Contraband Police Review (Steam)

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For our Contraband Police Review, Wher we take over the duties of a border guard inspector in a communist country of the 80s. Smuggling, corruption, and forgery are the order of the day here. Be vigilant and earn the respect of your superiors.

Contraband Police Review Pros:

  • Highly realistic graphics.
  • 10.52GB Download size.
  • Steam achievements.
  • Graphics settings – window mode, resolution, brightness, the field of view slider, v-sync, interaction outlines, video/texture quality, texture memory, shadows, anti-aliasing, depth of field, volumetric lighting, and screen space reflections.
  • Gameplay settings – documents comparing (unlimited/normal/never), enemy difficulty (easy/normal/hard), day length (25/35/45), road ambushes, post attacks, clues about smugglers, crouch type, aim type, head bobbing, and camera smoothing.
  • Can rebind controls for the keyboard and adjust the sensitivity for the mouse.
  • Three save slots.
  • Decent loading times.
  • Full day and night cycle.
  • Positional sound.
  • Opening tutorial section.
  • Perception goes down as you work, low level means you start to compare documents slower, or you only check the basics thus making mistakes.
  • Inspection reports are where you tick or mark correct/incorrect or missing entries. (the list gets bigger and more extensive as you play)
  • Approve or deny visitors.
  • Earn money based on your performance.
  • Handy document matching system where you click the two corresponding entries and get a verdict.
  • After each inspection, you get an audit showing what you got right or wrong along with a rating.
  • Your quarters are where you go to sleep/rest and doing so regenerates your perception.
  • Upgrade your quarters to increase the maximum level of health and perception.
  • End-of-day breakdown.
  • The information board can give descriptions of smugglers to help.
  • Search vehicles for contraband by looking in places like the headliner, tires, air filter, or even the fuel tank!
  • You have a torch and UV light.
  • Arrest and house criminals but they can try and escape you can also hire guards and upgrade the jail.
  • The warehouse is where you Store tools, Weapons, and any contraband. You can upgrade it. Quick transfer system with the police car.
  • To find items you may need tools and each tool is for specific materials like knives for seats etc.
  • Quick select bar to jump between tools, Weapons, and bare hands.
  • Ambushes and attacks can happen and when this triggers the game turns into Call of Duty border police edition.
  • Has a full driving element as you need to transfer prisoners and contraband to the police and labor camps.
  • Satisfying as hell well you get a perfect rating or nail a bad guy.

Contraband Police Review Cons:

  • A lot to take in.
  • Takes some getting used to.
  • Cannot change the spoken language to English. (only an issue when learning because you get overwhelmed with all the text).
  • Doesn’t support controllers.
  • Character models repeat.
  • Didn’t see many if any female characters.
  • Checkpoints are far apart.
  • Doesn’t have an endless mode.
  • You cannot check the map when driving or lay down markers to help navigate the roads/
  • When driving you only have arms and your body mysteriously disappears.
  • No 3rd person view or additional views when driving.
  • The shooting is fine but it’s not as tight as you would like.

Related Post: Plasma Preview (Steam Early Access) 

Contraband Police:

Official website.

Developer: Crazy Rocks

Publisher: PlayWay

Store Links –

Steam

  • 8/10
    Graphics - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
  • 8/10
    Accessibility - 8/10
  • 8/10
    Length - 8/10
  • 9/10
    Fun Factor - 9/10
8/10

Summary

Honestly, didn’t think a game with this description could be so engrossing and so satisfying. I got to scratch the Poirot itch by investigating everyone’s documents, Scanning their faces for a tell, The go full Border Force regardless if Im throwing them in the slammer or wishing them a fantastic day, every day just felt different. Earning my money was slow but it did mean when I finally upgraded my caravan or the jail that it was well earned. Losing money for a stupid oversight is still one of the worst parts but it’s all on me. I like how the game has full driving, detective work, and shooting as it makes it a well-rounded experience. The tutorial is so in-depth and long that it felt like half the game was just tutorials but you do appreciate it as there is a lot going on. If you have any desire or curiosity to try the game then you should because all the videos and all the writing in the world will never capture just how unique and satisfying the game is. Hours fly by, and Smuggler never rests but you just keep going and going because it’s your job, and if you don’t keep the border safe who will?

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!