Second in the series (the first one I played, though), and arguably the worst of the
Jim Walls trilogy proper. Published in 1989 by
Sierra On-Line, and used the
SCI engine.
Story
Sonny Bonds has, in the interim since the end of Police Quest 1, been promoted to homicide detective, as has Keith Robinson, who is now his chain-smoking partner. As the game begins, everything is going right for Sonny. 'Sweet Cheeks' Marie Wilkans, his semi-girlfriend from the first game, has cleaned up her act (so she's not a prossie any more), there's no major crime going on, and life is good. Things start to go sour when Sonny is told by Captain Hall Fletcher that Jesse Bains is up for parole. After wandering around the station a bit more, Sonny returns to be told that Bains has escaped from jail!
Sonny and Keith arrive at the jail and are told Bains has taken a corrections officer as hostage. After interviewing a witness, they receive word that the hostage's car has been found at a local mall.
At the mall, an empty holster is found in the car, and a woman turns up saying her car has been stolen. Another call comes in of a possible murder at Cotton Cove.
At the cove, Sonny and Keith and a fellow officer are ambushed by Bains, who escapes in the stolen station wagon. Blood and drag marks are found next to the river, so a diver is radioed for. Sonny and the diver recover the body of the corrections officer. As they leave the cove, word comes in of a unit in pursuit of Bains near the airport.
Arriving at the airport, Sonny locates the stolen car, and finds the missing gun dumped in the men's bathroom. The ticket clerk says Bains purchased a ticket to Houston. Sonny and Keith board a flight to Houston, only to be called back to the terminal when it is revealed Bains wasn't aboard the previous flight.
It's the end of the shift, and Sonny meets Marie for dinner (and, if you keep using 'KISS MARIE', gives her some hot hot lovin'). The next day, another body is found stuffed into the trunk of a car by some warehouses. Bains is tracked down to a local motel, the Snuggler's Inn.
With the assistance of the SWAT Team, Sonny and Keith storm Bains' motel room and discover him gone, but a note on a floor with a list of names - all names from those who testified against Bains at the end of PQ1. Both Sonny and Marie are on the list. Sonny races over to Marie's house to find a forged note from her on the door. Bains has kidnapped her.
Without any other leads, Sonny contacts the other name on the hitlist, one Donald Colby, who now owns a importer/exporter in Steelton, CA. Colby isn't particularly worried, so Sonny calls the Steelton Police Department and has them keep an eye on Colby until Sonny can get there.
On the flight to Steelton, Arab religious fanatics (please, I'm not racist, just relating what the game contains, and they are portrayed to be Arab) hijack the flight and Sonny kills them and disarms their bomb. Upon arrival in Steelton, the police chief tells Sonny that Bains beat them to Colby. All that remain on the list now are Sonny and Marie (I hate to interrupt, but I've just figured out the 'Sonny and Marie' joke, after more than ten years).
Sonny and Keith are taken to Burt Park, where Sonny for whatever reasons decides to venture into the sewers. He soon comes upon a sewer control room, where Marie is tied to a chair. Just as she's freed, Bains enters the room and Sonny shoots him dead.
Sonny and Marie go off on vacation together, and just to ensure there's not a cliché missed, he proposes (and she tearfully accepts).
If you want an incredibly unforgiving, anal adventure game, this is for you. Having to follow complicated police investigation procedures with a TEXT PARSER is nothing short of a nightmare. You'll spend half your time getting your field kit out of the trunk (a tedious process where you have to type 'open trunk' 'get kit' 'close trunk') and the other half dusting everything for fingerprints and, incredibly, having to align your gunsights in the firing range. Plus, you can lock yourself out of your car and be STUCK FOREVER (the game realistically depicting how nobody in California walks anywhere)
If you're bored, you can always do the following:
Try driving to the airport in your personal car when you're meant to be working.
Fire your gun while in a methane cloud in the sewers.
Draw your gun while at the airport security checkpoint.
Cross the street in front of the airport without pressing the button.
I recommend the first and third games highly, though. You don't even get to steer the car in this one!