Dead or Alive, you’re coming with me
It feels like RoboCop: Rogue City just dropped not too long ago because, well, it did. Released in late 2023, Teyon’s gritty love letter to the ‘80s cult icon surprised pretty much everyone by actually being good; great, even. Not just some shallow licensed cash-in, but a game that understood its source material in a way few adaptations do. With Peter Weller back behind the visor and that blend of ultra-violence and razor-sharp satire fully intact, it felt like Robocop in all the best ways. So when Teyon announced a standalone expansion titled Unfinished Business, I was all in. As a child of the ’80s who wore out their VHS copy of the original RoboCop, I couldn’t resist strapping back into those clunky cyber-boots.
Picking up shortly after Rogue City wrapped, Unfinished Business wastes no time dropping players into the chaos. A mysterious group of mercs storms Robo’s precinct, leaving a wake of dead officers and a critically injured Officer Lewis. Murphy, running solo and fueled by duty (and a little bit of revenge), heads to OmniTower; a vertical hellscape filled with makeshift homes, a museum, shady characters, and a whole lotta bad guys. Think of 2011’s The Raid or Dredd a single tower crawling with enemies, where every floor escalates the danger. It’s a smart shift in tone and setting, trading open city patrols for close-quarters brutality.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
Gameplay-wise, this expansion sticks close to the template Rogue City laid down and that’s mostly a good thing. Robo is still a walking tank, but he moves with slightly more urgency now. We’re not talking sprinting or bunny-hopping, but enough of a speed boost that you don’t feel like you’re cosplaying as a fridge. The shooting still hits hard, the Auto-9 still barks with power, and enemies still explode into chunky, satisfying bits when they catch a round to the chest.
What I didn’t expect were the flashback missions where you actually play as Murphy pre-metal makeover. These sequences are slower, stealthier, and more agile, since human Murphy can crouch and run. I won’t spoil the content, but they do a solid job of fleshing out his character and for fans of the films, they hit all the right notes. Players will also find a slew of side missions sprinkled throughout OmniTower, and thankfully they’re not just filler. One had me investigating a split-up couple living on different floors, only to uncover a deeper criminal angle.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be a Teyon joint without some jank. Glitches are here, and they’re not shy. I had floors turn bright pink like Robo took a wrong turn into a vaporwave nightmare. NPC faces would contort during cutscenes like they were auditioning for The Thing, and every time I used Robo’s data spike to hack something, the game would slow to a crawl like it was trying to remember what to do next.
It’s rough, and while nothing was game-breaking, it’s disappointing to see these kinds of bugs so prominent. A patch could fix a lot of it, and I really hope it does, because underneath that mess is a damn solid expansion.
Robocop: Unfinished Business doesn’t reinvent the wheel; it just straps some spikes on it and rolls it through a burning tower full of mercs. If you loved Rogue City, this is more of what made that game so surprisingly compelling: big guns, bigger satire, and a chrome-plated hero who never forgets his humanity. It’s a shame the polish wasn’t quite there, but if you can overlook the rough edges, there’s plenty of meat on this cyborg bone.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
