Of all the 80’s sci-fi films, Robocop may have been one of the best we’ve ever had. If we’re being honest, the film is perfect 80’s fare and has always been ripe content for a video game. So, when Nacon tapped developer Teyon to come up with a title based on the product, that’s exactly what they managed to do all while staying true to the mythos and lore of the Robocop franchise. The resulting game is Robocop: Rogue City and it’s well worth your time.
If you’ve ever played Terminator: Resistance, you’ll know exactly why Teyon was given the green light on Robocop: Rogue City. Where Resistance was a quality game and absolutely honored the lore of James Cameron’s franchise, Robocop: Rogue City is a much better title that allows the player to explore the life of Alex Murphy as Robocop. The sense of humanity, the movement of a robot, and the dedication to his prime directives are all present in this neat little indie title.
So, what is Robocop: Rogue City? At its heart, Rogue City is a first-person shooter but with a moral system you might find in traditional fantasy games. This moral system is in place to keep you functioning as a cop and to determine which ending you’ll receive based on how you conduct yourself as the titular badass. There are cases to solve, baddies to kill, and a drug called Nuke that you’re trying to get off the streets. But it’s mostly a first-person shooter taking place in limited sandboxes that have surprising depth.
While the game did launch with some bugs and some problems, you can be assured that most of them have been worked out at the time of writing. While the game came out a little bit ago, I wanted to give it some time in the oven to address the problems before I sat down and took it all in. The very first mission is a top notch introduction to the character and how he controls in this game.
Unlike most first-person shooters that come with quick movement and fast-paced action, Rogue City is a bit more methodical by design. Part of what made Robocop so awesome was how he moved and interacted with those around him. His slow-paced, noisy, and stomping movements are literally baked into our impersonations of the character. Think about any time you’ve ever impersonated Robocop, how much of that included the noises of him moving and the monotone voice that implored victims to “drop it?”
How the character moved and played was as important to Teyon as the story itself and it shows in the gameplay. He’s not too fast, not too slow, and the negatives are offset by the skills you also get with the character. Skills, I might add, that you can increase and buff to do different things. For instance, after a certain number of upgrades to your armor, regular bullets literally begin to bounce off you doing no harm. Of course, you get this upgrade way down the line and you can still be hurt via other methods, but this is a great example of trade offs made due to balance.
The graphical presentation is solid, but not anything that’s going to blow you away if you were hoping for something as visually impressive as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. That said, for an “indie” game — look up Nacon and then tell me they’re “indie” — the graphics and attention to detail are really good. Peter Weller returns to provide the voice and visuals for Alex Murphy. The game kinda feels more like Spec Ops: The Line than anything in the current first-person shooter genre. It’s very story driven and has enough graphical fidelity to sell the world in which you inhabit.
There is quite a bit to do within the game and I highly encourage you to check this game out. I think it’s priced perfectly at about $40, too. They’re not asking you to pay $70 for this title and I think they were absolutely right. This is precisely the type of game that is worth more than $20, but not long enough or developed enough to charge a full price. Teyon put in a ton of work with this game and I can’t help but think that pricing it like they did will do wonders for their audience and target demographic.
Robocop: Rogue City is a perfect take on the classic 80’s sci-fi action hero. The game remains faithful to the franchise, the lore, and the characters within. The graphics are good enough, the pacing and action are tight and impressive, the technology within the suits is pretty cool, and the game delivers an impressive experience for the price. There’s way more good than bad here and I think it’s easily a game you should buy if you’re into shooters or Robocop.
BSO Rating: 8.25 of 10
