When comparing Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes vs Beat Cop, the Slant community recommends Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes for most people. In the question“What are the best casual games on Steam?” Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is ranked 12th while Beat Cop is ranked 18th. The most important reason people chose Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is:
Players are in a traditional RPG world and do level up characters as they would in an RPG but the main gameplay mechanic is match three where players line up their troops against an opposing team doing the same. There is also defensive aspects to the field, so it is a bit more involved than a traditional match 3 game.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Interesting mix of match three and RPG
Players are in a traditional RPG world and do level up characters as they would in an RPG but the main gameplay mechanic is match three where players line up their troops against an opposing team doing the same. There is also defensive aspects to the field, so it is a bit more involved than a traditional match 3 game.
Pro Lengthy campaign
M&M Clash of Heroes has a lengthy campaign that will last around 24 hours of play, which for a puzzle focused game is pretty good.
Pro Beautiful graphics
The graphics have been upgraded for the PC version and they look great. All pixel art now in HD with bright colors and fantastic character designs.
Pro Local and online mutiplayer
New to the PC and console editions (as apposed to the DS title) there is now 4 player multiplayer that can be played locally and online.
Pro Deals with relevant issues
Even if it's set 30 years ago, Beat Cop manages to make a statement about issues relevant today. Problems like race, police brutality, and corruption are dealt with with a good dose of satire and introspection. It throws the player into a hostile environment and asks them to make important decisions under extremely high pressure and difficulty where doing something immoral is often seen as the simplest and fastest way of reaching your goals.
The quota-based system is reminiscent of the statistics-based systems many countries employ to measure a cop's performance. This blurs the line between moral and immoral choices. Do you choose to take the high road? Or do you make an immoral choice in order to reach your goals faster? This way, Beat Cop shines a light on the many difficulties policemen have to address every day and the game does so while remaining impartial and without throwing needless accusations around.
Pro Players are required to make meaningful decisions that have meaningful consequences
In order to progress in the game, players have to make a variety of difficult decisions. For example, accepting a bribe may improve your relations with the Mafia but reduce your overall reputation with your fellow police officers. You can choose to play a good cop that plays by the rules, but it's not easy. You can issue tickets even for cars that are not breaking any laws, but those tickets count towards your daily ticket quota. Issuing them may have long-term consequences.
In order to reach their daily goals, the player must make the choice they think will get them closer to it. Whether that is the moral choice or not is entirely up to the player themselves. The right choice will reward the player, the wrong choice however can greatly penalize and set them back.
Pro Perfectly captures the feel of classic cop shows and movies
Beat Cop successfully captures the general feel of '80s shows and movies about cops. It's got all the stereotypes people find and enjoy in those shows and movies. All the cliches make it seem like it's straight out of Miami Vice.
Cons
Con Writing comes off as a bit childish
While the original target of the game may have been young adults or children due to its release on the DS (a mainstay of gaming for kids) the writing shows its roots and may come off as a bit childish.
Con In-game time management could have been handled a bit better
Five minutes in-game are equivalent to a couple of real-world seconds. This makes time go awfully quickly in Beat Cop. The idea is that time needs to go quickly in order for the player to strategize and think hard about which choices they will make during a single day. This fact is further emphasized by NPCs repeating again and again that you will not be able to complete all of your tasks. The problem is that it's perfectly possible to complete all given tasks in even such a small timeframe.
You have a daily minimum number of tickets you have to write, if you reach double of your daily quota the game will reward you for that. But because in-game time management is poor, it's quite easy to even quadruple your daily quota which seems to not have been predicted by the game creators since the game gives no rewards whatsoever for reaching more than double your ticket quota.