Police Simulator: Patrol Officers is currently the best police simulator available on any console and its developer Aesir Interactive is still working to add new features and content to the game despite it launching over a year ago. The latest update released for Police Simulator: Patrol Officers is called the Tackling Update, and it arrives alongside two paid DLC vehicle packs which further increase the police fleet in the game giving players even more reasons to jump back into the game and continue playing it. This is our review of the new Tackling Update and the Guardian and Surveillance Police Vehicle DLCs released for Police Simulator: Patrol Officers on the PC.
The new Update does not add much to the game but rather a brand-new way to catch suspects if they flee from you. If a suspect runs away from you if you catch them doing something illegal, instead of going full brutal and tasing them, now you can tackle them as well which is a rather less dignified way of getting caught but is surely less painful than getting tased. This works if you can approach a running suspect from their back or their side and does not work if you are too far or too close to the suspect. It is more of a running mini-game as you will need to reach a sweet spot distance from the criminal and then press the on-screen command when it appears to tackle the suspect.
If you manage to time it right, your police officer will leap at the suspect, catch them, quickly handcuff them to detain them, and prevent them from running any further. After this, you can call backup to take them to the precinct or use your own brand-new Guardian Police van to do so. Tasing requires more precision, and you must have it equipped to shoot at the criminals but with tackling, you can now just catch up to the criminals and lunge at them to take them down. Apart from this useful lunge, the mini-map also stays on the screen always when you are on foot patrols making it easier to navigate the streets and not lose your bearings.
Apart from the new Tackling Update, Aesir Interactive has released two new premium DLC vehicles for Police Simulator: Patrol Officers as well. The first one is the Guardian Police Vehicle which is a full-sized van, and it allows you to hold criminals and transport them to the police station at your own will. Before this, if you wanted to apprehend a suspect, you only had the option to call in a backup vehicle to transport them to the precinct or if the precinct is near you, walk them to it but with the arrival of the new Guardian Police Vehicle, you can now catch and hold them in it until you are ready to drive back to the precinct and drop them off. Apart from allowing you to hold six criminals at the same time, it offers all the features of the normal police vehicles as well.
Since the Guardian is a full-size vehicle, it allows you to arrest and hold six criminals in its back at one time. Its doors are located on one side where you can open and access the rear of the van which has seats next to its side walls. Apart from holding six criminals at the same time, it comes with three slots for your equipment which is a lot less when compared with the previously released Multipurpose Police Vehicle which comes with eight slots.
This space is even less than most sedan police vehicles but then again, the Guardian has more space for seating than holding your gear because it is modified for a different purpose. Another issue that pops up with the Guardian Van is that since most of the smaller precincts have less number of holding cells, at the end of your shift, if you have six criminals, you might need to drive around a bit and drop them off at different precincts to deliver all of them.
Moving on to the next DLC vehicle, the Surveillance Police Vehicle DLC is one of the most useful additions to arrive in the Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. If you love to pull over vehicles but most of them are clean then the new Surveillance Police Vehicle is the perfect new vehicle for you because it comes built-in with a radar system that can track and identify smaller infractions just by observing target vehicles for some time.
If you want to check a vehicle, simply drive behind it and once you are pacing it, it will enter observation mode and will quickly check and identify any possible infractions that it may have made. This is exceptionally useful in most scenarios if you do not want to leave your vehicle again and again only to check for basic infractions. It comes with four slots for your favourite gear as well which is a decent size for a sedan.
Nearly all of the players will love the new Surveillance Police Vehicle because it can quickly scan the vehicles for any offenses that you would normally stop the vehicle and investigate yourself. Using this vehicle, you can quickly check vehicles for infractions and stop them if they are guilty saving you a lot of time. It also looks the best in your entire fleet. On the other hand, the Guardian Police Vehicle is a completely different utility. For me, it did not make sense to use it all the time because the number of arrests you make in the game is not a lot. The max I managed to deliver at the end of a 30-minute day was just 2 criminals. Surely, the added SP is nice but in the end, you will be driving around the whole day in a boring van. Both vehicles offer utility in their way so you can choose whichever goes along with your playstyle and you can for that vehicle.
Final Verdict:
The new update and DLC vehicles are yet another great addition to the Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. Out of the three new content pieces, my favorite one is the new Surveillance Police Vehicle DLC because it makes patrols much easier and more convenient and if you prefer vehicle patrols to foot patrols, this DLC should be on your buy list. The Guardian Police Vehicle DLC is great for people who prefer to make a lot of arrests but other than that, it is big and not suitable for some of the tighter areas of the game. The Tackling Update is great if you love foot patrols, and it goes perfectly with the new Guardian Police Vehicle as well. Overall, the two paid DLC vehicles and the free Tackling Update is an excellent new addition to Police Simulator: Patrol Officers, and if you have been spending some time in the game, these will make it even more worth your while by giving you new ways to be a police officer. Highly recommended for fans and players looking to expand their garage.
Final Score: 8.0/10
