“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me!” The classic RoboCop movies, particularly the original, was a groundbreaking take on crime and police in a near-future version of Detroit. While the reality surrounding those things has moved in quite a different direction than the film predicted, it’s still a great concept and an awesome piece of ’80s nostalgia. RoboCop himself, though, has never really been done justice when being translated into games. We got a handful of early games on systems like the NES and SNES, but they were not quite able to really capture the feel of being a walking tank in the streets of Detroit.
First announced in 2021, RoboCop: Rogue City looks to finally put you behind the mask of RoboCop. However, being such a beloved film, there’s a reasonable amount of hesitancy for this adaptation. Not to worry, though, because we’ve done our patrols and staked out all the important locations to bring you everything you need to know about RoboCop: Rogue City. All you need to do is read on. You have 20 seconds to comply.
Further reading
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Release date
RoboCop: Rogue City is slated to release in June of 2023, which is still quite a ways off. When it was first announced in 2021, all it had was a 2023 window, which then was narrowed down to June 2022, meaning things are probably going smoothly for the time being. Given that much time, we hope the date won’t slip, especially since the team is giving itself a month of wiggle room, but you never know.
Platforms
This sci-fi blast from the past will be available on all the current systems, including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Trailers
RoboCop: Rogue City debuted with a trailer during NACON Connect in 2021. This was a very brief announcement, mainly meant to reveal the project and build hype.
The trailer starts with a voice-over of a report on Old Detroit’s increasing crime rates as the city rises up from smoke. The reporter asks who could possibly intimidate the rampaging criminals and restore peace, leading to a shot of the game’s title and iconic image of RoboCop drawing his side-arm from his leg holster.
About a year later, at NACOn Connect 2022, RoboCop: Rogue City showed up once more, this time with actual gameplay to examine.
The trailer opens nearly identically to the last, with a broadcast detailing the increasing crime wave overtaking the city, which we see via crime scenes. This time, though, the broadcast is interrupted by a criminal on live TV.
We cut to RoboCop arriving on a scene and are thrown into first-person. We hear the nostalgic sounds of his robotic legs revving as he walks with slow, deliberate steps. He approaches the news station that has been overrun by punk gangsters, and we also cut to him raiding some kind of factory or plant, as well as general slums and alleys of Detroit. We also see a major encounter with a robot that looks very much like ED-209 from the films.
One of the few lines comes from a man, presumably the owner of a bank, asking where all the money is. He is later being interviewed, where he says he would “trust this guy with my kids … I mean, if I had any,” and then claims whatever occurred was just a glitch. It’s unclear what he’s referring to, but it seems likely to be directed toward a similar situation to the movies where they attempt to make fully robotic police in the form of ED-209 that don’t quite work out.
The trailer ends on RoboCop, mask off, approaching the screen and delivering his most famous line: “Dead or alive, you are coming with me.” What makes this delivery so impactful, aside from just the words, is the fact that it is Peter Weller reprising his role to voice Murphy/RoboCop.
There’s no indication in any way, aside from the ED-209-looking bot, as to where in the timeline this game will take place or if it is a complete reboot.
Gameplay
The gameplay trailer, while being true in that it showed gameplay, was so heavily edited that it can be hard to get a feel for what RoboCop: Rogue City will actually play like. Still, combing through the footage reveals the basic idea.
Obviously, this will be a first-person shooter, but there will be some other elements thrown in as well. For one, there’s the instantly recognizable targeting mode we see where scan lines target enemies and automatically target them, as we saw in the movie. While unclear from the footage, which has no HUD, we suspect this will be something like a “super” or a limited move you can activate that acts like Soldier-76’s ultimate in Overwatch, where you will automatically target any enemies in your field of view for a duration of time.
You aren’t just limited to shooting, though. We see RoboCop grabbing and throwing enemies by hand, as well as kicking dumpsters. For now, the only weapon we see RoboCop use is his trusty Auto-9 sidearm, but hopefully, there will be more weapon variety in the full game.
Multiplayer
RoboCop: Rogue City is listed as a single-player game, so we don’t expect any multiplayer modes to be included. Based on the relatively smaller development team and their past games, this will almost certainly be a focused, linear, single-player game.
Pre-order
Even though the month has been nailed down, it is still too early for RoboCop: Rogue City pre-orders to start going up. However, if you’re eager to stay updated and are a PC player, you can add the game to your wishlist. Otherwise, we’ll be sure to keep you informed as new info is revealed.
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