Techno Cop
| Developer: Gray Matter | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Gremlin | Sound: |
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| Year: 1988 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
5/10 | |
I know what you’re thinking—the name brings to mind Cyber Cop, another essential from our Amiga library, which I’ll tell you about another time. I limit myself to one intellectual game per day.
This is the story of a futuristic cop, crusading against crime, driving a massive car with a hefty gun in his grip. Not to worry, you’ll have ample opportunity to make use of both implements, as it’s a “two-in-one”, alternating between “racing game” segments (where shooting at other vehicles is perfectly acceptable) and laid-back pedestrian sequences, where you’ll splash blood and brains across the walls.
The pretext for this messy activity is to apprehend the dangerous criminal whose mug shot is displayed at the bottom of the screen (next to a radar for locating them). The mission briefing will inform you whether it’s “dead or alive”. Note that you’re equipped with a net launcher (Space key) should you opt for the latter option.
The troublemaker is holed up in their hideout, a multi-storey building occupied by a motley crew: giant rats, prostitutes, old ladies, jumping children, and punks who’ll open fire without warning or strike you with whatever’s at hand (knives, whips… I even saw one with a mace!).
I should mention that you can kill everyone in this game, even the children—such a rarity! And bodies have this peculiarity of exploding generously, splattering everywhere. That’s what you call “painting the town red”.
This game cracks me up for its sheer kitsch factor. I probably would’ve found it just as laughable back in the day. Technically, it’s rock-bottom: no need to dodge anything, and don’t expect much in the way of variety either. You’ll play it for a few minutes, drawn in by the blood-soaked atmosphere and its Death Wish meets Mad Max vibe (with a dash of Dirty Harry, for the Magnum).
It was ported to the Sega Genesis in 1990, a version that’s reportedly a bit easier to control. The graphics are certainly more refined. And worth noting, they didn’t censor the game.
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