I’d buy that for Sixty-Dollars!!

Being a child of the 80’s there are few things that I love more than Robocop. A lot of that has to do with as you all know; I am a HUGE science fiction fan and Robocop as dope has the action is; is a science fiction movie. Here you have a film that has a man who is put into a robot and now has to figure out himself. Of course, he does in the end and stops the bad guys and goes on to star in two more sequels (don’t bother with the 3rd) and even a cartoon series. And of course, the game that we are here to talk about; Robocop: Rogue City.

Robocop is part man, part machine and all cop; his name is Alex Murphy, he was killed in the line of duty in the rough city of Detroit. Mind you this was the 80’s and the city is depicted as such in the game as well, neon signs, dirty, rainy, street-walkers and of course gangs with wacky haircuts of various colors. After Murphy was killed, he was put into a machine and was reborn; Rogue City takes place in-between the events of Robocop 2 and 3. As I said above just skip the 3rd movie, I mean even Peter Weller (who reprises his role here as Robocop) did. The city is all abuzz because a new crime lord has moved into town and is stirring some stuff up. Robocop and his partner (who calls him by his given name of Murphy) Officer Annie Lewis are sent out to a disturbance and the action kicks off.

MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $59.99

I am a HUGE fan of the original Robocop, the over-the-top violence, satire and soundtrack are just amazing and the developers at Teyon have NAILED all of it. When you take control of Robocop the movie theme hits and I just got so pumped up, targets start to come into view and I am welding Robo’s signature firearm the Auto-9. You think Dirty Harry has a hand cannon, HA it’s a water pistol compared to the Auto-9. This pistol fires in 3 round bursts and pops heads much like Gallagher popped melons; leaving much of the same mess. I am saying that the depiction of Robocop’s violence in the game has translated extremely well to a first-person shooter. Combat feels really good, I mean you feel as though you are controlling Robocop. Playing on Xbox the left trigger activates Robocop’s scanning ability which when he has a weapon in hand will highlight targets in green just like it does in the movie, sound effects and all! Robocop is also able to grab and throw items around the environment and even pick up goons and toss ’em about. The animation is weird for this move as Robocop never really picks up anything, the items just kind of teleport into his hands when the button is pressed. It is kind of off putting to witness but it doesn’t destroy and fun to be had.

Rogue City does offer different weapons throughout its 30–40-hour story but I am going to be honest out side of picking up the big turret type guns I stuck to the Auto-9. Luckily this was alright because in Rogue City players can upgrade Robo’s arsenal. As players move about each area investigating crimes and looking for clues (more on that in a minute) they will find OCP crates that have various chips and motherboards. These are used to augment Robocop’s Auto 9 and there are multiple motherboards to be found and each one can augment the gun differently. When players attach the chips to the boards it plays out like a circuit minigame. Each chip is worth a percentage and come in various shapes allowing power to flow in four directions. Players will place them on the motherboards and try to power up each area but there will be negative sockets that can be powered as well, some can be avoided while others if players want the upgrade, they will have to deal with the debuff as well. It’s a neat system that allowed for some cool flexibility, and really came in clutch for me because as I said I love the Auto-9.

Its not just the guns that can be upgraded, as players complete missions they will earn XP which will reward players with an OCP token for each level they increase. These tokens can be used to upgrade Robocop, everything from improving damage to giving him a dash move to get out of danger. One of the things I was curious about with this game is how it would handle that feeling of becoming more powerful in Rogue City, and I got to say I think they found a great way to do it. Robocop is literally a walking tank and moves slowly but its honestly never an issue. The developers have included a run but honestly the heavy footstep sound effects that are the emissary to Robocop’s appearance are so good here I don’t use the run, I just stomp around from mission to mission. Speaking of missions, Robocop: Rogue City has some excellent side missions for players to tackle in each city area that Robocop will patrol.

While shooting is fun, Robocop is a police officer and as such he can’t just go around shooting everyone and sorting out the pieces later. This is where I think this game shines, players get to be Robocop the detective. One of the first missions I stumbled upon was some fellow officers investigate a murder. I should also point out here that in Rogue City there aren’t the usual ‘dots on a map” for missions. Instead, players will have to walk around the areas and stumble upon citizens in distress in real time. The murder side mission I stumbled upon ended up being deep enough to be a main quest. Requiring me to scan various areas, interrogate witnesses, request a warrant all before I pulled my gun and told someone “Dead or Alive, you’re coming with me”. Mind you this is before I even did ANYTHING for the main case which is figuring out who the ‘new guy’ is in the city. And each level in Rogue City has multiple side missions, and the majority of them are good and entertaining. But they all will help Robocop build public trust or he can be…well officer dick.

In Rogue City players can choose the direction of side missions and even the main story through the multiple dialog options that are offered. As I said if Robocop abides by the law, then players will build that trust and people will be receptive to the walking tank patrolling their neighborhoods. But if he chooses to rough up perps and color outside those lines then the NPC’s will be leerier to him. But while Robocop is a walking tank, Rogue City takes the time to explore the man buried there in Alex Murphy. Much like the original film, early in the story Murphy starts to have malfunctions; he begins to hallucinate and see his wife and son, or imagine himself hearing their voice while walking around. This duality that exits within Robocop; his humanity fighting to emerge as his OCP programming is trying to quell it is a big part of what makes the character interesting and the developers know that and have crafted a great narrative here. Without spoiling anything they developers even have a deep cut that is quite the reveal that the real Robocop fans will recognize. Which I must not be a *real* fan because I had to google it but once I did, I instantly got it and was impressed at the teams find there.

Robocop: Rogue City is an absolute gem of a game. While not as polished as a AAA title, it still manages to look great in motion and function just as well. The bugs I found were minimum and usually happened when I killed an enemy near a guardrail, for some reason they are all programmed to fall over no matter how far away from the rail they may be. But I never ran into any real issues here, Rogue City is as solid as Robocop himself. I would be remiss if I didn’t shoutout the excellent audio in Rogue City, from the excellent Peter Weller reprising his role as Alex Murphy/Robocop to the inclusion of an EXCELLENT piano version of the classic movie theme if you are a fan of Robocop, Rogue City has been made for you. Playing Rogue City, I couldn’t help but think that Teyon has done for Robocop what Rocksteady did for Batman. They managed to highlight another side of the character in the interactive space by allowing players to really embody the ‘cop’ part of Robocop.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.