LA Cops is a game about LA Cops. Also: handlebar moustaches, isometric action

I just don't trust a cop without a handlebar moustache, a pair of shades to fend off the harsh Wolverhampton sun, and a bickering police buddy by their side. LA Cops gives us all of these things, except maybe the bickering and the references to Wolverhampton, but it's just so darn colourful I can forgive it that. It's an isometric action game set in '70s LA, and it's coming to Steam Early Access tomorrow.

Developers Modern Dream - you'll know them from The Typing of the Dead: Overkill - describe LA Cops thusly: "a fast, action packed 3D top down shooter set to a theme of 70s Cops in LA trying to do a tough job in a tough town. A smart targeting system UI allows, you, the player to position your cops tactically whilst taking out the bad guys in real time."

I am indeed getting a tactical vibe from the trailer, although that user interface isn't really coming across. What does come across is Modern Dream's love for destructable scenery and physics-enabled doors—it just wouldn't be a '70s cop game without the rampant destruction of innocent windows and office equipment.

The Early Access version will comprise eight levels, six upgradeable cops, and "a Rock soundtrack that needs to be played loud", a point firmly disproved by the following trailer. The devs expect to be in Early Access for only a couple of months.

Here's a look at how LA Cops is shaping up.

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.