Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Removed an incorrrect trope (My Rules Are Not Your Rules - it said Sonny couldn't shoot while in the sewers because of methane, but Bains could - removed because it's OK to shoot in the sewers unless within a pocket of methane, which Bains wasn't).
Deleted line(s) 50 (click to see context) :
* 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.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Page is going up
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:639:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pq_2_box_art_front.jpg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:639:some caption text]]
''Police Quest 2: The Vengeance'' is the second game in the ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' series. It was released in 1988 for the PC (via MS-DOS) by Creator/{{Sierra}} with the story written by Jim Walls. It was later released in Amiga and the Atari ST. The game was exported for Japanese gamers via NEC PC-9801, complete with a Japanese translation and reanimated sprites in anime style.
The game takes place in 1988, a few years after ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest1InPursuitOfTheDeathAngel''. Sonny Bonds is now a plainclothes officer working in Lytton Police Department's Homicide Division. He also began to date Marie Wilkans, a former prostitute who helped him and the LPD arrest drug dealer Jessie Bains.
However, Bains escaped from jail and takes a jail guard hostage ([[CopKiller who he later takes out]]). Later on, Bains startst to target anyone who got him in jail. And this also includes Bonds.
----
!!Police Quest 2: The Vengeance provides 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.
* CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation: The opening has creator Jim Walls wanted "for excessive verbosity".
* 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!"
* InspiredBy: According to various PC gaming magazines in the 1980s, the case of going after Bains was based on the escape of a felon who got away from police custody in 1988.
* 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.]]
* SWATTeam: A LPD SWAT team is called in when you call for backup to raid Bains' motel room.
* 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.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Steelton's geographic location is not made clear. The Police Quest Casebook says that it's in New Mexico while the the VGA version of Police Quest 1 says that it's somewhere in California.
* 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.]]
%%[[caption-width-right:639:some caption text]]
''Police Quest 2: The Vengeance'' is the second game in the ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' series. It was released in 1988 for the PC (via MS-DOS) by Creator/{{Sierra}} with the story written by Jim Walls. It was later released in Amiga and the Atari ST. The game was exported for Japanese gamers via NEC PC-9801, complete with a Japanese translation and reanimated sprites in anime style.
The game takes place in 1988, a few years after ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest1InPursuitOfTheDeathAngel''. Sonny Bonds is now a plainclothes officer working in Lytton Police Department's Homicide Division. He also began to date Marie Wilkans, a former prostitute who helped him and the LPD arrest drug dealer Jessie Bains.
However, Bains escaped from jail and takes a jail guard hostage ([[CopKiller who he later takes out]]). Later on, Bains startst to target anyone who got him in jail. And this also includes Bonds.
----
!!Police Quest 2: The Vengeance provides 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.
* CreatorCareerSelfDeprecation: The opening has creator Jim Walls wanted "for excessive verbosity".
* 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!"
* InspiredBy: According to various PC gaming magazines in the 1980s, the case of going after Bains was based on the escape of a felon who got away from police custody in 1988.
* 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.]]
* SWATTeam: A LPD SWAT team is called in when you call for backup to raid Bains' motel room.
* 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.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Steelton's geographic location is not made clear. The Police Quest Casebook says that it's in New Mexico while the the VGA version of Police Quest 1 says that it's somewhere in California.
* 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.]]
