Re: If Police Quest would have continued...
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2025 11:25 pm
His promotion is a stretch. Sonny actually does ask for a transfer after Laura tells him about the open position, but I don't think it's quite at easy as that. Then again, Lytton is a small city (~28,000) so things aren't going to be quite as stringent as in a major city. In fact, even having different detective units also seems unlikely. But it is a game. In most Sierra games, you wander around and pick up random objects which just so happen to end up being useful later on.Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat Oct 04, 2025 3:43 am Hmm. Yes -- I never thought of that, but it's odd that in PQ1, Sonny works as a beat cop for most of the game, and then -- somehow -- he ends up doing an undercover, "James Bond"-style assignment. (He even gets special spy tools, like a pen with a concealed microphone).
He has no training or experience in being undercover, and very few police departments even have the budget for this kind of specialist equipment (especially back in the 1980s).
I understand the narrative necessity for Sonny to do this, but still, I don't know if he could ever have an opportunity like this in real life. Moving him from Traffic Division to Detective is a very big, very rapid promotion. Sonny never even applies for the role, it simply "happens". (Here in Australia, a police officer has to work as one for at least 5-7 years before applying for a detective role).
In real life, he probably would investigate burglaries and such. I'm not sure if they would have the chance to solve such cases themselves, though, or if their role is limited to securing the perimeter and crowd control, before they call in specialist detectives.
