Just fantastic. Great to see that games like this still exist and still deliver. Paul Verhoeven's Robocop is a huge favorite of mine and a titan of splattery 1980's cinema that, more often than not, gets vastly misinterpreted. One could argue it would've been better off as a one-off single film with no franchise. Irvin Kershner's 1990 sequel is fine, while the third entry and the 2014 remake are dreadful watches.
But then we have this game here, Rogue City, which is probably the best follow-up that Verhoeven's original has ever gotten? First off, it is so so SO fucking fun to play. They really make use of his stiff movement and near-unbreakable armor as both strengths and weaknesses. There are seriously so many film-quality shootouts here. A stunning aesthetic for Old Detroit as well.
Often the inclusion of dialogue options and player decisions is for no real reason, but I think it makes a lot of sense here. One of the reasons this is such a great follow-up to the original film is that it's the only one where I buy that this guy has gone through those events. Murphy/Robocop has a brilliant arc in that film, and 1990's sequel largely ignores it. This is really that post-movie Murphy that I've always wanted to see, and you can take that even further depending on your choices. Peter Weller is absolutely fucking phenomenal. Getting him to reprise his role completely paid off and then some. He honestly may be better than ever, but it's tough to compare a voice performance to a live-action one. I'm sure he was happy to not be sweating under hours of makeup this time though.
The narrative is good enough. There's some neat subversions but overall it's nothing groundbreaking. I think those last few climactic sequences could've had a little more punch. There was clearly a big focus on getting the humor right, and I really enjoyed that aspect. Biggest issue is that despite retaining that anticapitalist humor of the film, this is honestly kinda bordering on copaganda. Some exceptions can be made when it's this very fictional retrofuturist dystopia, but I think way too many cops were depicted as heroic white knights here.
Terrific game overall. Pleasantly surprising as a first person shooter and hugely satisfying as a love letter to the film.
But then we have this game here, Rogue City, which is probably the best follow-up that Verhoeven's original has ever gotten? First off, it is so so SO fucking fun to play. They really make use of his stiff movement and near-unbreakable armor as both strengths and weaknesses. There are seriously so many film-quality shootouts here. A stunning aesthetic for Old Detroit as well.
Often the inclusion of dialogue options and player decisions is for no real reason, but I think it makes a lot of sense here. One of the reasons this is such a great follow-up to the original film is that it's the only one where I buy that this guy has gone through those events. Murphy/Robocop has a brilliant arc in that film, and 1990's sequel largely ignores it. This is really that post-movie Murphy that I've always wanted to see, and you can take that even further depending on your choices. Peter Weller is absolutely fucking phenomenal. Getting him to reprise his role completely paid off and then some. He honestly may be better than ever, but it's tough to compare a voice performance to a live-action one. I'm sure he was happy to not be sweating under hours of makeup this time though.
The narrative is good enough. There's some neat subversions but overall it's nothing groundbreaking. I think those last few climactic sequences could've had a little more punch. There was clearly a big focus on getting the humor right, and I really enjoyed that aspect. Biggest issue is that despite retaining that anticapitalist humor of the film, this is honestly kinda bordering on copaganda. Some exceptions can be made when it's this very fictional retrofuturist dystopia, but I think way too many cops were depicted as heroic white knights here.
Terrific game overall. Pleasantly surprising as a first person shooter and hugely satisfying as a love letter to the film.