Police Quest: Open Season
| Police Quest: Open Season | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Director(s) | Tammy Dargan |
| Producer(s) | Tammy Dargan |
| Designer(s) | Tammy Dargan |
| Programmer(s) | Doug Oldfield |
| Artist(s) | Darrin Fuller |
| Writer(s) | Tammy Dargan |
| Composer(s) | Neal Grandstaff |
| Series | Police Quest |
| Engine | SCI |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Windows, Mac OS |
| Release | November 1993 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Police Quest: Open Season (also known as Police Quest IV) is a 1993 police procedural point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It is the fourth installment in the Police Quest series. Departing from the fictional setting of Lytton, California from the first three installments, Open Season follows police detective John Carey as he investigates a series of brutal murders in Los Angeles.
The game was produced in cooperation with former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) chief Daryl F. Gates, who had been recently ousted for his involvement in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Gates replaced former series director ex-California Highway Patrol officer Jim Walls, who left Sierra around 1991. Sierra employee Tammy Dargan wrote and designed most of the game.
Open Season received mixed reviews and underperformed compared to previous entries. Since release, the game has been criticized as a racist and "reactionary" depiction of crime in Los Angeles.
An updated CD-ROM version was released in 1996; the updated version replaced on-screen text with recorded audio and also provided additional animations, music, and arcade sequences. An indirect sequel and spinoff, Police Quest: SWAT, was released in 1995.