RoboCop: Rogue City Review

From the unique thud of each footstep and the report of the Auto 9, through to the satirical tone in the news reports, RoboCop: Rogue City nails the look and feel of being the titular cyborg. If you know the films (especially 1 and 2, which it’s set after) there is plenty to take in and enjoy. Rogue City has clearly been put together by people who know and care about these characters.

As RoboCop there’s only a handful of things you want to do, and mulling it over there’s only one I think you can’t. Sorry, no stabbing people with the data spike.

The main thing RoboCop does in the name of justice is shoot, which you do an awful lot of! The best thing about this is the excellent design decision to have the iconic Auto 9 do most of it. There are other weapons; shotguns, machine guns, and even the Cobra Assault Cannon. They’re useful for specific situations and make a nice change, but the devs know you’re here to use that oversized Beretta, which through the use of upgrades remains useful throughout.

Mechanics and play style wise, I’m all in. But you know what bugs me? The reluctance to move on from Murphy getting to grips with his new life. He knows who he is! Move on! It’s like each story ignores the last scene of the first film.

Speaking of the films, several characters you’d know from them, are present in Rogue City. They’re voice acting is…fine? The main issue is the animation, which is fairly stiff, limiting how much they emote. Leaves a bit of a disconnect between the sound and the image. Nonetheless it’s good to have them there, and even the other unknown officers make you feel included, with their talk of strikes and how shit things are. You feel part of the world, which is further bolstered by Robo himself being voiced by the one and only Peter Weller. He’s…well he’s Alex Murphy! He lends it so much weight.

But there are issues. This game is glitchy, with frame rate drops, out of sync dialogue and just a little clumsiness throughout. A reload often sorts this, but between this and the animations, there’s a feeling that a little more time and polish wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Thing is, I don’t think any of that really matters. You buy a RoboCop game to be Murphy. You want to follow your prime directives, take out criminals, investigate crime, and maybe even issue a parking ticket. Rogue City hits every mark in that sense, and that’s enough.