ultimately, it's up to him to find the evidence in the river, to go into the hotel room after SWAT gasses it, and to take down Bains in the end.
* LastLousyPoint: Pretty standard for Sierra, and there's a number of things you can miss: most easily, you can incorrectly gather evidence, or miss evidence entirely (the scene at Cotton Cove requires so many different pieces of evidence to be collected and processed that you'll definitely miss at least one[[note]]You need to take a picture of the drag marks, get a cast of the footprint, a sample of the blood, then search the garbage can for the bloody clothes and another blood sample, then dive in the river and find the shiv, the badge (unrelated to the case) and the body[[/note]], and the trip to the airport immediately after is even worse[[note]]You need to get a fingerprint from the abandoned car, identify the correct rental company to get information on Bains' rented car, find the gun in the bathroom with zero prompting, ''dry the gun on the hand dryer'' and ''then'' dust it for prints for full points[[/note]]. However, there's an incredibly minor subplot involving a Narcotics detective that's under investigation by Internal Affairs for drug use, which requires that you, without any prompting whatsoever, break into the personnel records for the department, find his file and learn about the IA investigation, and then ''warn him'' about it so that he checks into rehab at the end of the first day, instead of getting fired. The morality of this action (actively interfering in a ''criminal investigation'') is never examined, and you'd damn well better do it if you want all of your points.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Bains has his own leitmotif that plays whenever he's around or you discover something bad that he did.
* MiddleEasternTerrorists: Sonny has to take out two Arabs who are trying to hijack his flight to Steelton in order to flee to Egypt.
* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Pulling your gun and shooting in the sewers [[HaveANiceDeath is an extremely bad idea as the air is filled with methane gas]]. However, if you try to open the manhole cover, Bains shows up and shoots you dead, and there aren't any explosions.
* TheStoic: Bonds is completely unflappable, through vehicle dialogue with Keith will imply that Bonds is either fuming with anger or scared for [[spoiler: Marie]]. Even at the end of the game, after [[spoiler: fatally shooting Bains]], the first thing he does is [[spoiler: slowly and carefully check the body for a pulse]], though the narration notes that his hands are shaking.
* OhCrap: When Bains escapes and starts targeting people involved in the case from the last game.
** When looking at a certain note: "This is definitely NOT [[spoiler: Marie's]] handwriting!"
* OralFixation: Your partner Keith smokes ''constantly'' while the captain of the homicide division keeps slurping ice cream. Pistachio flavour, specifically.
* OxygenMeter: There comes a part where you need to swim underwater, and use proper equipment too. You also need to check the oxygen tanks to see if they're full of air before going under water, or you'll automatically surface and leave your diving mate alone, thus missing some evidence. And yes, you ''do'' have limited air, so save beforehand and act quickly!
** In the sewer, walking into an area filled with methane will generate a message stating you are having trouble breathing. Then a second warning says your vision is starting to go out. Soon, Sonny passes out fatally. Concentrated methane really IS that dangerous.
* RageAgainstTheLegalSystem: Bains wants revenge on those who put him in jail, namely Bonds and the three witnesses who testified against him.
* RealMenWearPink: At the airport, there's a woman with long golden hair wearing blue jeans and a pink jacket. She has her back turned away from you. When you talk to her, [[ViewerGenderConfusion you find out it's actually a bearded man]] and irritatedly ask you: "What's your problem man?!" Or, if you type "look at man", he'll turn about and actually turn out to be a woman. The character is a linked joke to Larry Laffer, who is sitting nearby and comments on the character.
* RedHerring: When the clues point you towards the airport on the second day and you start checking flight passenger lists, there's a listing of Jessie Bains going to Houston, Texas. It's a trap: the actual name you need to look for is "Luis Pate", the correctional officer that Bains killed on the first day.
** Even earlier than that, the first day will have you follow Bains to the airport and find the car that he was using, implying that Bains may have hopped on a plane and flown the coop. But a quick check with the booking agents will reveal that no one using any of his available aliases or looking like him booked a ticket. [[spoiler: He went to the airport to dump his stolen gun and rent a car.]]
* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Sonny's sidearm seems to needs its sights adjusted on a daily basis. Which is probably why he's switched sidearms again for the third game. [[spoiler: There's several possible reasons why, but given the action of the second day, it's logical to assume that the sights get knocked out of whack a couple of times and need to be readjusted.]]
* RevengeOfTheSequel: ''Police Quest 2 - The Vengeance''.
* RomanceSidequest: Marie will ask Sonny to meet her at a restaurant. If you accept, you will gain points, and have an opportunity to earn extra points. You can play off the date casually for the maximum points, or kiss Marie three times to have them ditch the place entirely for [[OptionalSexualEncounter some private time together,]] but you won't get the max points. You ''do'' need to kiss her twice for an important clue later, however.
* SayMyName: Before ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', there was one game over that involved Sonny getting run over by a car and Keith shouting to him.
--> Keith: Gee, Sonny, did YOU see THAT?! Sonny. Sonny? SONNY?!
* SteelEarDrums: Big aversion. Always wear your ear protection before you fire your gun at the range. Otherwise, Jim himself will [[NoIndoorVoice shout at you as to why he has to shout.]]
--> "FORGIVE ME FOR SHOUTING-"
* SummonBiggerFish: When you finally manage to track down Bains's base of operations in Lytton, you call for backup, which brings in two SWAT officers armed with heavy weapons and tear gas. [[spoiler: The fact that Bains isn't in Lytton anymore makes it a NegatedMomentOfAwesome.]]
* TakeThatMe: The opening has creator Jim Walls wanted "for excessive verbosity".
* TakeYourTime: PlayedWith. The game starts with you showing up at work. You don't have to go right into the station. You can actually get in your personal car and drive to anywhere in the game you want before you even need to go there. Eventually a patrol car catches up with you and tells you to get to work.
* TakingYouWithMe: After Sonny guns down the terrorists, one of them activates a time bomb before dying.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The captain's passwords to his secured computer files are named after ice cream and their related flavors. He really shouldn't put them down on a piece of paper so everyone can see them on his desk.
* TooDumbToLive: Donald Colby. Good job getting into witness protection! So what's your new name? Oh, same as your old name? Well, at least you're not making a big deal of it. Oh, you started a new business? With your name? And sent business cards and advertisements to the city where the guy who wants you dead is located? Huh.[[note]]In Colby's defense, he didn't establish the company until after Bains was locked up in a federal penitentiary serving a 97-year sentence with no possibility of parole. By the time Bains breaks out, it's a little late for Colby to take back everything he did. However, he ''does'' massively downplay the fact that Bains is looking for revenge ("I'm not even in Lytton anymore so I'm perfectly safe"), which makes him a complete idiot, especially when two people have already died and one has been kidnapped. Hence why Bonds then ''immediately'' calls the Steelton PD.[[/note]]
* TriggerHappy: Averted. Even if you know that Bains is about to ambush you at Cotton Cove, you ''cannot'' fire first. Bains has to shoot at you first, and ''then'' you can return fire. If you shoot first, Bains will end up killing you with his second shot. If you wait until Bains shoots first, he'll miss with the second shot and you'll scare him off with your return fire.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: The chief of police love to eat ice cream, even at work.
* WireDilemma: PQII has a plane hijacked by terrorists who claim to have a bomb on board. After dispatching them, you are then tasked to defuse the bomb. Thankfully, it isn't that well made, considering the manual you can get from one of their bodies titled "BUILDING YOUR OWN BOMB."
* WitlessProtectionProgram: Escaped convict Jessie Bains is [[RageAgainstTheLegalSystem getting his revenge]] against the protagonist Sonny Bonds, the cop who arrested him, and the three witnesses who testified against him. One of the witnesses, Donald Colby, is under Witness Protection, and Bonds even gets a warning to him and the police of the city Colby is in. Nevertheless, Bains manages to kill the witness. Of course, it didn't help that Colby still used his real name and even opened a business under it, allowing Bains to easily track him.
* YouAreTooLate: [[spoiler: Sonny didn't make it to Marie's home on time to save her from Bains...]]
** [[spoiler: Subverted]] with one of the witnesses. Sonny DID warn him about Bains, and can even call the local PD to keep an eye on him and tap his phone in case Bains calls him. The witness reassures you that he's under a witness protection program and is well hidden. [[spoiler: Bains still got to him, unfortunately.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Police Quest III: The Kindred]]
!!Police Quest III: The Kindred contains examples of:

* AmbidextrousSprite: While played straight for the rest of the series, a glaring aversion is with Pat Morales, who always holds her purse with her left arm, and it is reflected as such, no matter the angle.
* AvengingTheVillain: [[spoiler:Michael Bains is after Sonny and his wife for the death of his brother Jessie. He also takes up his brother's drug trafficking.]]
* AssShove: Implied where the crazy guy in his underwear was keeping his knife.
* {{Backtracking}}: At the end of the game, you discover a crack house. No one will answer the door, so you'll drive all the way to the court house to get your search warrant. Then you have to drive back, and still receive no answer. So you drive to the court house again to arrange a raiding, and finally, you can start off the finale.
* BasedOnATrueStory: In the introduction, Jim Walls informs you that some of the events in this game are based on actual events that occurred during his career.
--> "I managed to survive them. [[DareToBeBadass Let's see if YOU can do as well under pressure.]]"
* BeardOfEvil: [[spoiler:Michael Bains's partner, Steven Rocklin, has one.]]
* BerserkButton: Morales doesn't like it when things don't go her way.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: An internal affairs agent can save Sonny right on time if Sonny requested an investigation on Morales.]]
* BlackComedy: Leon, TheCoroner. He gives the bodies cute names, and, when you examine [[spoiler: Steve's body]], you discover he has left a note for Sonny on the tag, having anticipated his peeking around when Leon is out.
* BookcasePassage: A fire place blocks a secret path inside a crack house.
* ChekhovsGunman:
** Pat Morales [[spoiler: reveals herself to Sonny at the end of the game that she is in Bains's ranks and decides to kill him! This can be prevented if Sonny managed to get internal affairs involved.]]
** The key maker and army recruiting station at the mall? And the reporter that showed up at the scene of the crime? Turns out they will all be a ''big'' help to you in the game.
* ConnectTheDeaths: A GameBreakingBug in this puzzle, which was present in the early versions of the game, often caused the game to become UnintentionallyUnwinnable and earned it FanonDiscontinuity status with many fans.
* ContinuityNod: You start the game as a patrol man just like the first game, even though you are a sergeant for the homicide department. Justified: Lytton PD is low on traffic cops and just needs Sonny for a day to help out. A couple of the busts are even similar to the first game with minor twists (for starters, most of your offenders not being total jerks).
** The chief of homicide still loves his ice cream, according to Mike (who had to fix a piece of hardware due to an ice cream spill). You will also hear that familiar tune from PQII the moment you see a picture of Jessie Bains.
* ConverseWithTheUnconscious: Marie ends up comatose, and the doctor encourages Sonny to bring in anything relating to her and interacting with her in hopes that she will wake up [[spoiler: (and it also helps a lot if you make sure she's receiving the correct IV dosage). Doing all you can do will eventually wake her out of it, smiling at Sonny.]] [[ButNowIMustGo If only it weren't for the fact that you still had a shift to cover...]]
* TheDeterminator: [[spoiler: Bains' brother, Michael, attempts to have his revenge on Sonny for killing Jessie (in self-defense, of course). This is inverted however, since he [[KnowWhenToFoldEm gives up the moment he saw Sonny shoot at his men.]] ]]
* DiabolusExMachina: There's a really ''evil'' example of this that can occur in PQIII: [[spoiler: One of the first actions you do in the game is to evaluate a fellow officer due to her belligerent behavior. If you don't choose to sustain the complaint put against her here, you can breeze through the rest of the game perfectly, only to have her gun you down ''immediately before the end of the game''.]]
** It also occurs literally right before the ending in the same game. [[spoiler:If you don't bring Marie's inadequate treatment to the attention of the hospital, she remains a vegetable.]]
* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Pat Morales, a [[HairTriggerTemper hot-tempered]] police officer. According to a police psychiatric report, she [[CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority hates authority figures in general]] and [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex has low self-esteem which she tries to cover with a belligerent attitude]]. She was also suspected by Internal Affairs to have [[DestroyTheEvidence destroyed evidence]] on three separate occasions, but was let off due to [[AbsenceOfEvidence lack of evidence]] for such. It turns out that Morales is a member of the Sons of Darkness cult, acting as their [[TheMole insider]] within the Lytton Police Department. She is also a FunctionalAddict to cocaine. Morales finally paid for her crimes when she was about to [[DeceasedFallGuyGambit shoot Bonds with a dead cult member's gun]], only to be [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head]] by [[BigDamnHeroes a detective from Internal Affairs at the last second]].]]
* EasterEgg: You can find Jim (also known as James) Walls's name on the computer. He's apparently part of the Designer division of the Lytton Police Department. He's also lost some weight too. Go Jim! Also, he has the code name [[VideoGame/CodenameIceman Ice Man.]]
* ExecutiveBallClicker: Criminal psychologist of the LPD Dr. Sidney Aimes has a Newton's cradle on his work desk, which the game mentions is for "mindless executives". Using the hand icon on it makes him ask "Would you mind not playing with my balls, please?"
* FaceHeelTurn: [[FromCamouflageToCriminal Bains' brother used to serve in the army]], but turned to drug dealing and [[spoiler: setting out for revenge]] when he learned that [[spoiler: Sonny killed Jessie.]]
** [[spoiler: Pat Morales has done this some time before the game began.]]
* HairTriggerTemper: Morales, according to her file and the complaint made on her. She also demonstrates this when Sonny arrives to learn about the refusal to sign and simply asked about the situation, earning her getting frustrated with him as well.
* IronicName: The name Morales, means right and proper, or, literally, morals. Her behavior suggests otherwise.
** IronicEcho: A look at her file on the computer suggests many other things...
* LetsSeeYouDoBetter: When interviewing Morales and trying to get the truth behind the complaint from her, she'll then tell you to try to be in her shoes before telling her how to do her job. [[InsultBackfire Which you have been.]] And you ''did'' do better, since it got you promoted to Narcotics, then Homicide, then Detective Sergeant. And while you're helping out with the Patrol division, you ''again do better''.
* MoodWhiplash: In PQIII, you can beat the game, all triumphantly [[spoiler: going to the hospital to check on Marie. If you haven't been visiting at the appropriate times, the game will cut the ending music and go straight to game over before telling you that she's a vegetable.]]
* NakedNutter: Brian Forbes, a guy who's only wearing his undies - and has a knife hidden in them - who's causing problems at Aspen Falls due to babbling about Bathonians, being clearly in a deranged state of mind.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Sonny's encounter with the naked Bathonian (and his paranoid delusions) is fairly lighthearted. If he didn't [[TheManyDeathsOfYou have many ways to kill your character]], that is.
* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: The message was displayed in the end credits.
* PixelHunt: For a Sierra adventure game, it's inevitable that this will show up, though it's easier to make out compared to other examples. You will need to get batteries for your flash light and use it to find a piece of evidence under the car. Otherwise, [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable it's unwinnable.]]
* ProperlyParanoid: Pat Morales has exhibited aggressive behavior according to a report (which you have the option to interview her) and her file, and will later show that behavior by berating a pregnant woman she stopped on the road, and [[WhatTheHellPlayer berating you briefly for not agreeing with her]]. You will need to make a copy of her locker key to have access to her locker. [[spoiler: Inside are some drugs. This is when you know perfectly that this is not going to end well.]]
* ProudToBeAGeek: The head tech guy, Mike, loves to talk about the technology he can give you. Sonny does not care to hear about this, but ends up having to anyway.
* ReligionOfEvil: [[spoiler: Michael Bains runs it.]] The killings appear ritualistic and connected to one another (in which the victims have satanic carvings). They also deal drugs too. The only exception is the assault on [[spoiler: Marie]], which has been done for personal reasons.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The fact that Morales isn't on the up and up in any way at all. You find bags of cocaine she stole from the crime scene, behavior consistent with the case files against her. Learning about this pretty much makes it inevitable that her pulling a gun on you will occur at some point.]]
** Another twist is [[spoiler:finding a photo of the Bains brothers!]]
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[spoiler: Michael Bains]] experienced PTSD after hearing about [[spoiler:Jessie's]] death, eventually getting discharged due to psychological instability.
* SomethingWeForgot: Forget to search the "Bathonian" (the crazy man at Aspen Falls) -- even if he is in his underwear -- and turned him into the jailer? He ends up murdering the jailer, and gets you sent to the game over screen. Oops.
* SuperStrength: The "Bathonian", if he does fight you, will kill you with a single punch, and has the superhuman strength to drown you with ease, likely because he is under the influence of some sort of narcotic. You will have to perform other procedures to subdue and arrest him.
* TakeThatMe: When you distract Mr. Stumps by shoving a whole roll of toilet paper into the toilet, you can walk back into the men's restroom and talk with him to get this line.
-->'''Mr. Stumps:''' ''(in reference to the clogged toilet)'' Bet it was that Officer Walls again.
** In the end credits, Jim "Pretty Boy" Walls is part of an [[CreditsGag electronic terrorist group who inhabit Lytton]]. Whether or not it's the same Walls that is employed in LPD is uncertain. The LPD themselves are also uncertain [[TheComicallySerious if they should even take the group seriously.]]
* TemptingFate: "Thanks Sonny. Hope the rest of your patrol is less exciting."
* TrouserSpace: Really make sure you search the (nearly naked) "Bathonian" on your first arrest, or he will do a ''literal'' ass pull and kill one of your fellow officers with a super-secret knife. If the knife is found, it is lampshaded by a jail guard:
--> "You mean to tell me you fished that outta this guy's shorts? You've got some guts, Bonds."
* UnwinnableByDesign: A ''cruel'' example. [[spoiler: If you don't sustain the complaint against Morales in the very beginning, then at the end of the game she'll shoot you.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: If you pull over a black car speeding, the driver will yield but go up to you and inform you that he is an agent that's been pursuing a drug runner, and berates you for stopping him.
** If you utilize the in-vehicle terminal to identify the vehicle, AND back off, you won't have this problem. Just make sure your sirens are not on when you do it.
* WorstAid: A near-fatal example: The third time Sonny visits the hospital, he is told by Marie's doctor that all they have for her to come back is hope. You will need to examine the clipboard on her bed, which reveals that her IV dosage is off. Calling the nurse and inform her about it, in which the doctor makes the necessary adjustment and lampshades this trope.
--> "I don't understand this at all. I can't believe our staff could make such a serious error!"
* WunzaPlot: Sonny Bonds is a ByTheBookCop who assesses most (if not all) situations according to procedure and is known for having played a key role in capturing a serial killer and drug runner, and then killing him in self-defense when he broke out, and has gained the reputation of being cop-of-the-year following Bains' arrest. Pat Morales is a female CowboyCop who is a loose cannon who doesn't always do things by the book and believes in harsh justice and that her partner is too soft. [[spoiler: Sonny fights crime. [[AvertedTrope She]] [[EvilAllAlong doesn't!]] ]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Police Quest IV: Open Season]]
!!Police Quest IV: Open Season contains examples of:
* AerosolFlamethrower: [[spoiler:Captured and stripped of his possessions by the killer, Carey must create one with a lighter and hairspray to vanquish him.]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: Mitchell Thurman has this.
* AntiClimax: A jarring example. The first third of the game builds up the investigation about the murder behind a cop: Bob Hickman, and a child: Bobby Washington. Emo called John about information he'd like to share about the murders, [[spoiler: only to get caught in a shoot out. After the scene, everything is suddenly resolved off screen, as Emo survives in the hospital and reveals that Spiff wanted to use Bobby to ship his guns, killed him in cold blood, and tried to kill Emo to shut him up. Spiff will be charged swiftly for a couple of attempted murders, and the murder of Bobby.]] The only thing that wasn't so anti-climatic is that [[spoiler: Spiff is not responsible for Bob's murder.]]
** The conclusion with Dennis Walker and his girlfriend also ended as quickly as it came.
--> '''John''': Geez, the feds are talking with Walker right now. Apparently, he is a real special case.
** Also, the final part of [[spoiler: the game just ends. You find who the killer is, which becomes more obvious at this point, follow a linear path, and the game just ends with Mitchell killed while in the process of murdering(?) his newest victim, and the game abruptly ends with John in city hall, with the mayor loving him and giving him the medal of valor, and credits! Not even a "I did it, Bob" line of any kind?]] This should just be called ''Anti-Climax: The Video Game!''
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that this city is full of dirt-bags, creeps, and losers!"
* AsYouKnow: The beginning of the game has Sam Nobles inform John all about him and Bob together for the past five years, and talking about how John is practically a god-father to Bob's daughter.
* BitchAlert: Yo Money's manager. The first thing that leaves her mouth is accusing the police department of planting the body there to hurt Yo Money's sales. She will also actively berate John for asking helpful questions.
* ButThouMust: A reporter will stop John to ask some questions, which he cannot answer. You cannot do anything about it besides shove her to the side, which earns her reporting physical abuse and giving the LAPD a bad name.
* CallBack: There is apparently a server in the LAPD named SONNY.
* CampGay: There is a male prostitute that attempts to flirt with John the moment he arrives at Pine Hollywood Avenue. He also attempts to break open your car, but walks away when he sees you.
* CaptainObvious: "Griffiti is often left behind by gangs."
* CatchPhrase / VerbalTic: "You're <insert emphasis if any> damn lucky <insert why>. Damn lucky." -Hal Bottoms
* ChekhovsGunman:
** Sherry Moore is pretty much just a pretty face working at the morgue. [[spoiler: Oh, and she ends up revealing everything about the case in an interview to a reporter, who in turn reported her story on national television, and as a result, it got the whole townspeople in fear and even buying out gun stores! Naturally, John is not happy, and neither is the chief.]]
** Lassundra Washington apparently [[spoiler: witnessed Bob Hickman's murderer. She mentioned a woman in a red dress when you talk to her after Spiff's been apprehended.]]
* ClusterFBomb: There is a Character named Dennis Walker in the apartment that will use the word "Fuck" if you ask him about the music. He will use the word "Fuck" if you touch his stuff or if you show him your items from your inventory.
* CoolOldGuy: Beavis, the tow guy. [[IHaveManyNames Or is it Danno?]]
* DaChief: Lieutenant Block. Funny enough, it's the only Police Quest games that has this trope played out.
* DeskJockey: Hal Bottoms. See OldCopYoungCop below.
--> "They're (the criminals) just god damn lucky that I'm a desk jockey. When I was on the street, [[CowboyCop I'd whip their collective disrespectful butts.]]
* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: In Mitchell's apartment, you can find a decapitated head and a bathroom with an empty medicine cabinet. Check those areas again, and suddenly, there is a lighter inside the head's mouth, and a hair spray can in the medicine cabinet. And Michael is in the next room down.]]
* DontTryThisAtHome: When you combine the aerosal can with a lighter, the narrator says this word for word.
* DroppedInSpeechClip: The floppy version has one of Adolf Hitler's speeches playing in Dennis Walker's house, since he is a Neo-Nazi member of the Aryan Brotherhood. It has been removed from the CD version, even though a much more spacious CD would have less problems with storing audio, though this is presumably because the characters speak and it wouldn't want the audio to clash.
* DullSurprise: John Carey sure doesn't sound upset when he's supposedly expressing shock and upset that his fellow cop and best friend is dead. Then again, it could be said that he simply had no idea what he should be feeling.
* ExactlyWhatIMeantToSay: Carey can question another 'witness' on the first scene named Raymond, who will constantly tell him that "I ain't seen nothin'"
--> John Carey: *questioning for the third time* "So Mr. Jones, what you're telling me is you don't have anything to tell me. Is that correct?"
--> Raymond Jones: That's straight up. Ain't seen nothin'. Done nothin'. Know nothin'."
* FakeLongevity: While it's excuseable to have to note anything relating to criminal activity just so you can fill out a report later, where is the excuse in forcing a player to loosen out every slug lodged into a wall, while hearing the same line "You loosened a slug from the wall" followed by a DING! for every slug loosened off? '''Fifteen times?''' Also, [[ScrappyMechanic you will have to bag every single slug afterward. The game is also picky where you click your mouse at.]]
* ForceFeeding: John can literally force feed a dog some pills to knock him out.
* GameBreakingBug: ''Open Season'' came out just before the appearance of high-end 486 processors. These apparently messed up the internal clock so badly, that it became impossible to pass certain points in the game without dying (specifically the neo-nazi courtroom scene). Fortunately, even before a patch came out, Sierra realized that slowing the game to a crawl before such crucial scenes would solve the bug, and made this knowledge public.
* GenericGraffiti: There is some of this in the opening of the game and you can investigate which GangBangers it belongs to. Also attempting to use the chalk on any wall will cause the narrator to accuse you of being a graffiti artist.
--> "Lieutenant Block doesn't want his walls covered in graffiti."
--> "Graffiti at the Police Academy? Not a chance in hell!"
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Later, the city counsel and the mayor begin to question John Carey, and by extension, the LAPD's competence in dealing with a SerialKiller. In fact, John gets bombarded by questions by the general public the moment he steps up in city hall.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Depending on your interpretation of Hal Bottoms. Of course, he might just be trying to look out for John considering what happened prior to this line..
--> "Playing [[CowboyCop cowboy]] will only take you so far in this damn job. If you wanna make it as long as I have, you're gonna have to curb your appetite for action."
* ImpliedLoveInterest: Some pieces of dialogue involving Chester implies that John is trying to hook up with her. She can be monotone and blunt towards John's otherwise friendly and caring remarks.
** Of course, Sam (at the Short Stop) pretty much told John that he and Chester might have been an object before.
--> Chester: Sam, I think you had enough to drink.
* InSeriesNickname: Hal refers to John as Junior, likely due to how he's the older partner compared to John.
* IntrepidReporter: There is a reporter who is actively trying to learn of the murder cases. John can shove her to the side, and give her quite a word, though this earns quite a lecture from his chief.
* {{Irony}}: Look inside the LUCKY MINI MART dumpster...
** Try throwing Hickman's funeral notice in the garbage can at the coroners office.
* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife: Attempting to take a flyer advertising a bake sale from the wall in Lt Block's office will meet with the narrator telling you "Remove and face certain death".
* JumpScare:
** How does PQIV begin? If you open up that dumpster...
** IN PQIV, if you enter a suspect's home without checking who's inside, a dog will ambush the player at blazing speed, followed by the screen fading red and the audio being the player being mawled. It happens so fast too.
** There is a [[spoiler: decapitated head waiting for you in the fridge.]] And yet, the narrator finds a way to downplay this.
* LemonyNarrator:
** The narrator can sound enthusiastic, berating, easily amused, sound like he's either asking a question when there isn't one, or simply say a sentence that is clearly incomplete by his voice. He also has a nasty habit [[CaptainObvious of point out the obvious.]] [[SoBadItsGood He's also unintentionally amusing in this regard.]]
--> [[CaptainObvious "You turned the knob and opened the door, Detective."]]
** Also, in attempting to do something that could be considered criminal, the narrator will prevent you from doing it (most of the time; [[spoiler: he won't stop you shooting the candy machine]]) and make a comment about you being a BadCopIncompetentCop.
* MacGyvering: In this series of GuideDangIt moments:
** Near the end, [[spoiler: the BigBad knocks you out and empties your pockets. To defeat him, you need to macgyver a [[AerosolFlamethrower flamethrower with a lighter and hairspray]] ]].
** To enter the BigBad's apartment without getting eaten by the dog, you have to [[CombinatorialExplosion glue a broken car mirror onto a drumstick]]. (TrialAndErrorGameplay and GuideDangIt moment)
** To travel to this BigBad's apartment you have to tame the dog with pretzels, and then lasso it!
* NoGearLevel: [[spoiler: John is knocked out by Michael at the end and had his whole inventory confiscated. Thankfully, a can of aerosal and a lighter is not far off.]]
* NonLinearSequel: In a change from the original trilogy, the setting is moved to Los Angeles and focuses on a new protagonist.
* NotADate: When Chester invites John to a bar, John jokingly asked if she was asking him out. She returns with "Not in your wildest dreams."
* NoteToSelf: It is more important to use the notebook on any piece of the crime scene, evidence, victims, and witnesses. You will also be recording what you recorded onto different forms for extra points.
--> "Recording information of the crime scene ensures accurate reports later."
* NotWhatItLooksLike: When John had to shove the reporter out of the way, he attempts to explain to others that it wasn't what it looked like. No one bothers to believe him.
** Later, John will walk into Sam "checking up" on Sherry. Sam claims that he was check for a chest cold.
* OffTheRecord: Barbie politely refuses to talk to John, officially out of fear that her business may get in trouble. When he plead that they'll "talk like friends," she warms up to him.
* OldCopYoungCop: Hal Bottoms, who is a veteran cop who got pushed to a desk job and takes care of whatever paper work he has to do for John. He also refers to John as Junior.
* OldTimeyCinemaCountdown: When Carey is offered to watch a movie in the Third Eye Theater, the film screen shows 5 and 4 (and potentially even a 3, depending on game speed) before the screen goes black and it starts.
* PeekABooCorpse: A nightmare inducing example.
* ProductPlacement: There is a D.A.R.E. ad in the lobby of the police department.
* RecycledSoundtrack: The elevator music in the Parker Center is the same music heard at the [[VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry La Costa Lotta health resort.]]
* RightHandAttackDog: The stray dog is fiercely loyal to his master. If at the apartment, he's willing to kill. If at anywhere else, he just waits patiently.
* ShirtlessScene: There is a stripper in the background who appears to be topless. ''Appears'' because her top is so pixelated, it's hard to tell.
* ShopliftAndDie: Try to steal from a store in ''Open Season'', and the shopkeeper will stop you. Persist anyway, and you'll be gunned down.
* ShootEverythingThatMoves: You can do this early in the game [[spoiler: including Valerie]] however it won't be possible later on except for certain places [[spoiler: like the cigarette machine or the real killer]].
* ShootTheDog: You can choose to shoot the dog. Obviously, the game '''won't''' let you get away with that. Overlaps with ForceFeeding, but that one is justified.
* ShoutOut: You can find a scrap of newspaper in Morales' patrol car. On one side, there's an ad for a topless bar - on the other, one for a movie theater that just so happens to be showing ''Film/DirtyHarry''.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: You can get one out of your trunk during a shoot-out.
* SideQuest: The local police academy is holding a marksmanship challenge, which is good if you want to earn extra points and kill some time.
* SirSwearsaLot: The game is best known for the profanity used in this game. For example, the character Hal Bottoms will use the word "Goddamn" and "Bitch" in the game. Also Dennis Walker will use the word "Fuck" and "Shit" if you touch his stuff or show him items from your inventory.
* StandardCopBackstory: Talking to Chester at the Short Stop reveals that she became a cop because her dad was one.
* TakeOurWordForIt: For a heavily tortured man, Bob Hickman sure looks well perserved. Brutually inverted for the little boy though...
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Invoked. Several developers working for Sierra at the time have stated on record that the decision to hire former Police Chief Daryl Gates, hot off the Rodney King controversy and the L.A. Riots, as a consultant for the game was by all appearances motivated by the hope that his own infamous reputation would attract some additional publicity to the project.
* UndercoverCopReveal: That guy at the rainbow cafe who told you the police is unwelcome inside? He's working undercover, and had to blow it to provide you cover during a shoot out.
* VillainousCrossdresser: [[spoiler:Mitchell Thurman.]]
* WhamLine: "Darling, I think that [[spoiler: red shoe ]] would fit ''you'' better than it would fit me."
* WhatHappenedtotheMouse: After [[spoiler: killing Mitchell Thurman in self-defense]], the fate of the female victim is never truly revealed, and the game seems to imply that she did survive. What happened to her, who is she, and if she ''even survived'' is left ambiguous.
* WhiteGangBangers: We only got to see two, but Dennis Walker and his girl friend both happen to be this, and really racist too. [[spoiler: Both of them also attempted to kill John, for presumably... [[HandWave helping Yo Money?]] ]]
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: "What kind of name is Emo?"
* WouldHurtAChild: Bobby Washington (the child in the beginning) was found murdered and hidden in a dumpster.
--> "He's just a child, Sam. What's happening on our streets?!"
** Emo Jones expresses some mild sympathy about Bobby Washington, likely because he loves baseball as much as Bobby did and may have bonded with him at some point. [[spoiler: He is ultimately the one who is able to help John close the case on the murderer, and he nearly got killed doing so.]]
*** [[spoiler: Spiff.]]
[[/folder]]
----

** SWAT 1 has internal affairs coming in anytime you had to use a firearm, even if the mission was a success. This is done to review if the shot you took was justified. Accordingly, justified shots have you reinstated and commended, while unjustified shots have you arrested, ending the game.
*** Using a flash bang on a woman with a bad heart, rather than stunning her, has her die immediately - flashbangs and the like are emphatically '''less'''-lethal and ''not'' "non-lethal", because non-lethal weapons do not exist.
** SWAT 2 will suspend an officer for shooting a suspect as well, even if it was justified.
** When playing the terrorist campaign in SWAT 2, any terrorists who are severely wounded during a mission [[CareerEndingInjury will be labeled "maimed"]], and cannot participate in any further missions. It's not like they can just go to a hospital, after all.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: PQII ends with [[spoiler: a shoot-out against Jessie Bains. What follows is Sonny's leave of absence for three days as Internal Affairs reviews if his actions were in self-defense. Thankfully it was deemed to be so, and they decided to award Sonny by giving him a two week vacation with pay for the trouble.]]

** SWAT 1 has internal affairs coming in anytime you had to use a firearm, even if the mission was a success. This is done to review if the shot you took was justified. Accordingly, justified shots has you reinstated and commended, while unjustified shots has you arrested, ending the game.
*** Using a flash bang on a woman with a bad heart, rather than stunning her, has her die immediately.
** SWAT 2 would suspend an officer for shooting a suspect as well, even if it was justified.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: PQII ends with [[spoiler: a shoot-out against Jessie Bains. What follows is Sonny's leave of absence for three days as Internal Affairs reviews if your actions were in self-defense. Thankfully, it was deemed to be so, and they decided to award Sonny, and even give him a two week vacation with pay for the trouble... ''unless'' you pulled the trigger first in the shootout. In that case, your actions were not in self-defense and Sonny instead gets ''arrested for murder''.]]

** PQII gives you the option to contact Al Lowe, another creator from Sierra. He detects Sonny as a potential customer and advertises [[LongTitle Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking For Love In Several Wrong Places]]. You can even tell him if it's good or bad, and he'll respond accordingly. He also informs you that he is working on a third game, which had been finished since then.

* TheBadGuyWins: Bains really wants to kill anyone that helped put him behind bars. [[spoiler: He succeeds in killing the bartender from the Hotel Delphoria, Woody, as well as Donald Colby. If you shoot first in the final confrontation, he also succeeds in putting Bonds behind bars himself.]]

%%* CompressedTimeFrame: The events take place over two days, with Bains breaking out of jail and escaping on the first day, and his RoaringRampageOfRevenge happening on the second day [[spoiler: until Sonny guns him down]].

* EarnYourBadEnding: In the final confrontation, [[spoiler:if you shoot first and manage to kill Bains, the review board deems Sonny's actions as unjustified and he is arrested for murder]]. Trickier to achieve than you'd think, as your window of opportunity for pulling this off is about two seconds, [[spoiler:given Bains has a really itchy trigger finger]].

* IdiotBall: There are plenty of moments where this can be invoked, and you don't need to be a police officer to say WhatAnIdiot to yourself.

* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Some parts of the game require you to have [[AllThereInTheManual your user manual handy.]] Failure to pass these parts may have the game [[WhatAnIdiot remind you to have your manual.]]

Sonny Bonds does return to the ''Police Quest'' series, though, in ''VideoGame/PoliceQuestSwat2'', as a selectable team member, and in ''SWAT 3: Close Quarters Combat'', where he is now SWAT leader, which seems a natural progression for him by then. In ''VideoGame/SWAT4'' Sonny has a cameo as a veteran member of SWAT and trainer of new SWAT recruits. The ''SWAT'' sub-series is peculiar in that the first entry was primarily a FullMotionVideo, the second an overhead RealTimeStrategy game, and the latter two tactical {{FPS}}s, notorious since ''any'' downed civilian, suspect or bystander, costs points from your total score. SWAT teams ''really are'' the babysitters of the populace.

** In the sewer, walking into an area filled with methane will generate a message stating you are having trouble breathing. Then a second warning says your vision is starting to go out. Soon, Sonny passes out fatally. [[AluminumChristmasTrees Concentrated methane really IS that dangerous.]]

* WunzaPlot: Sonny Bonds is a ByTheBookCop who assesses most (if not all) situations according to procedure and is known for having played a key role in capturing a serial killer and drug runner, and then killing him in self-defense when he broke out, and has gained the reputation of being cop-of-the-year following Bains' arrest. Pat Morales is a female CowboyCop who is a loose cannon who doesn't always do things by the book and believes in harsh justice and that her partner is too soft. [[spoiler: Sonny fights crime. [[AvertedTrope She]] [[EvilAllAlong doesn't!]]

* TheyFightCrime: Sonny Bonds is a ByTheBookCop who assesses most (if not all) situations according to procedure and is known for having played a key role in capturing a serial killer and drug runner, and then killing him in self-defense when he broke out, and has gained the reputation of being cop-of-the-year following Bains' arrest. Pat Morales is a female CowboyCop who is a loose cannon who doesn't always do things by the book and believes in harsh justice and that her partner is too soft. [[spoiler: Sonny fights crime. [[AvertedTrope She]] [[EvilAllAlong doesn't!]] ]]

** In the end credits, Jim "Pretty Boy" Walls is part of an electronic terrorist group who inhabit Lytton. Whether or not it's the same Walls that is employed in LPD is uncertain. The LPD themselves are also uncertain [[TheComicallySerious if they should even take the group seriously.]]

* RareGuns: Sonny carries a 10mm 1911 variant. Presumably, when the game was released, [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge the 10mm Auto cartridge was expected to be widely adopted by law enforcement]]. [[AluminumChristmasTrees It did end up getting picked up by the FBI, but police departments generally stuck with the significantly less expensive 9mm.]]

* RealMenWearPink: At the airport, there's a woman with long golden hair wearing blue jeans and a pink jacket. She has her back turned away from you. When you talk to her, [[ViewerGenderConfusion you find out it's actually a bearded man]] and irritatedly ask you: "What's your problem man?!" Or, if you type "look at ma"n, he'll turn about and actually turn out to be a woman. The character is a linked joke to Larry Laffer, who is sitting nearby and comments on the character.

* SteelEarDrums: Big aversion. Always wear your ear protection before you fire your gun at the range. Otherwise, Jim himself will [[NoIndoorVoice shout at you as to why you he had to shout.]]

* CluckingFunny: "The Gremlin" pranks Dooley by placing a live chicken on his desk, who [[ToiletHumor shits all over the place.]]

* ShootFirstAskQuestionsLater: Averted. Even if you know that Bains is about to ambush you at Cotton Cove, you ''cannot'' fire first. Bains has to shoot at you first, and ''then'' you can return fire. If you shoot first, Bains will end up killing you with his second shot. If you wait until Bains shoots first, he'll miss with the second shot and you'll scare him off with your return fire.

* TakeYourTime: PlayedWith. The game starts with you showing up at work. You don't have to go right into the station. You can actually get in your personal car and drive to anywhere in the game you want before you even need to go there. Eventually a patrol car catches up with you and tells you to get to work.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The VGA version at least gives the player the option to skip the poker segments near the end of the game. You have to play and win to get all the points, but that was a nice bone to throw to players not interested in mastering poker.

* ContinuitySnarl: Occured due to the decision to replace Hotel Delphoria's bartender Woody Roberts with a female bartender named Alexander Parker in the remake. This causes a continuity error since ''Police Quest II'' also features Roberts when he gets killed by Bains. This was {{Hand Waved}} away by saying that the remake --despite being nearly identical to the original in every other way-- exists in its own continuity; ''Police Quest II'' is therefore not its sequel.

* ContinuitySnarl: Occured due to the decision to replace Hotel Delphoria's bartender Woody Worberts with a female bartender named Alexander Parker in the remake. This causes a continuity error since ''Police Quest II'' also features Roberts when he gets killed by Bains. This was {{Hand Waved}} away by saying that the remake --despite being nearly identical to the original in every other way-- exists in its own continuity; ''Police Quest II'' is therefore not its sequel.

[[folder:Police Quest: SWAT]]
!!Police Quest: SWAT contains examples of:

* ArtifactTitle: SWAT 1 and 2 retained the name "Police Quest" in their titles, despite being neither quests nor adventure games of any kind. This pretense was dropped in SWAT 3.
* FullMotionVideo: For Police Quest SWAT. See ArtShift in the general tropes section.
* PressXToDie: SWAT is full of this, as well as PressXToNotDie. Go around a corner without slicing the pie? You're dead. Fail to cover a door? You're dead. Take a wrong turn? You're dead. Enter the Eastman building on the wrong side or without proper sniper cover? RocksFallEveryoneDies.
* RandomlyGeneratedLevels: SWAT only has a few missions, but the exact scenario can differ, such as the suspect's location. Better check all those corners with your mirror, just to be sure.

[[/folder]]