History VisualNovel / Policenauts

** The [[HeyItsThatSound shooting range's combat mode]] lifts several distinct sound effects from ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers''.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: This happens when Redwood places a bomb in the woman's Elles. The player has to figure out which of the bags is the fake until the last one reveals to be the real one.

Building on many of ''Snatcher'''s strengths (the VisualNovel interface with shooting segments sprinkled in for good measure), ''Policenauts'' was first released for the [[UsefulNotes/{{PC98}} NEC PC-9821]] computer platform in 1994, with console ports for the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]], UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}, and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn following soon after. Konami announced an English localization of the Sega Saturn version in 1996 (two years before ''Metal Gear Solid''), but ultimately chose to cancel it when the developers allegedly (according to an interview with Kojima in the official strategy guide) found themselves unable to properly sync the English dialogue to the game's pre-animated FMV cutscenes. The FanTranslation linked above is actually of the PS version - an ordeal in itself, voice recording notwithstanding, as translators ran up against a variety of oddly compressed graphics and sequences that would go outside the grain for only one or two parts of the game. The patch finally came out on Hideo Kojima's 46th birthday (August 24, 2009, which is also the date of Jonathan and Lorraine's wedding in the story), though, in what Website/SomethingAwful forumer LetsPlay/{{slowbeef}} (the "Comrade" part was appended following a Russian site catching wind of the project) calls a Beta release: aside from the Japanese-only audio, the game is not only completely playable in English but is polished enough to be considered as good as any official release could have been.

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Ed shoots Gates right between the eyes, just as he's about to kill Jonathan. A fairly blatant ShoutOut to ''Film/DieHard'' and ''Film/LethalWeapon2'''s ending. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation and Saturn versions also show [[OffWithHisHead Gates’ head sent flying]] when his PowerArmor explodes.]]

* CaughtOnTape: [[spoiler: Jonathan captures Gates' true colors after exposing his motive rant on what he, Toscanini and Tokugawa have been doing on Beyond by using a small camera on his ear.]]

* ProductionThrowback: The game is filled with several ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' and ''Franchise/MetalGear'' references. From cameos by Randam and Napoleon, to the presence of a 2042 ''Snatcher'' calendar in Dr. Ishida's office.

** Ishida's [[VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}} 2042 calendar]] [[{{Feelies}} that he got from a video game]]. [[LampshadeHanging It's even mentioned by one of the characters]] that, given a haircut and a trench coat, [[{{Expy}} Jonathan would look just like the guy in the middle]].

%%* SaltAndPepper: Jonathan and Ed.

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: The drugs trafficking [[spoiler: is all a hoax for another crime coverup.]]

* GagBoobs: Jonathan finds [[{{Fanservice}} a myriad of excuses]] to touch women's breasts, complete with [[JigglePhysics jiggle animations]] and a sound effect (Meryl's twins [[FanDisservice sound like elephants]]).

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Jonathan's favorite brand of cigarettes, "Moslems", was real, and they were 'break' cigarettes; required no lighter, but had a sulfuric compound in the tip that activated when you broke the end.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Jonathan Ingram, Gates Becker and Tony Redwood.

* IllGirl: Lorraine and Kenzo's daughter, BBC (not [[Creator/{{BBC}} the British one]]) news anchor Karen Hojo. Thankfully while she's waiting for a bone marrow transplant, she can phone it in via CG duplicate.

* LukeIMightBeYourFather: [[spoiler: Jonathan's bone marrow is compatible with Karen, making it ''highly probable'' that they're related. Karen seems prepared to draw that conclusion, even addressing Jonathan as "dad" in her letter at the end]].

* IncestIsRelative:
** [[spoiler:Karen starts to put the moves on Jonathan; later, it's implied that Karen is actually Jonathan's daughter.]]
** Tokugawa's "Rebirthers" are clones of celebrity women throughout history, existing solely to have sex with him and his clientèle. More disturbingly, they're also registered as legal blood relatives of Tokugawa himself.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Jonathan literally has blue hair, along with Tokugawa (whose hair is green) and Ed's children. Redwood's hair is purple, although in that case it's a side-effect of his biology.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-[[Franchise/{{Dragnet}} Ladies and gentlemen]], the story you are about to hear is [[RecycledInSpace copied]]. [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Only the names have been changed]], to [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope protect our attorneys.]]-] ]]

* RecycledInSPACE: Sure enough, as ''Snatcher'' was ''Film/BladeRunner'' [-WITH ROBOTS INSTEAD OF CLONES!-], this is ''Film/LethalWeapon'' [-IN AN O'NEILL CYLINDER!-].

* BadassBeard: Gates Becker sports one.
* BadassMustache: Ed.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Only Ed and Jonathan are the only good members of the Policenauts.

* AllThereInTheManual: The translation project's website features a massive compendium of glossary terms gleaned from the [=PlayStation=] release's omake disc. Strangely enough, there's a mode DummiedOut here but available by default in the Saturn copy that allows players to call up the EncyclopediaExposita on the fly.

* DummiedOut: The aforementioned EncyclopediaExposita, along with extra firing range targets depicting Snatcher heads (oddly, with green eyes vis-a-vis the international releases of that game, rather than the original Franchise/{{Terminator}}-esque red ones). The patch actually also dummies away graphics that just didn't want to cooperate with the new code offsets, rerouting to displaying new, uncompressed images rather than slogging through Konami's proprietary compression code.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: The content of the [=3DO=]'s ''Pilot Disk'' and the [=PlayStation=]'s ''Private Collection'' disc are the same for the most part, but the latter, being released after the main game, has no qualms about spoiling the story. Additionally, the cover artwork used for the [=PlayStation=] and Sega Saturn version makes it pretty obvious that [[spoiler:Tony Redwood isn't exactly a good guy.]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler: The content of the [=3DO=]'s ''Pilot Disk'' and the [=PlayStation=]'s ''Private Collection'' disc are the same for the most part, but the latter, being released after the main game, has no qualms about spoiling the story.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil:
** [[spoiler:One of the big giveaways that Kenzo Hojo won't be showing up alive is the fact that he's the only main character without a credited voice actor.]]
** The cover illustrations for the [[spoiler:[=PS1=] and Saturn versions don't make any attempt to hide the fact that Redwood isn't exactly a friendly character.]]

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Ed shoots Gates right between the eyes, just as he's about to kill Jonathan. A fairly blatant ShoutOut to ''Film/DieHard'' and ''Film/LethalWeapon2'''s ending. The PlayStation and Saturn versions also show [[OffWithHisHead Gates’ head sent flying]] when his PowerArmor explodes.]]

* BlackBestFriend: Ed. [[spoiler:He's also the only one of the Policenauts outside of Jonathan who doesn't turn evil.]]

* LateArrivalSpoiler: The content of the [=3DO=]'s ''Pilot Disk'' and the [=PlayStation=]'s ''Private Collection'' disc are the same for the most part, but the latter, being released after the main game, has no qualms about hiding spoilers.

* DueToTheDead: Nearly everyone who dies in the game is shipped off to BCCH, [[spoiler:where their bodies are put into SuspendedAnimation while their organs are sold on the black market.]]