Best Police Quest cover?

Caught in your own cuffs? Need a hint? Or just want to talk about Police Quest - this is the place to do it!
User avatar
Tawmis
Grand Poobah's Servant
Posts: 20939
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:19 am
Gender: Not Specified
Contact:

Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Tawmis »

Best one and why?
Attachments
5534345-police-quest-in-pursuit-of-the-death-angel-dos-front-cover.jpg
4005355-police-quest-in-pursuit-of-the-death-angel-dos-front-cover.jpg
59336-police-quest-2-the-vengeance-atari-st-front-cover.jpg
4538708-police-quest-3-the-kindred-dos-front-cover.jpg
207861-daryl-f-gates-police-quest-open-season-dos-front-cover.jpg
User avatar
Rath Darkblade
The Cute One
Posts: 12944
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:15 am
Location: Lost in Translation
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Rath Darkblade »

I can't say any of those grabbed me, to be honest.

- PQ1 EGA has someone's face over the city, but it doesn't mean anything.
- PQ1 VGA has someone running away (presumably the "Death Angel"), but the words "POLICE QUEST: In pursuit" etc. nearly take over the entire box, and leave very little room for anything else.
- PQ2 is similar, but better. The title still takes up most of the box, though.
- PQ3, for me, is the best of the bunch. The title now takes about half the box, as it should be. The graphic is still mysterious enough to have us guessing, but it uses a clever effect of the murderer "cutting through the box".
- PQ4, sadly, commits the same sin as PQ1: someone's face is over the city, but it means nothing. The graphic looks like this game wants to be like James Bond, and is trying too hard.

By the way, I'm amused that "Computer Entertainer" called PQ3 "...reality role-playing". Firstly, that should be "realistic"; and secondly, the murders forming a pentagram has been used so many times, it's close to being a trope.

Having said all that, PQ1 and PQ2 are still tied as my favourite PQ games. PQ3 comes a distant second -- it's not a bad game, but the "pentagram" business REALLY lets it down -- and PQ4 is ... well ... not even in the running, sorry. For me, PQ4 is the moment when Sierra dropped the ball on this series (like LSL5 for Larry).
User avatar
Tawmis
Grand Poobah's Servant
Posts: 20939
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:19 am
Gender: Not Specified
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Tawmis »

Rath Darkblade wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 7:29 am Having said all that, PQ1 and PQ2 are still tied as my favourite PQ games. PQ3 comes a distant second -- it's not a bad game, but the "pentagram" business REALLY lets it down -- and PQ4 is ... well ... not even in the running, sorry. For me, PQ4 is the moment when Sierra dropped the ball on this series (like LSL5 for Larry).
PQ2 is my favorite, it looks very dynamic with a woman being held, scuba diving off to the side; like a lot of exciting things seem to be promised.

However, you knock the pentagram thing, but I loved that in PQ3. But I grew up in the 80s where lots of horror movies used it and it brings me back to those types of movies.
User avatar
Rath Darkblade
The Cute One
Posts: 12944
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:15 am
Location: Lost in Translation
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Rath Darkblade »

Fair enough. :) I never got that far in PQ3 until I played it again a few years ago (maybe late-2010s or early 2020s). By then, the "pentagram thing" felt very cliche -- but I assume that in the 1980s, it wouldn't have been? :)
User avatar
Tawmis
Grand Poobah's Servant
Posts: 20939
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:19 am
Gender: Not Specified
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Tawmis »

Rath Darkblade wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 6:17 pm Fair enough. :) I never got that far in PQ3 until I played it again a few years ago (maybe late-2010s or early 2020s). By then, the "pentagram thing" felt very cliche -- but I assume that in the 1980s, it wouldn't have been? :)
Satan sold well, whether it was records, or D&D, all thanks to the Satanic panic.
So it became cliche to make movies about rituals, demons, devils, etc.
User avatar
Collector
Grand Poobah
Posts: 12013
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:57 am
Location: Sierraland
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Collector »

don't forget this:
PQ1VGASkull-c.png
01000010 01111001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100001

Image
User avatar
notbobsmith
Village Elder
Posts: 5376
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:02 pm
Location: Massachusetts
Gender: Male

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by notbobsmith »

I really don't like the PQ1 remake. The bald ghost head really has nothing to do with what the game is about. It doesn't even imply what the game will be about. Police work? It looks more like a comic cover where the bald ghost head is going to control everyone with his mind or something.

PQ3 is fine, but doesn't really stand out. The artwork is kind of blah.

PQ4 is also fine, but it's pretty much just a picture of the LA skyline. I do like how "Daryl F. Gates" is in white and "Police Quest" uses the background. But "Crawl Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer". Not really. We never do figure out what motivated him.

I do like the artwork for PQ1 and PQ2. Really nice details. I don't think the art on any of the other games (KQ, QFG, SQ, etc.) uses this kind of realism. So I'm going to go with PQ1. I like the dark, muted tones.

I guess the person on the PQ1 and 2 cover is supposed to be Bains, even though Bains is supposed to have dark hair. It was a nice touch to have him appear on both covers in the same art style. It connects the two games nicely.

Fun fact: the box art in PQ2 and PQ3 use Arabic numerals, but the in-game title screens use Roman numerals.
User avatar
Tawmis
Grand Poobah's Servant
Posts: 20939
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:19 am
Gender: Not Specified
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Tawmis »

Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image
Image no worky.
notbobsmith wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 12:42 am I do like the artwork for PQ1 and PQ2. Really nice details. I don't think the art on any of the other games (KQ, QFG, SQ, etc.) uses this kind of realism. So I'm going to go with PQ1. I like the dark, muted tones.
I guess the person on the PQ1 and 2 cover is supposed to be Bains, even though Bains is supposed to have dark hair. It was a nice touch to have him appear on both covers in the same art style. It connects the two games nicely.
Fun fact: the box art in PQ2 and PQ3 use Arabic numerals, but the in-game title screens use Roman numerals.
Bains dyed his hair as a disguise. :)
User avatar
Rath Darkblade
The Cute One
Posts: 12944
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:15 am
Location: Lost in Translation
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Rath Darkblade »

Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 2:07 am
Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image
Image no worky.
Good to see I'm not the only one who couldn't see that image. *shrug*
goatmeal
Sierra Veteran
Posts: 386
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2016 12:06 am
Gender: Not Specified

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by goatmeal »

Rath Darkblade wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 6:24 am
Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 2:07 am
Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image
Image no worky.
Good to see I'm not the only one who couldn't see that image. *shrug*
It was there last night; I saw it. Something must have happened to the linked image.
User avatar
Collector
Grand Poobah
Posts: 12013
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:57 am
Location: Sierraland
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Collector »

Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 2:07 am
Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image no worky.
Try it now.
01000010 01111001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100001

Image
User avatar
Tawmis
Grand Poobah's Servant
Posts: 20939
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:19 am
Gender: Not Specified
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Tawmis »

Collector wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 9:49 am
Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 2:07 am
Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image no worky.
Try it now.
Yup shows now. I have never seen the cover in person. :(
goatmeal
Sierra Veteran
Posts: 386
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2016 12:06 am
Gender: Not Specified

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by goatmeal »

Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 11:42 am
Yup shows now. I have never seen the cover in person. :(
And I have never seen the PERSON in the COVER ! :lol:
User avatar
Collector
Grand Poobah
Posts: 12013
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:57 am
Location: Sierraland
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Collector »

Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 11:42 am
Collector wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 9:49 am
Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 2:07 am
Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image no worky.
Try it now.
Yup shows now. I have never seen the cover in person. :(
You sure you have not? It does not show that much. It is more of a matter of moving the cover around to get just the right light reflection to make it show. A rather ghostly image.
01000010 01111001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100001

Image
User avatar
Tawmis
Grand Poobah's Servant
Posts: 20939
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:19 am
Gender: Not Specified
Contact:

Re: Best Police Quest cover?

Post by Tawmis »

Collector wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 5:37 pm
Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 11:42 am
Collector wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 9:49 am
Tawmis wrote: Thu May 02, 2024 2:07 am
Collector wrote: Wed May 01, 2024 8:40 pm don't forget this:
Image no worky.
Try it now.
Yup shows now. I have never seen the cover in person. :(
You sure you have not? It does not show that much. It is more of a matter of moving the cover around to get just the right light reflection to make it show. A rather ghostly image.
Yeah - pretty sure I have non-cool-skull PQ1. :)
Post Reply

Return to “The Police Quest Series”