Should playing this be your prime directive?
Become the iconic part man, part machine, all cop hero as you attempt to bring justice to the dangerous, crime-ridden streets of Old Detroit. Armed with your trusty Auto-9, factory-built strength, years of experience on the force and a variety of tools at your disposal, you will fight forces seeking to destroy the city you call home in an all new first-person, explosive hunt for the truth. You have the power to decide how to fulfil prime directives in your own way, but as the story unfolds proceed with caution because corruption and greed know no limits.
RoboCop was released the year I was born and while not as iconic as Terminator, it still has quite a cult following and has spawned quite a few videogames over the years. Sadly, most of them have been terrible. But can the studio who delivered the not-terrible Terminator Resistance also pull the same off with RoboCop?
Expectations are low when it comes to licensed properties, look at this year’s King Kong game, for example) and you will know where I’m coming from. So I went into Old Detroit expecting something bland, broken and mediocre, but what I got instead was perhaps the best follow-up to RoboCop since the second film. Peter Weller who starred as RoboCop/Alex Murphy in the first two films also returns for vocals, giving it an authentic feel for fans of the series. It’s also set between RoboCop 2 and 3 so getting Weller in as the voice makes perfect sense since RoboCop 3 switched to Robert Burke for the lead.
Playing as RoboCop is as you actually would imagine. You are seriously powerful compared to the thugs you will be blasting away; some might say OP but it’s more of an arcade shooter than your standard FPS like COD. You can scan the environment for hostiles and evidence which nets you XP for upgrades. There are side objectives as you traverse the streets and there are also choices you can make to either uphold the law and fine/arrest civilians or let them go.
The story does enough to get you through to the end, even if it can be incredibly cheesy at times which does retain the feel of the original films to a degree. RoboCop’s trademark Auto-9 pistol has infinite ammo but you do get other typical weapons like assault rifles and shotguns to use. Enemy AI isn’t the smartest here but it feels like that as a design choice to give the game more of an arcade shooter.
I will say that the game does look good. The characters models are nicely detailed, Old Detroit looks decent for a run-down cyberpunk city. The framerate is solid throughout and besides a few janky death animations, I didn’t encounter any other bugs. The voice-acting is a mixed bag but Peter Weller delivers a stellar performance throughout.
The Verdict
While not the most original FPS out there, RoboCop: Rogue City gives us the best RoboCop game of the lot by giving you a memorable experience that feels more of a sequel to RoboCop 2 than 3 ever did. It’s simple in its design and it isn’t the longest game by any stretch, but it’s about damn time we got a decent RoboCop game. I wouldn’t say no to a sequel either…