RoboCop: Rogue City review. The Polish studio successfully referred to the film original

RoboCop: Rogue City is the latest production of the Krakow studio Teyon, for which it was another attempt to tackle the iconic, although somewhat forgotten film license. The studio’s credits include the quite good Terminator: Resistance, which showed that despite a relatively small budget – at least compared to many Western development studios – it can make good games. Those that take the best of their film counterparts and offer gameplay that may not be at the highest level, but is always decent.

RoboCop: Rogue City makes an average first impression

I must admit that in the first moments of the game RoboCop I was a bit discouraged. And although I am a person who grew up in the 1990s, so I remember the glory days of the film original very well, when it comes to video games, what I put first is not the sentiment for times long gone, but the gameplay itself. And this one seemed a bit… wooden to me at first.

Static cutscenes, technically poor graphics and not very dynamic controls clearly reminded me that I was dealing with a production with an average budget. There are currently so many good and very good games being released that mediocre ones are simply a waste of time. However, I continued playing because I thought to myself: this is RoboCop, it can’t be too dynamic, because the hero is a cop in armor (the main character moves in a characteristic, robotic way). I decided not to write this title off.

I played for a while and after some time I understood what I was dealing with here – primarily a virtual tribute to movie fans. Then I thought that I should just give Polish artists a chance. So I kept playing, let the story unfold, better understood the creators’ assumptions… I gave it a chance and I didn’t regret it.

After spending less than 10 hours with the game (that’s about how long it took me to get to the end credits), I already know that RoboCop: Rogue City is a game that is simply meant to be fun.

Shooting enemies is really good here – it is intense, powerful and effective. Throughout the entire game, we use basically only one type of weapon: the Auto 9 automatic pistol, a cult classic for fans of the film, which in the game is simply a tool of mass destruction. There’s really no need to pick up rifles dropped by fallen enemies, because the enemies’ heads will explode enough from the power of the aforementioned Auto 9.

Shoot, kill, perform duties, question orders

In RoboCop: Rogue City we enter a semi-open world to perform main and side missions alternately. The first one is where the most action happens – this is where we face dozens of (unfortunately quite repetitive) opponents and conduct constant fire with Auto 9, destroying selected elements of the environment and dynamically overcoming subsequent obstacles thrown at us.

In terms of plot, we are dealing with events that are loosely based on the story known from the three RoboCop films. We will often have to oppose the will of our superiors so that justice can be served in the virtual world. A typical action movie, but in a video game.

However, the creators from the Teyon studio have not forgotten that RoboCop is not only a rebellious robo-cop, but also an exemplary law enforcer. Therefore, side missions mainly involve solving mundane problems of citizens or performing typical police work, such as issuing tickets to wrongly parked cars. In fact, to complete the game 100%, you will have to issue more than one ticket.

Just the ordinary prose of an ordinary policeman’s life. The main and side missions complement each other well, ensuring the game is played at an appropriate pace and with well-placed accents.

I’m applying for a raise for level designers

However, what stole my heart the most in RoboCop: Rogue City are the designs of the boards and levels that we visit in the game. As for the PlayStation 5, which I played on, it really shows that the game is running on very powerful hardware.

The environmental designs were made with great attention to detail, they are refined with incredible care, and most importantly – they very faithfully convey the film’s atmosphere. It’s very good that the graphics are dominated by a subdued color palette, which perfectly reflects the characteristic dirt of a world dominated by dangerous criminals and corrupt politicians.

Above-average average straight from Poland

RoboCop: Rogue City is not a top-shelf game and there is no denying that. It lacks the overall momentum known from high-budget games, which is especially visible in the rather static cutscenes. The enemies we shoot at are not very intelligent, and when more of them appear on the screen, the animation can crunch and become a bit unpleasant.

These shortcomings, however, do not change the fact that RoboCop: Rogue City from the Krakow studio Teyon is simply enjoyable to play from start to finish. The game is impressive and nevertheless well reflects the overall atmosphere of the story about a robotic policeman. For fans of the original film, this is of course a must-have, and I have no doubt about that. Everyone else is welcome to give it a try, and they should get exactly what you’d expect from this game.

RATING: 6/10