Licensed games tend to have a bad reputation unless they are large-scale AAA games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. But when a developer who is very passionate about a franchise gets their hands on a beloved franchise and adapts it into video game form faithfully, the results can be surprisingly good. One of the latest examples of this is RoboCop: Rogue City from Teyon and Nacon.
Released in November 2023, the PlayStation 5 version of RoboCop: Rogue City is being discounted by 18% to $49 during Amazon Prime Day 2024. If you’re a fan of the classic RoboCop films from the 1980s, but haven’t given this game a shot, you have more reason to do do than ever. While it’s not the best first-person shooter game out there, it’s unabashedly in love with RoboCop and oozes reverence for the franchise in everything it does.
RoboCop: Rogue City is set between the events of RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, and actor Peter Weller returns to reprise the titular role. The game follows RoboCop as he takes on a mysterious new threat to Detroit that everyone just calls the “New Guy.” Upping the stakes are the facts that Anne Lewis is gravely injured during a fight with this villain and that there is growing pressure from Omni Consumer Products (OCP) to retire or replace RoboCop because he seems to be glitching and ignoring his directives more often. It’s the best-written RoboCop story since the original film, and it shows a greater understanding of the character than the 2014 film reboot did.
Players can even make dialogue choices occasionally to influence the narrative. This and a skill tree system give it all a light-RPG feel. When it comes to actual gameplay, though, RoboCop: Rogue City is a level-based first-person shooter. Some levels are larger in scope, as RoboCop can walk around the streets of Detroit, flagging petty law violations and issuing parking tickets or partaking in sidequests that result in firefights and the deaths of criminals. Others are more straightforward shootouts.
As is to be expected, RoboCop moves pretty slowly. While this typically isn’t a good thing in shooters, RoboCop feels like a tank in Rogue City. While he still has a health meter that players have to watch, it’s possible to walk into a room full of enemies and kill them all with a pistol before they can even do much damage to RoboCop. This is a strength Rogue City has in common with the best licensed games: its gameplay reflects and accounts for the iconic character that players control.
I didn’t have high expectations when I first played RoboCop: Rogue City last year, but was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this 12-plus-hour adventure. If you enjoyed the RoboCop films, but have never played this game, I highly recommend picking RoboCop: Rogue City up now that it’s discounted.
RoboCop: Rogue City is discounted to $49 during Prime Day 2024. The game is also available on PC and Xbox Series X/S
