The Precinct is like old-school Grand Theft Auto, but you play as the cops

If you’ve been after a new game that captures the vibe of old-school Grand Theft Auto, you’ll want to check out The Precinct.

Fresh off a reveal at the Future Game Show Summer Showcase Powered by Intel, this top-down action game puts you in the shoes of a rookie cop fresh out of the academy. It’s your job to police a city in 1983 that’s rife with gang violence and corruption. Doing that means cleaning up the streets, protecting the populace, and bringing the institutions working in the shadows into the light. 

From a gameplay perspective, though, restoring order to Averno City means plenty of car and helicopter chases with destructible environment elements. It’s a scenario you may be familiar with in Grand Theft Auto, though this time you’re in the driver’s seat of the police car. You can also call for the aid of SWAT vans and helicopters alongside fellow cops who will set up roadblocks and spike strips.

It’s not all high-flying action, either. There’s plenty of time to take things slow with routine patrols of areas, car searches, and even handing out the odd parking ticket. If you don’t fancy the grunt work, though, work can be skipped in favour of racing, time trials, and stunt jumps. Maybe the cops of The Precinct and the thugs of GTA aren’t too different after all. 

While comparisons to GTA are easy to come by, The Precinct is a love letter to classic cop movies at heart. Due to release next year, the open-world game is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.

Deputy News Editor

Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.