Contraband Police is an enjoyable experience, but it has some annoying bits to deal with and there are definitely better alternatives with similar premises and gameplay. The game gives players meaningful choices, both big and small, that make the player feel like they have an impact on the world they find themselves in. Fun and interesting adventures are frequent and well paced, and the game offers a polished core gameplay loop with an action spin that greatly expands on what Papers Please started.
In Contraband Police, you play as a border police inspector in a communist country of the early 1980s. Every second driver is a smuggler and the vehicles are stuffed with hidden contraband. Documents, vehicles, cargo.. everything is subject to detailed control. The game likes to throw you curveballs when you’re most at ease — a guy might speed past the border post and into Acaristan, and you have to sprint to your official work truck and chase them down. Or a band of rebels might ambush your post, and your colleagues finally come in handy as the border crossing becomes a battlefield.
The game’s shooting and driving mechanics are very floaty, and as long as you occasionally duck into some kind of cover, it’s rare you’ll lose a conflict. But it’s also not the real meat of the game; it’s a side dish to the main course of doing some border stops. Contraband Police also occasionally takes you away from your post. Your superiors might call you in to assist on an urgent matter, and you have to stalk a known rebel through the gloomy woods or investigate a local murder.
Sometimes you have to haul all the smugglers you’ve caught down to the local labor camp, where they can make up for their crime of having a flask in their car by mining ore for no pay. All of this seems very moral and normal! The game is good, with a few negatives.
Contraband Police has received generally favorable reviews from critics, with an average Metascore of 77 based on 9 Critic Reviews . User reviews are mixed or average, with an average User Score of 7.0 based on 22 Ratings .
Overall, Contraband Police is an enjoyable experience that offers players meaningful choices and interesting adventures. While it has its flaws, it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a game that expands on what Papers Please started.
