“Serve the public trust, protect the innocent and uphold the law” anyone of a certain age reading will undoubtedly have RoboCop’s prime directives burned into some dark and hidden corner of the mind. However, it’s been a long time since we have seen the man and machine amalgamation in action and RoboCop: Rogue City has been a long time coming.

Developed by the same team that brought us Terminator: Resistance, RoboCop: Rogue City is a welcome continuation of Teyon‘s apparent aim of bringing back some of the classic action heroes of yesteryear.

RoboCop: Rogue City – Storyline

Taking place after the events of the second movie, RoboCop: Rogue City brings us an all new storyline that, to be fair, leaves a lot to be desired. “A New Guy in Town” is the aptly-named baddy that’s, well, the new guy in town.

Flooding the streets with the fictional recreational drug, “Nuke”, A New Guy in Town is adamant to become Detroit’s new friendly neighborhood crime lord. However, sadly for Mr Guy in Town, RoboCop is back in service and determined to clean the city of crime and follow his prime directives.

Like in the movies, the storyline leaves a lot to be desired and serves only as a conduit for some good ol’ fashioned gunplay. While the script is a carbon copy of hundreds of other action movies typical of the cinematic era, it does serve a vague purpose of giving the game a smidgen of direction.

RoboCop: Rogue City – Gameplay

Putting you in the shoes of a 500lb super cop, RoboCop: Rogue City has a real “meaty” feel to it. The screen shakes slightly with every footfall with a satisfyingly heavy stomping sound, while your default movement is slow and calculated. It seems that Teyon have thought a lot through in the early stages and it’s this attention to these tiny details that make RoboCop: Rogue City the game it is.

The story flows on a fairly linear path that sees you travelling from the police precinct to the start of your missions and back again once completed. There’s no real freedom of movement, other than in the confines of the missions or home base. With that being said, there’s a time and a place for sprawling open-world maps and a RoboCop game fits into neither of these categories. As it stands, the linear approach works well to keep you in the thick of the action.

The gunplay itself has a heavy, meaty feel to it that adds to the man-machine illusion to great effect. Headshots are indicated by a pleasing squelch sound as your opponent’s head is destroyed and targets are identified by RoboCop‘s signature on-board targeting function, that sees enemies framed for easy killing. The arcade elements are alive and well in RoboCop: Rogue City and offer a superb experience during the many gunfights.

RoboCop: Rogue City has its Boring Moments

As we all know, being a cop isn’t all about shooting bad guys and being fused with mechanical parts doesn’t get in the way of carrying out the more mundane of police duties, such as handing out parking violations and doing some actual detective work.

While detective work sounds like it could be fun as a robot, it really isn’t. Most investigations require you to collect evidence to go towards a case. This involves combing large areas for clues that aren’t always clear. For me, the consequence of this was a lot of dead time, in which I’d be aimlessly wandering around looking for things in the same old spots; just like when I lose my car keys. These scenarios could have been handled a lot better and, at times, become more than a little tedious.

RoboCop: Rogue City – Summary

With its eighties action movie vibes and arcade-style action, RoboCop: Rogue City has a lot to offer for both fans of the movies and gamers in general. However, these short bursts of gunplay action are often overshadowed by the tediously humdrum task of looking for clues.