Developer – Teyon

Publisher – Nacon

Platforms –  PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series XlS

Review copy given by Publisher

Robocop: Rogue City by Teyon is the latest entry in their movie to video game series and is just as strong of an entry as Terminator: Resistance, and in many ways is even better. You play as Alex Murphy; a recently deceased police officer turned cyborg law enforcement officer Robocop. If you have seen the films, Rogue City takes place right after Robocop 2 and before Robocop 3. The designer drug, Nuke, is still causing havoc in the streets of Old Detroit and the city is as chaotic as ever after Kane’s death. A relative of an old enemy of Robocop has taken up the mantle of criminal mastermind and he has a few gangs who are trying everything they can to get in his good graces and take over Old Detroit. Together with a few allies and new friends, Robocop will cleanse the city streets one citation and a seemingly unending hail of bullets at a time!

First off, the environment is perfectly crafted! Just like Terminator, even detail has been meticulously crafted to bring the films to life and they have done an incredible job. The sound effects, music, voice acting are all on point. The aesthetics, the comedic flair, and the correct level of satire all make Robocop: Rogue City feel as if you are in control of creating a new film entry. There is nothing more satisfying than using Robocop’s pistol to shoot the appendages off your enemies, while delivering one-liners that you will make you chuckle. The city streets are litered, graffiti covers the exposed bricks, citizens loitering and breaking the law, everything is just what you would expect from a Robocop video game. There are few video game adaptations that have this level of charm and devotion to replicating the source material while adding gameplay elements that are actually enjoyable and make sense within the universe.

As you walk the city streets you are able to interact with the citizen and fellow officers to uphold the law and serve the public trust. Your decisions will impact how the city will view you. You can be strict with your justice and writel everyone that is breaking the law tickets, or you can have a small bit of mercy and let them off with a warning. Each zone you enter will have a series of violations that you can find such as people being drunk in public, cars parked illegally, old men littering, etc. As you issue these citations you gain experience points to help level up Robocop. You can also find Nuke and stolen goods that will help you in terms of experience as well. All of the small actions that you perform can help Robocop become more and more advanced. At the end of each section of the game you also have a mental evaluation of your humanity or lack thereof which will change people’s view of you as well.

As you level up, you can spend stat points into several different upgrade paths. For instance, if you would like to deal more damage you can focus on that or you can even spend points into your detective prowess or persuasion abilities. Each stat makes sense in terms of Robocop’s abilities and nothing felt out of place. There are times where if you have the appropriate level of certain stats you can access secret areas, have alternative outcomes in tough situations, and be able to unlock safes for more evidence to help you excel. There are quite a few different ways you can decide to play as Robocop and all are viable which is fun.

Outside of your stats, you can also upgrade your service pistol. As you progress through the game you come across different circuit boards that allow you to customize the pistol in various ways. If you played Terminator Redemption, this is a vast improvement on their circuit upgrade system for the SkyNET weaponry. Each circuit board has several stat modifiers such as doing more damage per shot, armor penetration, special gore effects, and alternative firing modes. There is a balance to be hand here as well as some upgrade paths include a percentage of a penalty that you take as well. Sometimes you are able to circumvent these penalties by utilizing chips that block specific paths from being followed on the circuit. I absolutely love upgrade systems like this in games. Making the perfect weapon is always fun, especially when you unlock a unique trait for the pistol such as having unlimited ammo or being able to cause more gore animations.

In terms of story, Robocop is pretty solid. It is awesome to have Peter Weller back as Robocop and the rest of the cast is just as great. The story is your typical Robocop romp and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I especially enjoyed the moments where Alex is struggling with the echos of his past and how he is struggling with his program and duty while also wanting to maintain a sense of his humanity. I’m glad that the game has moments like these because it really feels as close to a modern film entry to the Robocop series as possible. Bringing back the past characters from the film series with detailed faces and voices gives even more credibility to Robocop: Rogue City. It’s an amazing feat for such an indie team and really speaks to fans of the films.

The version of Robocop that I played was the PC version which ran pretty flawlessly most of the time. I did experience one moment where I fell through the map but outside of that I have had very little Issues technically. I’m not sure how the other platforms perform, but I have watched other people play the game on PSS and have gotten stuck in spots with bugs that required a reload of the save to continue but overall have had similar experiences as myself. The controls are smooth, the gameplay feels responsive, and the graphics are pretty decent considering the budget.

I hope we will get some sort of DLC where we can patrol a randomized section of Old Detroit but as it stands Robocop: Rogue City is a solid game overall. When I reviewed Terminator, my first mention of another game I hope Teyon was able to secure the rights to was Robocop. I honestly don’t think another studio would be able to pull it off because they were able to stay true to the Robocop universe without it getting corrupted by modern gaming expectations that really don’t have a place in the Robocop universe. Robocop: Rogue City is a love letter to the films and one of the best movie-to-game adaptations I can think of. It is definitely worth exploring at full price if you are a fan of the genre and the films.