History VideoGame / PoliceQuest

** The third game actually lampshades the fact that the player is probably expecting some kind of toilet humor, by including a toilet that can be interacted with, but not actually used. Continued interaction will lead to the game basically telling you to stop obsessing over toilets.

* ViolationOfCommonSense: You can fire your gun without drawing it first, with predictable results. On the other hand, you can leave your gun at the jail locker for the entire game and proceed unarmed.

** In the original version of the first game, when you pull someone over, one of the locations you could end up is the disco from ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry''.

*** In the jail, you'll notice a familiar character behind bars, again from the ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' game.

* BigGood: Sonny Bonds. According to the Lytton Tribune in PQI, he's been nominated for the Officer of the Year award "due to outstanding effort and commitment in crime prevention." Lampshaded by a fellow officer.
--> "Hey, Sonny! That story in this morning's paper sure made you look good."

* CharacterDevelopment:
** Marie went from a simple-minded hooker with a heart of gold, to an honest-working middle-class woman, to a considerably more intelligent and [[spoiler: loving wife of Officer Sonny Bonds]]. The remake of the first game made her much less simple.
** Sonny went from a well known ByTheBookCop, to a CowboyCop who still manages to do things by the book, to a SWAT officer, to a SWAT team leader, to commanding a SWAT team.

** Same for John Carey.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Many argue that ''VideoGame/LANoire'' is this.
** Older still was the Jim Walls produced ''VideoGame/BlueForce''.
** Precinct (a new police simulator on Kickstarter) was supposed to be this, but was canceled due to lack of funding.

* WhatTheHellPlayer: In [=PQ4=], try giving the candy bar to Hal.

* ArtShift: PQI was a graphic text adventure that was quirky in its own right. PQII went for a style akin to a BuddyCopShow. Japan got a more [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/policequest/policequest.htm manga-inspired]] PQII. PQIII and the remake of I went for a more realistic look, especially, in PQIII, to highlight how depressing it gets when the story kicks off. PQIV, especially with the change in designers AND since Sierra was experimenting with other [=FMV=] games like {{VideoGame/Phantasmagoria}}, utilized digitized graphics to make the game look even more realistic, darker, and more depressing (though it ended up being almost as silly as PQI and II in some scenes). PQ SWAT wasn't as dark but still utilized digitized graphics and [=FMVs=] heavily. The rest of the SWAT games took up 3D models from then on.

** The SWAT games escalates as well with each installment. SWAT 4 even has a scene where [[spoiler: the cultists are revealed to have had sacrificed infants for their god.]]

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Can happen a lot in the game, often resulting in missed opportunities to earn more points, or getting a game over. Examples include failing to look up license plate information before making a stop in the third game (lost extra points) and using either the lighter or pesticide, not both, in the fourth game (game over). The most tragic of all is SWAT 1, where failure to plan out mission 3 could result in the player dying the moment the mission starts.

*** While not a central theme, in IV in South Central you can see a DARE billboard in the background(put there at the request of Darryl Gates) as clicking Hickman's medication on certain characters gets an anti drug response(Richard Marx say "I just say no" Barbie Can say "oh no no no no" and the Ragin Records owner says he can't take drugs because it messes him up and could hurt his business).
** Arresting the DomesticAbuser in the first callout in ''SWAT 2'' will yield a quantity of PCP, implying that the drug was a factor. On the terrorist side of things, Basho is vehemently [[EvenEvilHasStandards against drugs]] due to what happened to his own son.

** In SWAT, most of the failure screens involve the sergeant scolding you harshly.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Throughout the series Bonds handles loads of tasks which should be done by a specialized investigator or officer. Probably the biggest example of this is near the end of the third game, where you call in a SWAT breach team to help in taking on a group of criminals who have barricaded themselves in a crack house. All the SWAT do is plow down the door with their motorized ram, and ''Bonds proceeds to enter the house by himself while the SWAT waits outside''.

* TheAce: Over the course of the games, we see Sonny take on a variety of roles within the police department. He starts out as a patrolman and earns a temporary reassignment (which is treated the same as a promotion) to Narcotics, which includes a stint as an undercover officer. In the second game, he's been transferred to Homicide and has a scuba certificate. He's actually promoted to detective sergeant in the third game, and at the beginning he takes a temporary reassignment to patrol sergeant to cover for another sergeant. And finally, he appears in the ''SWAT'' series, starting from ''SWAT 2'', where it's explained that he's loaned to the LAPD to train with SWAT in order to set up a SWAT team in Lytton. He's basically done just about everything there is to do in police work, and not only that, he's ''excelled'' at everything he's done, and it's implied that he's ''never'' put a foot wrong. He's basically the model police officer.

** PointAndClickGame: PQIII: The Kindred, the remake of I, IV, and PQ SWAT, crossed with being a FullMotionVideo game.
** RealTimeStrategy: Police Quest SWAT 2.
** TacticalShooter: SWAT 3 and 4.

** Averted with Police Quest SWAT. Getting killed in combat simply shows your funeral. Non-death game over sequences do play this straight with reprimands for poor behavior, including those that lead to game overs.

* InNameOnly: The ''SWAT'' series bears virtually no resemblance to the original Police Quest series, despite bearing its name. This ended with ''SWAT 3'', which dropped the name.

** In the finale of the ''SWAT 2'' terrorist campaign, the terrorist mastermind (Basho) betrays the player character (Dante) and is subsequently killed or arrested. Okay, good. But Dante and anyone else who escaped in the private jet are apparently forgiven for multiple instances of murder and kidnapping, just because Dante renounces the criminal life.

* MidSeasonUpgrade: Sonny is issued a different sidearm for each game in which he appears; a .357 Magnum revolver in the original game, a [=10mm=] 1911 based pistol in ''2'', and a [=9mm=] Beretta in ''3''. In his appearances in the ''SWAT'' spinoffs, he uses a 1911 in ''SWAT 2'', which is also the default sidearm in ''SWAT 3''.

** Precinct (a new police simulator on Kickstarter) was supposed to be this but was canceled due to lack of funding.
** For SWAT 3 and 4, it's argued that they are the successors to [[VideoGame/RainbowSix Rainbow Six 3 and below.]]

** In SWAT 3 and 4, you '''will''' be saying this a ''lot!'' You have to get the suspect to surrender, even if he/she has a gun. Only when it's pointed at you or you hear a shot is when you're allowed to take a shot.

** In SWAT 1, shooting anyone without a justifiable reason[[labelnote:*]]If they are armed and refuse to comply with demands, or are an immediate threat to you or anyone else[[/labelnote]] will result in internal affairs getting involved, and eventually having you arrested for murder. Victims can include Lucy, the old lady in the first mission, and a injured hostage in the third mission.

** In ''VideoGame/SWAT4'', you fail on points for shooting a suspect regardless of whether they were going to attack you, one of your team, or surrender. Sadly TruthInTelevision. Though police and SWAT officers are entirely justified in killing someone who attacks them with lethal force, the game distorts the responsibility of the police to the public's perceived standard (and, in some ways, what professional organizations like SWAT are supposed to do) to protect and serve while doing as little harm as possible.
*** It gets ridiculous when the suspects CHARGE at you with the guns and you are still not able to shoot them. Slightly less once you realize you can only open fire when suspects fire their guns first, whether at civilians or you, or even just aiming their weapons. Bizarrely your snipers don't cause any penalties at all.

** SWAT 1 '''loves''' this trope. Bad behavior incurs negative reactions from your fellow officers. Failing to meet protocol or staying with your team has you removed and scolded by the sergeant, and giving civilians the silent treatment has them rightfully offended at you.

** The SWAT games are a little more lenient. SWAT 3 and 4 do allow this, but you'll get penalized for shooting anyone, even if they point the gun at you. Strangely, taking control of the snipers and dispatching a suspect with their rifles grants you no penalties.

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.

!!This series contains examples of:

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/policequest.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Protecting the city of Lytton since 1987. [[ContinuityDrift Or 1983; we don't know.]]]]