Robocop: Rogue City review

Paul Verhoeven is one of the most striking and memorable film directors of the era of the highest popularity of action films. It was at that time that films such as “Terminator”, “Predator” and “Aliens” were released. The first RoboCop fit perfectly into this company - a film that became the standard for the entire franchise, since none of its sequels managed to achieve similar success. However, one or two video game adaptations looked decent. Robocop: Rogue City ignores sequels (there were never any for this story), and does not take into account the reboot of the series from 2014, maintaining an atmosphere of authenticity that is unlikely to be appreciated by those who have never seen the original film. And he is almost 36 years old already!

Rogue City takes advantage of the trick done in Alien: Isolation by keeping future technology consistent with the universe. In this world, humanity has managed to make significant progress in robotics; people have learned to create huge cyborgs (killers... sorry, I couldn’t restrain myself), which are programmed on ancient square monitors. Instead of cell phones and the Internet, cops still use massive walkie-talkies and watch movies on VCRs. Even though the year is 2043, everything looks like a fictional 80s.

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Players will find a completely original story: Officer Murphy and his reliable partner Ann Lewis (similar to Nancy Allen from 1987) are investigating another crime, trying to dig up information on a new crime boss who has just arrived in Detroit. Amid RoboCop's usual themes of rampant crime and corporate evil, Murphy takes on the gangs with a familiar and straightforward slogan - "Dead or alive, you come with me!"

Some aspects of the game are reminiscent of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It's not that complex, but when exploring the streets in open-world chapters, the player decides whether to follow the law, act strictly, or trust people and impose more “humane” punishments. And the world subtly adapts to your actions. People remember how you treated them, and some you will meet later and reap the rewards of your decisions. At a certain point, your actions begin to influence the politics of Detroit, as you may publicly support the mayor or the deeply corrupt but forward-thinking OCP.

But before we get carried away, it's worth remembering that Rogue City is first and foremost a first-person shooter. In fact, it sounds a little offensive. That is, Teyon has put minimal effort and creativity into other aspects. Armed with his trusty Auto-9 pistol, RoboCop has endless...?th ammunition. Almost all standard missions look like some kind of shooting range, where you need to kill groups of 4-5 identically acting enemies. They have the same faces and clothes, the same voices, the same amazingly straightforward AI. They will hide behind cover without flinching when hit by bullets. Unless you shoot them in the head. They all shout the same phrases, with the same voice.

They also just love throwing grenades. They throw them left and right. Since the scenery is mostly destructible, the AI does not see it. Therefore, enemies throw grenades directly at walls and other objects, they bounce off them and fly back. That is, mobs often kill themselves. You can shoot a grenade while it is in the air, although this is not easy to do. You can shoot at an enemy who is about to make a throw, causing a grenade to fall at his feet.

You have a lot of first aid kits, in the game you constantly find ammunition for secondary weapons. For example, shotguns, grenade launchers and UZIs. They add variety, but nothing is better or more powerful than RoboCop's personal weapons.

After each mission or patrol, you return to the police station, receive experience points for literally ??each action (for example, for whether you completed side missions, if you found clues (scattered collectibles), or for each secret revealed). In some missions you need to free hostages. The game will go into slow motion mode: RoboCop breaks down a door or wall, after which you need to kill the enemies before they have time to finish off the hostages.

Experience points are used to improve RoboCop's abilities across different skill trees - Combat, Engineering, Deduction, Psychology, Concentration, Vitality. This way you improve certain skills and gain special abilities. "Engineering" adds dash and the ability to crack safes, "Deduction" improves RoboCop's environmental scanner and allows him to find additional clues. You can also upgrade the Auto-9 with circuits you find while completing missions, increasing its damage, reducing spread, and reducing its reload time.

Sometimes you'll have to use deduction to solve crimes and help the people of Detroit, but it won't be a burden. You scan your environment, look for clues, and make moral decisions based on what you discover. Solving murders or recovering stolen property feels like you're doing routine cop work. But RoboCop is something more. He is emotionless, distinguished by his wit, and his answers to others?The characters are given a distinctly human appearance. There is nothing to complain about, since this is exactly how the character was in the film.

As such, Robocop: Rogue City looks and plays exactly as it should. It delivers an authentic, mostly memorable RoboCop experience that stays true to the source. Visually and aurally, the game hits every note, and at times manages to develop the themes inherent in Verhoeven's chaotic masterpiece. Bloody, loud, raw, but at times very human, Robocop: Rogue City is the best and most faithful adaptation of the MCU we've ever had, warts and all.