In the 80’s, the world was taken by surprise by a popular and new science fiction trilogy. The RoboCop movies took place in a futuristic dystopian version of Detroit, featuring an Android law enforcer ready to crack down on crime. Despite its popularity in the 80’s and 90’s, RoboCop has been absent from media the past few decades. Enter RoboCop: Rogue City. A new video game based on RoboCop. Is it a game worthy of the RoboCop franchise? Find out in our RoboCop: Rogue City review.
You are RoboCop
RoboCop was one of those franchises which was very popular during the 80’s and 90’s. Right besides Transformers and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Behind the mask of the titular RoboCop is Alex Murphy. A cop which was on the brink of death and got transformed into The Android called RoboCop. His identity and mind is still somewhat there, but in essence he is a law abiding machine. Using his trusty gun and analysis skills, he sets out to sweep the streets of Detroit overrun by criminals.
RoboCop: Rogue City perfectly nails the RoboCop experience. While the dialogue isn’t extraordinary, his machine-like observations and clear cut law abiding behavior is expressed throughout the dialogue in the game. The story initially focuses on a street gang taking over Detroit and wreaking havoc around the city. RoboCop is the city’s only hope. But during the course of the game, the story also explores RoboCop’s duality and his coming to terms with his new identity. It’s a great way to give the character more depth and find out what exactly makes him tick.
A pleasant surprise
I’ll be honest here. Before I started playing RoboCop, I expected a mediocre first person shooter which would be relying heavily on the RoboCop name for success. I was very pleasantly surprised. There’s much more to this game than a simple first person shooter. There’s a lot of dialogue in the game. While most of it is just for story purposes, occasionally you’ll get to make your own choices and shape your own story. Do you remain true to your purpose as RoboCop and become a strict law enforcer? Much like a paladin would for example. Or will you show sympathy and let some of that Alex Murphy influence shine through. In the end, some of your choices will impact the story during the endgame. Not by a crazy amount but it does offer a nice and unexpected touch.
The bread and butter of the game is obviously the first person shooter gameplay. And it is initially very basic. You have your trusty gun and shoot bad guys. You can pick up and throw objects, such as chairs and such or pick up some weapons but the main idea is you just shoot bad guys. But they have expertly handled the feel of being RoboCop. You’re a walking tank and meant to be. You’ll often find yourself in a firefight with about ten enemies. You can just waltz up to them and pick them off one by one as they try to take you down. It feels extremely satisfying just headshotting them one by one, and standing in the middle. In any other shooter, this would feel ridiculous but it fits RoboCop perfectly.
Don’t get overwhelmed
At the start, it won’t feel challenging at all. But it won’t be long before you’ll find scenarios where they’ll come from all sides. Above and below. Using grenade launchers and other weapons which do pose a threat. If you’re not fast enough or become too reckless, even RoboCop will get taken down. You’ll need to take down enemies faster and more efficiently as you progress. You can even unlock some combat skills to give you temporary armor or unleash shockwaves to deal with groups of enemies. While simple, the execution of combat is great.
And yes, there’s also levels and skills. Ýou get experience for killing enemies and finding criminal evidence during combat missions. There’s also bonus experience for finding secrets and finishing side missions. The side missions are often pretty basic, but a nice addition nonetheless. When you gain enough experience, you’ll level up and get a skill point. You’ll also be able to find OCP disks, which get you bonus skills points. There’s a lot of skills you can level up and they’re not all combat related. There’s also skills for deduction (Solving mysteries), Psychology (Persuasion), engineering (Cracking a safe) and more. Spending enough points in these extra skills will give you other ways to progress in missions or find more secrets. A great extra touch.
Linear story missions
Most story missions are very linear. They are clear cut paths with waves of enemies simply thrown on your path. There could’ve been a bit more variation in here or more openness in terms of level design. However, in between some story missions you’ll go to Downtown Detroit. It’s a small open world hub, where you can do various side missions, do the main quest or simply explore. You can even go into police mode and fine perpetrators.
One of RoboCop’s greatest tools as a cop is his visor. By enabling this, you can highlight weapons and ammo, analyze clues and target enemies. It’s a great tool to find secrets and quickly dispatch your enemies. During the game, the developer has done a good job of utilizing this gameplay concept to highlight RoboCop’s function as a cop. There’s some detective work to be done by RoboCop to solve crimes in between, using his trusty visor.
Suit your playstyle
Later in the game, you’ll also get a way to upgrade your weapon using Auto9 modding. It’s a modding minigame, where you get a board filled with sockets. During the game, you’ll find a lot of mods that can fit into these sockets. You’ll have to mix and match accordingly to align the lines in order to get the max bonuses. A nice addition to customize your playstyle. You can either go full damage or focus on utility stats.
Perfectly nails the RoboCop feeling
Graphically, RoboCop: Rogue City is stunning. While there are some graphical glitches and some animations aren’t as smooth as others, the facial expressions are absolutely incredible. Additionally, everything in the game world looks as sharp as ever. You’ll wane yourself in a truly dystopian and futuristic Detroit, true to the 80’s era. Teyon, the developer, has done a great job of replicating that RoboCop feel.
What’s even more impressive is the audio design. Walking like RoboCop is very satisfying. You’ll hear his iconic mechanical sounds as he stomps through the game world. The walking animations also make you feel like you’re a walking tank. It’s interesting, because in any other game I’d think, what is going on here? But in a RoboCop game it perfectly nails the feeling of playing like RoboCop. The soundtrack through various levels is great too, from punk tracks in certain combat scenarios where it fits to quiet instrumental tracks in story heavy scenarios.
Conclusion
RoboCop may not be game of the year material, but it has pleasantly surprised me. There’s more depth to it than being a simple first person shooter. And the easy route would be making a simple first person shooter. Teyon has nailed the feel and atmosphere of playing RoboCop, crafting an interesting and multi dimensional story to go along with it. The combat may be a bit simple but fits the game well. And the length is perfect. It’s not very long but shouldn’t be much longer either. I want to see a sequel in a few years, where they improve on the formulae and take the combat to the next level.
Pros:
- Nails the feeling of playing RoboCop
- Graphically and audibly impressive
- Good variation in Skills
- Interesting story
Cons:
- Linear level design
- Simplistic combat encounters
Grade: 8
That was it for our RoboCop: Rogue City review. RoboCop: Rogue City is available through Boosteroid and GeForce Now. Be sure to follow us on Twitter right here.