It's 1987! There's battered store fronts blown to pieces as civil unrest rises in a dystopian Detroit. I can remember the shock that overcame me when witnessing Alex Murphy's death on the big screen. The insane detail (at the time anyway) of his mangled body was truly a sight to behold. Fast forward to 2023 and the late 80's and early 90's Robocop films are one of those "You just had to be there to understand it" moments. The modernized Robo films just couldn't harness the magic that left many in awe; it would seem Robo and his cheesy, robotic one liners were best left in the past-I lost hope and surrendered to the notion that there was simply no way of reliving the magic of a "Robo Film".
Little did I know there was a cure for the wistfulness I was feeling. Teyon, developers of 2019's "Terminator Resistance" game, injected the video games world with perhaps the purest form of nostalgia I have ever witnessed with Robocop: Rogue City! This development team was able to capture the spirit of the first three Robo films, preserved its magical essence, and somehow perfectly transcribed it back to today's modern world. Couple the soul of Robo films with the power of Unreal Engine 5 and what you have is the mad scientists at Teyon finally achieved a breakthrough on the time capsule pipe dream. Here is why you should purchase and play Robocop: Rogue City!
A True Demonstration of new Gen power
Let's start by acknowledging that Rogue City is by no means a perfect game! It's full of janky moments for sure. From a technical standpoint, you'll experience some stutters in the game and frame drops. Despite these moments of imperfection, the use of the Unreal 5 engine in this title morphs these shortcomings into a puddle of massively saturated nothing sauce!
Every heavy step you take while traversing each location oozes that nostalgic blast from the past. Whether you're in downtown Detroit, the traumatically recognizable Steel Mill (location of Officer Murphy's heinous murder), the Police Station, and the OCP headquarters, these locations permeate through your screen and warp you into a world that woefully dims even the gruesome sceneries depicted in the source content. The level of detail found in the locales you trot through bellow respect and passion vehemently. Puddles you slam your feet through, dark alleyways, graffiti infested walls, and boarded up structures, all contribute to the tangible poverty that propels you to act on behalf of the Detroit citizens. Plainly put, it is evident that Teyon was very careful about respecting the source content! A feat not often achieved and is similar to the level of homage crafted by Avalanche Studios in "Hogwarts Legacy".
Terribly Corny Story but...that’s Perfect!
To say that Teyon perfected the writing in this project is an understatement! This is where Rogue City's satisfying nostalgia shines the most. One of the most outstanding traits of Robocop is his offbeat, corny one liners. The quirkiness doesn't stop with our near bulletproof protagonist but, the writing overall bleeds "cheesy" and, that's PERFECTLY FINE. I found myself pursuing a person of interest onto the rooftops of a drug infested apartment building. The suspect in pursuit was about to be assaulted all before the cheesiest, perhaps most laughable dialogue ensued:
Angry Drug Dealer: "Maybe you think that building a customer base by selling your product under its manufacturing costs is a good idea!
Suspect: "Under-what?"
Angry Drug Dealer: "But it's not! Such practices are spoiling the market!"
Other Angry Drug Dealer: "It's been proven time and time again that such action leads to a reduction of future demand, yours included! Anti trust laws are there for a reason!"
Angry Drug Dealer: "Sh*t, Maurice! All we want to say is that you violate the basic rules of the market with your predatory pricing. We can't just go along with that."
A college level discourse about economics between crooked drug dealers was the last thing I expected during this mission and this is typical throughout the entirety of the game. Teyon was able to capture and revive Robocop's tendencies. They go as far as superbly mirroring Robo's flashes from the past that are experienced as malfunctions in his programming. For Teyon, it's all in the details. The level of precision in their writing places players in Alex Murphy's shoes. You can't play this game without feeling like you are the "Tin Man".
And The Verdict
Needless to say, at the culmination of Rogue City, as the end credits began to roll, there I sat full! I was transported back to the moment, to the feeling, to the conception of my Robo fanaticism, to the squinting of the eyes as they adjusted to the lights being turned on in the pitch black auditorium. A blast from the past masterfully and carefully reimagined and brought to consumers after more than two decades later. I grabbed my phone and began to text my lifetime brothers a simple phrase, "Play this game!".
