Few cinematic properties entertain me as a lot as Paul Verhoeven‘s 1987 RoboCop. Violent, gritty, and satirical, the traditional sci-fi journey stays a crisply designed and pertinent movie. It’s intelligent sufficient to mix not-so-subtle social commentary with thrilling leisure. You decide it other than any angle and it holds up.
Regardless of its fascinating premise, compelling concepts, and distinctive characters, RoboCop didn’t require a sequel. It’s a standalone image that successfully presents the hero’s journey, as seen via the eyes of Alex Murphy. On the finish of the movie, he succeeds in killing the dangerous guys, rediscovering his soul, and confronting the ethical and existential questions raised by his existence—finish of story.
Hollywood being Hollywood, RoboCop 2 brings Murphy again and pits him in opposition to extra large robots and much more vile baddies with diminishing outcomes earlier than destroying the character for good within the terrible RoboCop 3. Murphy lived on in comedian e-book spinoffs, novels, and video video games, notably 1993’s foolish however enjoyable RoboCop versus Terminator.
Later, in 2014, MGM rebooted RoboCop into one thing extra accessible to common audiences. Starring Joel Kinnaman, this iteration was extra Batman than twisted sci-fi and nixed Verhoeven’s darkish satire for a extra simple motion image with mediocre outcomes. A couple of years later, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp jumped aboard a proposed sequel that may ignore RoboCop 2 and three and picked up instantly after the unique.
Alas, the mission by no means took place and lives in Hollywood limbo.
Irrespective of. Due to Teyon, the identical firm that delivered the stellar Terminator: Resistance in 2019, RoboCop returns in Rogue Metropolis, a first-person shooter that captures the spirit of Verhoeven’s traditional higher than any of the sequels, spinoffs, and remakes launched over the past 35 years. No, it’s not precisely a groundbreaking expertise. However I’ve loved my expertise to this point, even when Rogue Metropolis roughly confirms how laborious it’s to make a follow-up to RoboCop.
Immersive Gameplay
On no account do I contemplate myself a hardcore gaming fan. (I’m nonetheless enjoying Name of Responsibility: Black Ops III Zombies, for cripe’s sake!) Ergo, I’m not a snob relating to graphics and controls. I adapt to regardless of the recreation presents and attempt to benefit from the expertise no matter bugs and glitches.
That’s one of the best ways to method Rogue Metropolis. Whereas fantastically designed, the graphics are slightly clunky, with textures taking a number of seconds to load on my PS5 — notably in the course of the cinematic minimize scenes. Villains are of the cut-and-paste selection—they appear and sound alike—and don’t current a lot risk. Tactically, they aren’t very elusive both. Enemies favor firing RoboCop whereas standing uncovered in an open area as an alternative of ducking and hiding like a sane individual would do.
There’s additionally not a whole lot of fluidity within the gameplay. Regardless of the open-world side, ranges are disconnected, which means RoboCop doesn’t hop in his automotive and drive to a checkpoint. (This isn’t Cyberpunk 2077.) As a substitute, gamers enter their automobile, the scene fades to black, and RoboCop emerges in a brand new location. Terminator: Resistance used the identical methodology to move gamers to totally different maps, leading to irritating loading occasions and a barely disjointed narrative.
Surprisingly, characters like Officer Anne Lewis look nice. Nevertheless, mouths hardly ever match their phrases, which is baffling in 2023.
But regardless of these flaws RoboCop: Rogue Metropolis — like Terminator: Resistance — continues to be a whole lot of enjoyable. In lots of respects, it looks like an old-school recreation made within the early 2000s or the kind of shooter you’ll discover in an arcade. The dangerous guys are simplistic, however I by no means tire of blowing them to gory bits. In lots of respects, this recreation feels extra like the unique Doom (circa 1993) than Name of Responsibility, and I imply that in a great way. Rogue Metropolis is the kind of recreation that doesn’t require many mind cells. Flip it on and benefit from the chaos.
I additionally appreciated the design of Detroit. I’m solely about midway via the storyline, so there’s an opportunity the world opens up much more as I progress, however at present, RoboCop spends a lot of his time laying waste to criminals within the outskirts. Skyscrapers loom giant within the background, however we’re not traversing metropolis streets or partaking in shootouts amongst most of the people. I’m effective with this method, although extra selection can be good.
Additionally, RoboCop is simple to manage. His solely skills are ahead, again, level, shoot, recuperate, reload, scan, and run. There aren’t any particular powers or foolish gimmicks—at the very least, not but. He’s a machine who shrugs off technique in favor of a head-on method. Fortunately, he can maintain fairly a bit of injury.
Violence
Rogue Metropolis doesn’t draw back from violence. As said above, the sport performs like the unique Doom. Machine weapons rip limbs off dangerous guys, whereas assault rifles blow them right into a chunky marinara. RoboCop can even seize and toss folks throughout the room or at unsuspecting dangerous guys.
Damaging environments are a selected spotlight. Rooms are full of breakable objects, together with screens that inexplicably explode like grenades when thrown. Propane tanks additionally do a whole lot of harm, and there are many glass rooms to destroy in the course of the massive motion set items. I spent half-hour destroying all of the lights in a hideout and would gladly do it once more.
Once more — recreation snobs could snarl at each container or door that doesn’t explode on contact. Regardless, I used to be happy with Teyon’s efforts.
Plot
On a destructive notice, Rogue Metropolis proves why making one other RoboCop film is sort of unattainable. The sport principally hits all the identical beats as the unique movie, oddly selecting to return Murphy to his robotic state slightly than the extra genial human he grew to become on the finish of RoboCop. He’s principally soulless, although you may select to let criminals stroll or face the time. These decisions appear to have an effect on the story, or, at the very least, how supporting characters work together with you.
Teyon made the fitting alternative right here. On the finish of RoboCop, Murphy sheds his masks and turns into primarily human once more. Whereas it might have been good to see a continuation of his human story, I need to play as RoboCop — not Murphy.
Narratively, Rogue Metropolis makes the identical errors as RoboCop 2 and opts for greater and louder motion as an alternative of clever and intelligent storytelling. We don’t glean far more from Murphy within the recreation—at the very least, to this point—however contact on all the identical beats from the unique movie.
Terminator: Resistance delivered the threequel James Cameron’s sequence deserved, correctly putting its motion sooner or later amongst new characters. Rogue Metropolis features extra as a requel, in that it’s a sequel that additionally looks like a remake/reboot. I admire the slavish devotion to Verhoeven’s movie, however I’m additionally a bit of disillusioned that Teyon couldn’t discover a distinctive option to broaden Murphy’s story.
Last Ideas
RoboCop: Rogue Metropolis works as an old school shooter that entertains regardless of its flaws. It doesn’t broaden its topic’s lore like Terminator: Resistance did, however it nonetheless presents a wonderfully satisfying return to Verhoeven’s darkish and violent universe.
Preserve your expectations in examine, and also you’ll benefit from the trip.
