Video Game / Future Cop: L.A.P.D.

Serve. Protect. Survive.

A Third-Person Shooter released in 1998, Future Cop: L.A.P.D. is a spinoff of sorts from the Strike Series, following you, the pilot of the Transforming Mecha X-1 Alpha and your coordinator. Your mission is simple: over the course of eight missions, restore law and order to the hellhole that is the future-LA of 2098 with missiles, miniguns, mortar and grenade launchers, flamethrowers, rockets, beams, mines, and more.

Sounds easy, right?

Think again, buddy.

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Tropes:

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The final mission gives you the objective of apprehending a tech genius who's been causing economical havoc, but when you find him early in the level, it turns out his supercomputer has taken control of the whole area and must be put down. The same supercomputer will also regularly taunt you as you progress through the level.
  "My greatest creation will turn us all into cyborgs..."
• The Alcatraz: Hell's Gate Prison is a literal fortress, and you're sent in there to keep a terrorist group from breaking their leader out. The briefing even suggests that you focus on destroying their dropships so that they'll have no way out.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: Or in this case, Japanese Future Cop LAPD is Hotter and Sexier as the Japanese cover features your female operator with blonde hair and a noticeable cleavage.
• Announcer Chatter: For Precinct Assault mode. Helps keep you informed of goings-on, especially if you're playing against Sky Captain.
  Announcer: "Blue base turret destroyed."
  Announcer: "Enemy within Red base perimeter."
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: One level has a miniboss that is a gigantic mutant bodyguard goon approximately twice the height of the X-1 (if not more), which is already around two to three times taller than your average human. The end boss is a giant version of this enemy waist-deep in toxic sludge.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Flying Fortress costs a non-trivial 50 requisition and does little more than buzz around the center of the map looking really menacing. For the same price you could buy a fleet of tanks and gunships to Zerg Rush the enemy.
• Boss Banter: The criminal you're going after will regularly taunt you over the comms as you progress the level or during the boss battle.
• Boring, but Practical: Most - if not all - of the weapons are well-balanced, and each is useful in its own way, but Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better is mostly true here.
• Big "NO!": Sky Captain has one when shot down. Hear more of his quotes here.
• California Collapse: Civil War, super storm and an earthquake didn't go well with Los Angeles. The last one actually created an island which is used as a weapons test range.
• Chain Lightning: The Lightning Gun's schtick when you get the Primary Weapon Power-Up.
• Checkpoint Starvation: Die in the middle of a level and you have to restart from the get-go. This can become a point of frustration if you slip and fall into a level hazard.
• Chicken Walker: X-1 Alpha. Well, that and Flying Cars.
• Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: One of Sky Captain's favourite sayings.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: The game has one that was meant to advertise the game itself.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Sky Captain, as his name suggests, uses a flying craft rather than an X-1 Alpha. This gives him a pretty significant mobility advantage in the cluttered battlegrounds, though he lacks the agility of the X-1's walker mode. He can also summon units and capture outposts from anywhere, both things the player can't do. He also can refill his ammo at will. In his defense, at least, all of these things are explained in the Precinct Assault introductory video, so you know what he's doing and how. Sky Captain also upgrades and gets stronger and smarter as you complete the increasing difficulties.
• Co-Op Multiplayer: You can play through the campaign with a friend, but mind the Shared Life-Meter.
• Conveyor Belt of Doom: The penultimate section of LAX Spaceport involves platforming across moving conveyors to get to the level's boss.
• Crapsack World: LA is barely habitable by the looks of things, heavily flooded, filled with mutants, ganglords, and lord knows what else. Best not to think about the rest of the planet.
• Dancing Mook Credits: With the X-1 being subjected to all sorts of horrors alongside dancing.
• Deadpan Snarker: Your Mission Control is quite sassy.
• Death from Above: Sky Captain quotes it verbatim.
• Deflector Shields: The riot shield will destroy incoming physical projectiles and cause huge damage to anything in its radius.
• Drone of Dread: Each level in the campaign has catchy theme that accompanies your rampage through the criminals' forces — except for the eighth, which is a quiet drone that you can barely hear past the sounds of combat. It drives home the lack of human life as you embark on the level.
• Easter Egg: There are three unlockable weapons hidden throughout the levels, and discovering them involves steps that may not be noticeable in a regular playthrough.
• Energy Ball: The Fusion Torpedo fires one, and they're a common form of enemy attack.
• Escort Mission: The effective goal of Precinct Assault — you win by escorting one of your tank units into the enemy base. Capturing turrets and outposts to maintain control of more of the map will make this objective easier, as the tanks are pretty fragile.
• Evil Is Hammy: Sky Captain. The various villains in each mission also pretty hammy while taunting the protagonist's progress.
• Exty Years from Publication: 100 years after the game was made, Los Angeles has drowned in crime.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: The Flamethrower spits out flames with a limited maximum range (but can go far enough to shoot down low-flying aircraft) but can also burn down crowds in cramped areas.
• Fungus Humongous: There's a section in the sixth level where you're platforming across several giant mushrooms growing out of a giant pit of radioactive waste.
  Mission Control: What the hell? I haven't seen mushrooms like that since college!
• Gun Twirling: After defeating the boss of the prison break mission, you're treated to a cutscene of a high noon showdown that ends with your mech twirling its gun-arms, cowboy-style.
• Hollywood Cyborg: The rogue AI in the eighth level is putting together an army of them, and is kidnapping civilians to form them in what the Mission Control describes "a chop-shop for body parts."
  AI: Meat is obsolete. I shall convert you into a superior form.
• Hover Tank: The X-1's Hover mode, and the standard ground/attack unit in Versus mode.
• Joke Level: Accessed after beating all Precinct Assault maps against a Difficulty 10 Sky Captain. It is very similar to Proving Ground except more green, replaces all tanks with worms, helicopters with butterflies, turns the Dreadnought into a Sand Worm and the Flying Fortress into a giant bat. Towers become flowers. Sky Captain? A dragonfly or cocoon. All this insanity plays to hilarious music.
• Kill Sat: One section of the eighth level deploys four satellites that harass you with laser blasts from above, and you have to destroy the controlling nodes to stop them.
• Kill It with Fire: Flamethrowers are good for clearing out angry mobs, right?
• Laughing Mad: The Mad Scientist who's taken over the LAX is constantly laughing throughout the final battle with him.
• LEGO Genetics: "Recom" (presumably short for "recombinant") mutants are a recurring threat/plot point, and tend to have all kinds of... unorthodox features. Played for laughs in one end-mission cutscene, with a Multi-Armed and Dangerous mutant scientist;
  Mission Control: "Put your hands where I can see them!"
  [Mutant shakily raises four hands. X-1 leans in closer.]
  Mission Control: "All of them."
  [A fifth hand raises up, holding a suppressed pistol - which is promptly dropped.]
  Mission Control: [dismissively] "Cuff 'em."
• Marathon Level: LAX Spaceport is the only two-part level in the single player campaign. It's also the only level with a mid-level checkpoint.
• More Dakka: The starter primary weapon is a gatling cannon. Whilst it's not particularly powerful (at least, without a primary powerup reloader), it has a lot of ammo and it uses hitscan mechanics, so it's very easy to use.
• Nintendo Hard: For starters, every level is a Marathon Level, and being killed causes you to start over from the beginning of the level. You also need to conserve and familiarize the weaponry, but at least, unlike the predecessor, you don't have to refuel.
• One-Man Army: X-1 Alpha acts alone all the time. Unless you're playing co-op at any rate. Friendly units do appear in one or two missions, but they're really just there to provide a little flavour than be any kind of meaningful assistance.
• One-Hit Polykill: An ability of the Concussion Beam, since it is only stopped by the terrain. Helps conserve ammo!
• Patchwork Map: The sixth level starts you in an underground metro station, but as you progress you travel over a pit of radioactive waste, navigate a "military installation" that's half-submerged in lava, and teleport to the sunken remains of a ruined amusement park.
• Platform Game: Several levels involve a few jumping puzzles, either for progress or to access powerups.
  Mission Control: Looks like those jump hydraulics are going to get a workout!
• Player Versus Player: Precinct Assault - two players go head-to-head in a sort of very lightweight strategy game. You can also play it against the AI, which plays as Sky Captain.
• Police Brutality: The X-1 is only called in when the situation escalates beyond the control of the normal police units. When it's called in, police use "Code X", meaning the situation is extremely hostile and requires lethal force to regain control. Which in this case means a transforming mecha armed with more firepower than some small nations. What are you expecting? It's Los Angeles.
• Power-Up: Some reloaders for your weapons bestow a power-up to the weapon, giving you a small package of supercharged ammo that's separate from your standard ammo reserves. Powerups are indicated by their weapon icon rotating faster and flashing red.
• Prison Break: You have to foil one of these in the fifth mission, as a disturbingly well-armed "terrorist group" is rescuing their leader from the cells there, along with many of their brothers. Finishes with a Showdown at High Noon-esque shootout for the end-level cutscene.
• Ray Gun: The Gatling Laser.
• Recursive Ammo: Mortar + Upgraded Ammo = Cluster Munitions.
• Schmuck Bait: The fourth level tricks you with a switch that might open the way forward but kills a civilian.
  Big Vic: Ha-ha! Police brutality!
• See You in Hell: Pretty much one of Sky Captain's lines when he gets destroyed.
• Shared Life-Meter: In co-op, both players take damage when one takes a hit.
• Shock and Awe: The Lightning Gun.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Lots of places! If you destroy any structure, expect to see a shower of flaming debris. Some minibosses, once destroyed, will blow open a hole in the wall or floor and open the way to advance.
• Super Drowning Skills: Avoided and played straight. Touching water in the Walker mode forces an instant transformation into hovercar mode. However, in Hard difficulty, you sink and immediately die.
• Super Prototype: X-1 Alpha is this for the entire LAPD.
• Tank Goodness: Tank units are your victory condition, and escorting them to the enemy base wins you the game. They're quite fragile and can die to a few shots of heavy weaponry. Dreadnoughts are tougher tanks that can take more punishment but still need to be escorted lest they head off to their death.
• Transforming Mecha: The X-1 has both walker and hovercar modes. The former is more agile and better suited to urban combat, whilst the latter is faster and ideal for covering a lot of ground quickly. All of your weapons are accessible in both modes, however.
• Twist Ending: Spoofed; after the final cutscene in the campaign you are informed that all the stuff you have done so happened on the same day and you get a metaphorical pat on the shoulder saying: "Now get some rest, tomorrow will be the same all over again."
• Updated Re-release: The PC version of the game adds a map for Precinct Assault called "La Cantina" and does some cosmetic or mechanical touch-ups here and there compared to the original Play Station release.
• Upgrade vs. Prototype Fight: One of the enemies in the fifth level is old models of X-1, as the Mission Control informs you.
• Villainous Breakdown: Do terribly against the Sky Captain and he has no qualms mocking your skills. Start beating him and he initially tries to shrug it off, before gradually descending into roars of rage and shocked disbelief at your rising odds of success.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: The coordinator is basically there to keep you up to date on things and be the Exposition Fairy.
• Weaponized Landmark: The very first mission sees you destroying Griffith Observatory that has been converted into a gigantic cannon, and is being used to take potshots at passing airliners and other commercial aircraft. Later on, you must destroy the Theme Building in LAX (now turned into a spaceport) that has been turned into a giant weapons platform.
• You Require More Vespene Gas: In Precinct Assault, the points/requisition needed to purchase tanks/dreadnoughts (offense) and gunships/flying fortresses (defense) or outposts (forward bases) are earned by capturing neutral turrets, destroying enemy units/turrets, and destroying the enemy player/Sky Captain.

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