Licensed games are a strange genre. They are often relatively poor and fail to reflect the essence of the original. But RoboCop: Rogue City is the opposite. MeinMMO author Nikolas Hernes thinks the game is really good and enjoys fighting as a living tank.
What is RoboCop: Rogue City?
RoboCop: Rogue City is a first-person shooter that doesn’t believe in modern conventions of fast-paced shooters. But that’s exactly what makes Rogue City so fantastic and a good licensed software.
RoboCop: Rogue City Trailer
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Slow and cumbersome, but that makes it the perfect RoboCop
While many shooters these days require you to move quickly or use good cover and offer many movement options, RoboCop: Rogue City is completely different.
You are comparatively slow and sedate, just like a robot. But that’s exactly the perfect RoboCop fantasy. If you go into a room, several enemies will shoot at you. But you are the RoboCop. When aiming, your sights scout the opponents, as is typical for films, and you decide who to attack first. Although you have to pay attention to your life, a healing option allows you to go like a living tank without hiding.
The explosion is bursting at the seams. You can tear down walls with your pump and mow down enemies with guns. Everything screams popcorn cinema.
Various upgrade functions make you even stronger in the form of armor, new aiming options or simply more life. Your iconic pistol can also be upgraded with circuit boards, meaning you never have to reload or cause more damage.
In no other game have I felt as close to 80s action films as Rogue City. You play as the one-man army who doesn’t shy away from shooting and defeats the clumsy evil.
Detroit as a violent dystopia
Despite its action genre, the first RoboCop film was a satirical take on an increasingly violent society. That’s why the film still works today. And in Rogue City, Detroit is portrayed as a dystopia controlled by the OCP company in the background.
The aesthetics of the technology and environments are refreshingly nostalgic. CRT monitors and clunky technology full of hexagonal shapes show a future fantasy that is hardly taken up these days.
Both are dealt with thematically in the story of Rogue City and work quite well through short cutscenes. Although the satirical peak that the film achieves is missing, this is replaced by existential questions that deal with RoboCop and his role as a human being.
In the skill tree, instead of combat skills, you can also unlock skills for exploration and dialogue, which open up new possibilities in the world. Despite the hidden theme, Rogue City, like the film, is funny in many places. You can hand out traffic tickets or listen to drug dealers talking about free market economics in side quests.
I can only recommend everyone to do the side quest because there are entertaining moments hidden there that will stay in your head.
The ’80s and ’90s had a different kind of action, and RoboCop: Rogue City transports me to those films. I love the slow action and the clumsy sayings and stories. The game shows that we don’t just need triple A and indie. We also need double-A productions that don’t seem so polished and clean, because that means we also get brands like RoboCop as a game.
If you’re not the biggest fan of fast action and still want to shoot in a shooter, I can only recommend RoboCop: Rogue City. Bizarre action also awaits you in Anger Foot.