Future Cop: L.A.P.D. - Mechs, Mutants, and Mayhem

Hi folks. Some of you may have read my previous write-ups on playing PS1 Games. I’ll link them at the bottom of the post.

This is part of my effort to play PlayStation 1 games that I’ve never played– and often never heard of– until now. I’m buying these games physically, popping them into my PlayStation 2, which is hooked up to an old Sony Trinitron KV-1981R TV, and trying to give each title its due. I love early 3D graphics, tank controls, and everything that comes with this generation.

Today I want to discuss Future Cop: L.A.P.D.. This is a third person shooter developed by EA Redwood Shore where you control a mech in a Robocop-like hellscape.

This game was a blast to play. Besides some cutscenes to setup the missions, the game wastes no time dropping you into its third-person running and gunning action. You can freely change from a mech to a mech-car at any time, which changes how the mech moves.

The cutscenes create this mix of dystopian satire which perfectly punctuates the insanity of the premise. You’re a cop in a mech gunning down mutants and criminals. Just accept that and enjoy the gameplay.

There are eight levels, each a variety of locals like a beach, a prison, and an airport. For how simple they look, I never had a hard time parsing the environment – whether to understand the space as a game or a simulation of reality. The maps sort of look isometric in their presentation. Maybe I get that feeling because the spaces look miniature, particularly when there’s deep water and you can see bodies or sea creatures crawling on the bottom. A map editor for this game would be a lot of fun to play with.

Mostly, the game consists of shooting enemies, finding switches, and navigating the space with light platforming to find the boss and defeat it. Sometimes there’s side objectives, but overall each level is linear.

As you progress, more platforming gets added into the mix. I’m generally good with platforming, although the camera and sometimes the physics did make these sections a little difficult. In one late level, you’re jumping from conveyor belts over pits of lava or drops that can kill you. Thankfully, I made it through that on the first try. I really like how the game makes full use of its vertical space, often having you re-navigate an area from a higher vantage point.

Many levels required multiple plays, though, for me to clear. Often, I would get to a boss, get obliterated, and then have to play the whole level over. I admit to wanting checkpoints some of the time, but honestly, the game is fun enough that I didn’t mind speeding through the levels.

A better variety of weapons also wouldn’t have hurt. I get each of them is supposed to be useful for different situations, but I rode the Gatling Lasers, Fusion Rockets, and Shockwave special for most of the game without needing to switch. Only the final boss, a rogue AI, benefited from switching to the grenade launcher.

The gimmick of changing from a mech to mech-car, I think, works well. The game rarely forces you to do so unless you’re traversing water, which gives the player a lot of freedom to make those decisions. Admittedly, there are times where you have to jump a ramp as the mech-car, and the game does sign post that with dialogue. But more often than not, I would change into the mech-car when dealing with crowds or wide-open spaces.

I always mention music when discussing games, and Future Cop is no slouch in this regard. Some of the electro beats this game deploys are so funky! Go listen to “Zuma Beach” when you get a chance to see what I mean. Some of the later tracks aren’t as memorable to me, but they get the job done.

Now, Future Cop has the distinction of inspiring the MOBA genre with its multiplayer mode. I’m not familiar with MOBA games except passingly, but I did try out the “Precinct Assault” mode against the AI. I can see the appeal and definitely would have enjoyed that mode with friends. However, on my own, after beating the game, I couldn’t put more than one try in before calling it quits. Very cool stuff to see where inspiration can come from.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Future Cop: L.A.P.D. and would recommend it as a solid PS1 game right up there with Syphon Filter and Tenchu.

However, after the “hardcore” nature of this game, I figured I should play something more lighthearted, so I picked up Ape Escape! I’ll be sure to write about that game soon.

Prior PS1 Reviews:

Syphon Filter

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

[Omega Boost]( https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/1vo4weo/omega_boost_ps1_a_shootemup_thats_all_style/)

[Spyro the Dragon]( https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/1vut2hs/spyro_the_dragon_ps1_a_charming_3d_platformer/)

I guess I’m not hardcore enough, but the antiquated save system made me give up on this one pretty quickly. It’s a fun concept, though. I’d love a PC remaster with better controls, camera, and checkpoints.

I played the heck out of the demo of this as a kid. Can confirm the precinct assault mode is fun with friends. Against the AI was pretty good with the AIs dialogue and taunts from memory. Wild that it’s only 8 levels tho. You’re right that an editor would be sick as. Growing up now the actual idea of being a cop mech is kinda gross tbh lol but from the more mechanical standpoint it’s definitely pretty fun

I agree, the lack of checkpoints, especially in some of the later levels, effectively doubled my playtime because I had to play through each level at least twice. There are some really frustrating ways to die which did dampen my enjoyment of Future Cop just a little.

To be fair, though, most of the levels can be done quickly once you've played through them once. So, I was able to get back into things quickly. Not the nicest system - though I'm glad the game doesn't have a lives system or anything like that.

I also find it funny that so many PS1 games make saving something you do in the menus. My guess is they designed the game assuming the player had no external memory card (several N64 games, like Wipeout 64, are designed this way). But the idea that I wouldn't want to save after every missions, and that I need to go to select save, is really funny coming back to the game decades later.

Oh yeah, if I stop and think about the real-life implications of this game's premise, it's abhorrent lol. Antithetical my beliefs in any domain, whether politics, morals, or ethics.

I do think the game does some work to sort of poke fun at the premise, whether that's how the mech behaves in cutscenes, dancing around, or how over-the-top the scenarios are, but it does just as much to make the LAPD "badass", so it's not great from that angle. A different game where you're a mech fighting as a resistance or something would be 100% more palatable.

I was expecting more levels from the map, but yeah, 8 levels. Honestly, I'm happy with the shortness of this game. It's fun, but I don't think they had many more gameplay ideas. Short and sweet wins the day in my book, in that case.

And the Precinct Assault AI is brutal, just constantly verbally assaulting you while you play. It's pretty great!

I remember renting this game a few times but don’t think I ever actually beat it. I really liked the aesthetics of the mech design.

This game always reminded me of G-Police because of the dystopian and law enforcement themes. That’s another PS1 game hardly anyone remembers.

Brigador is a modern spiritual successor.

If it can cheer you up, I had plenty of fun with G police and remember fondly the second one (where you could swap between vehicles depending on the mission).

Although I'm pretty sure the wireframe aesthetic would make me queasy nowadays

Thanks, looks good!

Glad to see someone else remembers this game. I never knew they made a sequel to G Police.

Yeah, the mech is cool and the animation of it transforming between mech and mech-car are really well done.

G-Police is another game I've never heard of, and it looks cool enough (and cheap enough) for me to pick up. Would you recommend that game?

I remember back when I was young and me and my brother went to a computer education course. One of the rigs had this game on it and many of the kids present would try to be the first ones to get it to play the game during the free time.

Good times.

Yes