“RoboCop: Rouge City” was released in 2023 (same year Star Wars: Jedi Survivor came out) on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It received positive reviews from critics, fans and gamers alike. Plus, it sold enough copies both in physical and digital format. When I first heard Teyon was developing a RoboCop game, I was on the fence due to the company notorious for making the critically panned “Rambo: The Video Game.” Upon playing RoboCop: Rouge City, I didn’t expect Teyon to make a good game putting all their time and effort.
Anyway, Teyon’s upcoming DLC expansion, “RoboCop: Rouge City – Unfinished” will be released on July 17, 2025. Which is approximately six days before my birthday. In 2024, MGM and Amazon Prime are working on a TV series based on the franchise. As of July 2025, there’s no confirmation if Peter Weller will reprise his role or if they’re gonna bring a newcomer to put on the armored suit. Only time will tell.
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS.
Alive & Dead Qualities
Alive: Peter Weller reprises his role as the titular character and he did an excellent job for his performance.
Graphics brings the series to life set in a retro futuristic ’80s Detroit filled with scum and villainy. You can tell the developers are passionate about RoboCop.
Gameplay/Mechanics
- Presented as a first-person shooter, you play as RoboCop doing what he does best under prime directives. Serve the public trust. Protect the innocent. Uphold the law.
- Combat retains Paul Verhoeven’s ultraviolent vision. Besides RoboCop’s signature sidearm, you can pick up other guns such as shotguns, machine guns and heavy turrets with limited ammo.
- Enemies are pretty tough. Especially, ED-209. It took me two tries to beat him on Normal difficulty.
- Acquiring motherboards lets you upgrade your handy dandy sidearm. Installing a node increases the gun’s stats including increase damage, bigger magazines and over-the-top gore that looks like something off of a Quentin Tarantino film.
- Gain XP by completing missions, mowing down lowlifes, scan clues, obtain evidence etc.
- Dialogue Tree affects the outcome of a mission and characters reacting to your behavior. Various endings determine your decisions.
- Evaluation determines your performance by completing missions, side quests, evidence and hidden caches. You earn bonus XP. An A is the highest grade.
- Restore your health grabbing recovery charge or a fuse box.
- As you level up, spend skill points improving RoboCop’s abilities.
Set between “RoboCop 2” and “RoboCop 3,” our hero tracks down a crime boss who’s linked to the first movie. Meanwhile, OCP intends to replace Old Detroit with a Delta City as a life changing improvement for citizens to live a better life without criminal activity.
I bought the “Alex Murphy Edition” at a discount. Spent $11 on the full game via PlayStation Store. An alternate costume of RoboCop’s battle damaged armor and his sidearm designed as a prototype. I’d buy that for a dollar!
Anne Lewis & The Old Man also return in prominent roles.
RoboCop’s instrumental theme is retained. Makes you wanna shoot the bad guys.
There are 31 main missions and 27 side missions. Racking up 58 missions altogether. Don’t forget to complete side missions or else they’ll never come back after you finish a main mission. It would’ve been a funny if RoboCop teaches an anti-drug program at school giving students a worksheet. A reference to that one “Robot Chicken” sketch when RoboCop repeatedly says, worksheet.
A Plot Twist towards the end. I don’ wanna give it away. You’ll have to play the game and find out.
It took me 12 Hours to complete every mission on Normal difficulty. After the final mission, New Game Plus is unlocked. Starting a new game retains your skill points and motherboards. You get replay value adding additional hours if you want to seek different endings and side missions you missed.
Dead: Human NPCs have arms resembling noodles like Finn the Human from “Adventure Time.” This was also present in Rambo: The Video Game.
There’s no music every time you roam the streets of Old Detroit. That’s like going to a music festival without good tunes.
The Final Verdict: B, FOR BIGGER AND BETTER!
RoboCop: Rouge City should’ve been a proper second movie after the first entry. I consider the game as my second favorite in the series. The first movie’s still top tier. Pretend the 2014 remake did not exist. I hope MGM & Amazon Prime’s upcoming TV show doesn’t stink. If you’re a fan of RoboCop, buy Rouge City, it’s worth your hard-earned cash.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 