Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop is one of the quintessential action movies of the 1980s. It pushed the envelope with over-the-top violence, killer one-liners, and fantastic special effects, mixed with a biting anti-corporate social commentary under the surface that resonated with audiences. There have been multiple attempts to resurrect the series over the years, including an ill-fated reboot in 2014, but nothing has captured the ephemeral “it” that struck a chord when the series debuted. That’s what is most impressive about RoboCop: Rogue City: it’s not just a solid first-person shooter set in the RoboCop universe – developer Teyon absolutely nails the look and feel of its film inspiration in ways that nothing else has. It’s a good game, and the most authentic adaptation the series has ever seen.
The story itself is nothing groundbreaking: a bad guy who looks like he is fated to be thrown off the top of Naktatomi Plaza in Die Hard is up to no good, and you need to stop him. OCP is still an evil corporation, and drug-fueled gangs rule the streets. If you’ve ever seen an old-school action movie set in a city you’ll know what to expect.
RoboCop himself is also treading familiar ground, with what remains of Officer Alex Murphy still struggling with figuring out the line between man and machine within himself, this time with the help of a therapist. That’s the most compelling thematic thread, and it felt like it could’ve been interesting to explore. Unfortunately, it exists exclusively in dialogue options and cutscenes, with no ramifications in gameplay. That’s too bad, as it relegates us to being an observer in his introspective crises, rather than sharing in it.
DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’RE COMING WITH ME
It also makes some degree of sense in that Rogue City is primarily a first-person shooter about blowing through hordes of criminal scum, but it is also smart about focusing on what makes the titular character unique. Robo (as his friends call him) is a walking tank. The slow, plodding bounce of his gate, with a heavy thunk accompanying each footfall, makes him feel like a juggernaut. The street gangs, bikers, and mercenaries that make up the bulk of the enemy fodder aren’t anywhere close to as powerful as he is, and it is so fun to walk right at these evil doers, shrugging off their small arms fire, and shredding them to literal pieces with the brap brap of Robo’s iconic Auto 9 machine-pistol.
It’s exceptionally violent, as it should be. Arms and heads explode like pressurized watermelons, bodies tumble and ragdoll all around, and enemies scream about lost limbs. There are often a lot of enemies on screen at once, and turning them into a shower of crimson is a frequent and entertaining occurrence. It may not be appropriate for all ages, but it’s true to the R-rated source material, and here it is ratcheted up to a degree that is humorous and over the top rather than gratuitous and excessive.
There’s a decent variety of enemies, including some that can make more than a dent in Robo, like snipers, heavy troops, and infamous big boy ED-209, and those present opportunities to get more strategic with your approach than simply charging in and busting heads. You can pick up and use guns dropped by enemies, like shotguns and assault rifles, though their ammo is limited (while Auto 9’s is not). You can also grab and throw a lot of things, like explosive barrels, motorcycles, and unlucky henchmen, which is as hilarious as it is effective.
The wonderfully destructible environment plays a key role in the combat design, too. Sometimes it’s purely aesthetic, as monitors explode, papers scatter, and shattered cement rains down from damaged structures. Other times it’s strategic, as you blast apart the cover your foes are trying to hide behind. The most exciting is the breach opportunities, pre-designated spots where Robo smashes through doors or compromised walls and takes the bad guys by surprise, offering you a few seconds of slow motion to take out enemies before they can return fire or shoot their hostages.
This translation of a nearly 40-year-old action movie into a game is so detailed and strictly loyal to the films that it almost resembles something fan-made – and I mean that in the best way. There’s very little artistic license taken, favoring nearly 1:1 translations from the source material across the board. RoboCop looks and sounds like his original self, complete with Peter Weller’s piercing gaze under his helmet, and voice reprising his best-known role. Officer Anne Lewis is there as RoboCop’s partner and confidant, and looks exactly like actress Nancy Allen portrayed her. Whether it’s the Detroit West precinct office, the OCP corporate office, or the mean streets of dystopian Detroit, Rogue City nails the look and feel of the movies to an impressive degree.
The entire ‘80s-ness of the presentation is brilliant. The heavy use of synth in the soundtrack fits it to a tee. The dark grimy streets and mohawk-sporting gangs that were central fictional goons throughout the decade are present in force. There are CRT monitors in all the cubices, a green wireframe HUD, and police cruisers that look an awful lot like the old Ford Tauruses that were used in the movies. Small touches, like the visible scan lines when you zoom in and aim down your weapon sights (which also highlights enemies so you can pick them off through smoke and darkness), is exactly the right vibe. Similarly, there’s no modernization of the original’s satirical critique of police brutality – and arguably, none is needed.
The appeal to nostalgia is strong, and that can have a significant impact on how much mileage you get out of this. As a pure shooter, Rogue City isn’t overly ambitious, but it’s a lot of fun to play even if you don’t know anything about the series. However, if you grew up with RoboCop or recently watched the movies then it is chock-full of references and nods that add a lot to the experience. I found myself laughing out loud the first time I saw someone driving a 6000 SUX out in the wild. Exploding the groin of a baddie is a silly bit of over-the-top violence on its surface, but it’s so much more entertaining if you know that it’s pulled directly from the film.
At the same time, this isn’t the most technically impressive game when held up next to the flashy big-budget adventures we’re regularly treated to these days. Textures are kind of flat and lighting effects are minimalistic, plus a lot of the gang members’ voices are extremely similar to one another, but there’s something B-movie quality that makes it more forgivable, if not a bit charming. Still, another coat of polish would have gone a long way, especially in cutscenes where all of those issues are more apparent in close-ups. More than once I had audio and video get out of sync, had frozen faces accompany dialogue, and had total game crashes on two occasions.
I’D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR
Levels alternate between very linear A-to-B stages in which you charge through enemies looking for the “New Guy” in Town who’s taken over the Nuke business in the aftermath of RoboCop 2, and self-contained sandbox areas that put the “cop” in RoboCop. As you walk around the mean streets of Detroit you’ll come across side missions focused on Robo’s prime directives of Serve the Public Trust, Protect the Innocent, and Uphold the Law. Some are simple, such as having you issue fines for small infractions. It sounds kind of silly, but it’s a fun bit of roleplaying to see an oversized truck parked on the curb leaking oil and slap a ticket on the windshield. One memorable scene had me manning a podium at the police office, listening to a litany of citizen complaints. The image of Robo standing there while a wanted criminal tries to turn himself in for the reward money makes me laugh every time I think about it.
Other side missions are more expansive and are the sort of contained side stories that feel worth playing on their own merits. One subplot spanning multiple quests has you helping to reform a drug addict turned informant. Seemingly mundane things like helping him return a watch he stole, or picking out a VHS tape from a video store, are poignant palette-cleansers from the brutal action sequences, though there are certainly a few good shootouts along the way.
Completing all the side quests and main story took me just over 17 hours, a pretty solid runtime for a single-player-only campaign. A simple leveling system does a good job of offering a basic sense of progression as you go, feeding skill points into things like increasing damage resistance or extending the slow motion timeframes, as well as some non-combat skills that open up new dialogue options or allow you to open safes. Every few upgrades spent on a particular skill add a perk, like a rapid dash maneuver, or armor that reflects small arms fire back at enemies. Finding bits of evidence scattered around, reading notes, and completing bonus objectives are good sources of XP, giving a nice incentive to go off the beaten path in the open areas.
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