Eh
Rebel Cops is billed as a spin-off game to This is the Police, but in practice its more like a standalone expansion with an old school early 90s mentality, presuming a high skill level from the get-go. Those who have no experience with This is the Police 2's tactical combat missions need not apply.
The strength of This is the Police 2 was variety. You took the role of police dispatcher, staff manager, and combat strategist, which was all tied together with stellar voiceacting and artwork. Rebel Cops is simply the combat missions, minus everything else. Even the interesting music that gave the series so much personality has been replaced by forgettable looping tracks designed for long playtimes.
But what about combat? If they focused on combat to the exclusion of everything else, surely its amazing? Eh. Nowhere near enough to justify an entire game. This is the Police 2 had 21 perks, Rebel Cops has just 9. The only choices in your team's development are to select the order you want those perks, meaning every cop is identical once they reach maximum level.
Perhaps the biggest point of contention is the save system. Saves are a limited resource to be used sparingly. Even if you're not staunchly opposed to limited saving (I'm not), Rebel Cops has a tendency to front-load the hardest missions to make the idea look unattractive. The first mission has a strict time limit. The second is a massive sprawling 4 hour map which could be mistaken for the finale.
I did like a few things. I like that you're underfunded force is barely able to scrape together a couple of pistols at the start. I like how the level design covers casinos, hedge mazes, and shopping malls. I like channelling my inner Garrett and looting the treasure dotted about these levels. Its just unfortunate there's not a whole lot to spend it on.
Its hard to recommend Rebel Cops even to the most hardcore fans of the series who're in love with this noir-tinged universe.
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