Platforms: PC (Epic,Steam), Playstation 5, XBOX Series S/X
Review Platform: XBOX Series S/X
Release Date: 2nd November 2023
Genres: Action, Adventure
Mode: Single Player
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This review for me was quite surreal. I realized the first game I ever played in my life was RoboCop on the Amstrad and over 30 years later here I am not only playing but reviewing RoboCop: Rogue City in 2023! Thank you to Dead Good PR for the opportunity. Please take the time to check all social links above for everyone involved with bringing this title to life.
The game begins with Soot of the Torch Heads taking over a live broadcast at Channel 9 to reach out to the new guy in town. With a large backing financially all gangs in Old Detroit want to offer their services and support.
RoboCop pulls up at Channel 9 to serve justice, with the sound of his foot touching the ground out of the car I had an exciting chill. Then you see his face, it is outstanding how I could tell straight away it was modeled off the original movie actor Peter Weller who also came back to voice RoboCop for Rogue City. I should say if you are a fan of the movies you will appreciate this game even more. From seeing a lot of old faces from the movies to recognizing scenes on different levels. The detail was amazing, it has done so well in keeping that dark, grimy, and gritty feel from the movies.
The gameplay is intense when it comes to the action scenes, with your overhead display showing enemy threats and details of objects and items around Detroit. You move one by one to each enemy and take them down in no time with your trusty Auto 9, which is your main weapon for this game. The blood and gore levels are high, with enemies screaming losing limbs to heads exploding into a thousand pieces, it makes you feel like you are unstoppable. There are secondary weapons available as you progress but you will find you will use the clip in no time and will have to pick up another or some ammo from fallen enemies.
Each level is extremely detailed, with lots of paths to go down and get lost. This adds so much more depth and I was pleasantly surprised how far they had gone. From being in the Precinct and going around meeting other offices that require help or need to speak to you to the same level of detail in Detroit itself. You have your main missions, but as you may have guessed there are side missions also and some of these are so different for RoboCop but also help with your mental battle for Human or Machine. As you can make choices in dialogue and with whom you do help and do not. This has quite a large effect on the story as you progress.
After each level you face an evaluation of your work on the beat. This takes into account your evidence found, missions completed, and secrets found. Just like the movies you sit in the Holding Cell chair with doctors overseeing your whole time in Detroit. I am limiting a lot of what I say in this review regarding characters and your storyline. As I feel it has to be experienced. Going in knowing everything takes away the process of fighting your Human/Machine being, dealing with the flashbacks, and decisions made in the story regarding Justice, Friendship, and in some cases anger. It is a rollercoaster of emotions.
Throughout your time you will gain XP, every 1000XP you will receive a skill point you can place into the skill branches. With eight branches to choose from with extra skills available the higher you proceed. In our screenshots below you will see a screenshot of this skills tab. As well as levelling up Robocop you can upgrade your Auto 9 with Chips found in OCP Containers. But there is also another layer, you have to collect Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) to in essence choose your style of improvement. Each board has different benefits but also penalties if chips are placed incorrectly. I found myself using each board I collected and switched and upgraded each one I found as I went through.
Oh as much as RoboCop is a machine! He can still die. You have a health bar once depleted is game over and will have to begin at the last checkpoint in game. But as you level up the skill Vitality you can connect to fuse boxes to replenish your health and can carry OCP Chargers as a health boost, this is another element that can be upgraded so you can carry more. There are so many possibilites with how your approach your gameplay in Rogue City as said before due to Dialogie Choices, Skills, Auto 9 upgrades and side missions.
For you achievement hunters, there are some missables. So you may have to play again, but this is not a bad thing as you can see different outcomes to the story. The story for me was intense, full of twists and they pulled no punches. I achieved 23 of the 27 Achievements on Normal playthrough and it took me over 30 hours approximately with looking around trying to find all the extra crime evidence to get the extra XP.
With a solid soundtrack, great voice acting and intense gameplay I thouroughly enjoyed RoboCop Rogue City. But there are a few negatives, the voice and lip sync would sometimes get out of time and occasionally some faces felt a little lifeless. But these are fixable and in this age with patches and updates it is something they can consider. It did nothing to ruin my experince as I played till finish.
RoboCop: Rogue City, should you play it? Affirmative!
Game Score: 9/10