Well, here we are. We have talked about nearly everything to do with everyone’s favorite half man, half robot cop who strives to protect Detroit. I say almost because in 2023 we finally got the most ambitious video game project based on the character. This isn’t just him appearing in Mortal Kombat as a playable character or a cash in with the movies on every computer and console of the time, this is different. This is a labor of love from a company that made one of the worst licensed games of all time as well as one of the best. It snuck out of nowhere while trying to pay respects to the source material while also bringing new things to the table that feel like they could have been cut out of the first two movies. Let’s look at the Prime Directives of this true sequel to RoboCop 2 and find out what happened to RoboCop: Rogue City.
The history of RoboCop games is pretty straightforward and predictable. The first video game released on the franchise came out just a year after the first movie in 1988. The movie was a smash success so it’s no surprise that its popularity and content was ripe for the conversion. While there are multiple different kinds of iterations of games called RoboCop released across a dozen systems, its RoboCop the arcade game by Data East that’s the most important, and, before Rogue City, the best one. It’s a side scrolling beat em up/shooter in the vein of Final Fight or Double Dragon that is a fairly faithful for what it is and is worth seeking out through emulation. It was the highest selling arcade game in Hong Kong in 1988, and its various conversions sold millions of copies across their various platforms. This would of course lead to a sequel that would come out in 1990 to coincide with the cinematic sequel. The arcade version from Data East would again be the best and most true to the spirit of the franchise while Ocean would release versions across all the home markets again after they had purchased the rights directly from Orion Pictures during the scripting phase of the first film. These would be even more varied and even worse than those for part one but would again sell like hot cakes.
RoboCop 3 would get no arcade release but nonetheless be released on all major home consoles of the time which makes even more sense with the third movie being neutered for kids already and none of these stand out or the test of time. While no new movies would populate until the remake, comics and games would keep coming from the popular and fun RoboCop vs. the Terminator on Genesis and SNES to weird handheld creations on the Gameboy in 2001. Titus Software had acquired the rights at this point and made that Gameboy oddity as well as a miserable FPS for GameCube, Xbox, PS2, and Windows in 2003. For 20 years we would only see a couple of mobile releases including a tie in to the remake before a Polish developer named Teyon would work with MGM to bring Rogue City to life. It took 3 years to develop, and the team watched the first three movies multiple times to get things right. How did they do? Let’s look at how well they followed the Prime Directives.
Prime Directive 1: Does this look like RoboCop?
The game captures what old Detroit looks like in the movies perfectly. While there are probably nicer parts of the city out there, the gameplay takes you from the police station to the crime ridden parts of the city and to the OCP building which all look right out of the film. This is a testament to how much the team paid attention while watching the movies and is crucial in making a good game out of the IP. The police station, OCP building, and an area that is a wonderful callback look exactly as they should and while the city feels very generic compared to those locations, there are advertisements and movie posters that feel right in line with the universe. The computer tech walks a fine line between being futuristic where the franchise takes place but also right out of the late 80s where the movies were made.
Looking further into the details, we have glorious inclusions like RoboCop’s vision being right out of the films when he takes aim at criminals. The green haze and movement boxes all look perfect and Robo’s side arm nails both the muzzle flare when shooting and replicates the reloading action, body damage when hit, and intimidation factor of looking unstoppable with its power. The final piece to the visual puzzle, and one that was a non-negotiable, was how RoboCop would look. While several characters appear nearly identical as their film counterparts including The Old Man, Murphys partner Lewis, and Sergeant Reed, RoboCop is perfect. With his mask on, he looks exactly how he should and even takes damage like he does in the films. When he sits in his chair in the police station monitoring cage and takes his mask off, we see the Alex Murphy we know and love. That’s because the team at Teyon and MGM were able to secure the likeness and voice acting talents of Peter effing Weller, sorry, Dr. Peter effing Weller to come back and reprise his role. With no disrespect to Robert John Burke who did a serviceable job in part 3, Weller is RoboCop and RoboCop is Weller. Getting him to come back digitally is a win that cannot be overstated.
Prime Directive 2: Does it Sound like RoboCop?
As good as it looks, Rogue City could have dropped the ball on sound design and ruined how good it looks. This is where one of my few complaints comes in for the game as sound includes music and weather due to full licensing or creative choices, the music falls flat and that’s when it exists at all. One of the key parts to the movie is the music by Basil Poledouris and it would have been so great to hear those tunes while shooting up a collection of goons or when taking our car out of the police station. There is a tweaked version of the theme on the opening screen but that’s the only allusion to the original score we would get and often there is no music at all. It’s not a deal breaker by any means but it would have added to the overall experience immensely. While the music is a letdown, the sound finds ways to fire on all cylinders and that starts with RoboCop himself.
You could have licensed the looks of Peter Weller but if the voice coming out of his mouth was different, it would have been a disaster. Not only do we get his voice, which while sounding older, isn’t as distracting as Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones when he is de-aged for the most recent film. He has the right cadence, and the scripting fits the character perfectly including using iterations of some of his most famous lines like when he discusses the possibility of there being trouble. Robo himself sounds great from everything to his walk sound to the pop of his hand spike information extractor to the sound of his famous auto 9 shooting. Other characters sound great too from ED-209’s vocal warnings to its screech upon defeat. While Weller is the only voice from the original movies to come back, the other voice actors do an admirable job filling the void of Nancy Allen and Dan O’Herlihy as Lewis and the Old Man respectively. We even have a new character in Max Becker who is made to sound like Bob Morton or Dick Jones from the original. This guy does such a convincing job that I had to look up weather or not the character was an original creation or a character from part 2 that I had forgotten. The rest of the audio from explosions and gunfire to blood spurting and old Detroit all hit the mark just right.
Prime Directive 3: Does it feel like RoboCop?
The short answer is yes; good lord does this feel like RoboCop. They got nearly everything right from the look and sound, but it goes deeper than that. The nightmare sequences of Robo glitching and hearing his family is a great call back to previous films and all of the stuff mentioned in the previous two prime directives gel together to feel like what we maybe should have got for a third film instead of the kid friendly downfall that is part 3. Walking, shooting, and talking all feel like the titular hero and for the first time in any game, even the fun ones, RoboCop and his universe are truly captured. Some of the things can be a bit too “gamey” like side missions and leveling up but what do you expect, it’s a game. Having a family member of one of the original gang members be one of the main bad guys may seem dumb but it works for Die Hard with a Vengeance just fine and that’s the best sequel in that franchise.
If anything, the developers could have leaned even further into the universe. Any loading screens could have been used as advertisements like the satirical ones found in the first two films and while we get fun callbacks in graffiti or movie posters for things like the action hero Murphy’s son idolizes, we could have had more of that. Occasionally the missions or gameplay come up short in either how impactful the mission is or that they feel too samey but there is more than enough bloody action and weapons to use to make up for it. The boss fights are few and far between, but they hit all the beats that tie things together from a couple ED-209’s to the repaired RoboCop Two now housing the angry consciousness of The Old Man. The whole thing can be completed in about 12-15 hours, and a new game plus allows you to finish your upgrades while keeping the overpowered character you built in the first place.
Reviews for the game have been solid if unspectacular but gamers and most youtubers have latched on to its spirit and sing its praises. It has sold well enough since launch to not only become Nacon’s biggest launch and we are going to get a DLC expansion called Unfinished Business in the summer of 2025. Games like this and Terminator Resistance helped break the assumption that some franchises just can’t have good games. I would love to see this company tackle any number of other movie franchises that have been done dirty in the past of never given the chance to fly but until then I strongly suggest you give this game a chance on the platform of your choice. Robocop: Rogue City? I’d buy that for a dollar!
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