HHW Gaming Review: Teyon Games Makes A Better Sequel To ‘RoboCop 2’ With ‘Rogue City’

Numerous games featuring RoboCop have been released, but none were that memorable. I have a strong love for the 1988 arcade game from Data East. However, the bar is extremely low, and Teyon Games saw an opening to deliver an authentic RoboCop experience and, for the most part, DELIVERED with Rogue City.

Taking place between RoboCop 2 and 3, Rogue City lets players control the law-enforcement cyborg, lovingly known as Alex Murphy, as he tries to clean up the streets of Old Detroit.

The narrative-driven first-person shooter sees Robo take on a new figure hilariously called “The New Guy,” who is rallying together all of Old Detroit’s gangs for one dangerous purpose. On top of the new threat, OCP (Omni Consumer Products) hack Max Becker feels the police department and RoboCop are useless relics and has his ideas of what law enforcement should look like if and when OCP levels Old Detroit for Detroit City.

RoboCop also battles his inner demons as his past continues to haunt him and takes shape in the form of glitches that players will experience as they progress through the game’s story.

Robo’s glitches will lead to him having therapy sessions (I am not joking) that actually work and successfully tie in with the game’s campaign.

Teyon Games Serves The Public (RoboCop Fans) Trust With Rogue City

Teyon Games puts on a masterclass regarding making this feel like an authentic RoboCop video game.

With Rogue City, Teyon Games’ main goal was to deliver an authentic RoboCop experience that fans of the franchise would buy for a dollar; mission accomplished.

Like the films, Rogue City should not be taken entirely seriously. Instead, it should be embraced as a campy love letter to the Sci-Fi-Action films that are now cult classics.

Teyon Games went to great lengths to ensure that everything we loved from the movies- the cheesy one-liners, the ridiculous dialogue, the over-the-top action sequences- is in the game.

Fans will be happy to see all the locations, like the police station, recreated with the most extraordinary detail, even down to Robo’s police cruiser sparking as it hits the camp.

Even the abandoned steel mill from the film, which has some very cool easter eggs, is in the game, which will have you pointing at your screen like Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

For the most part, Teyon Games puts on a masterclass regarding making this feel like an authentic RoboCop video game.

Upholding The Law As RoboCop Has Never Been More Fun

The dialogue options add a nice touch to the game that will affect how things turn out in the end.

RoboCop: Rogue City will not just have you walking around as Robo and shooting thugs in the nuts (yes, you can do that). You will also have to engage in some actual police work as well.

While the game is linear in nature, there are some semi-open worlds for you to explore as the cyborg cop. For example, while exploring Old Detroit, numerous side missions and activities add uniqueness to the game and keep it from feeling like a straight shoot ’em up.

One sidequest will have RoboCop putting on his detective hat and visiting the set of a suntan lotion commercial while he tries to solve the murder of a sex worker.

You can also issue parking tickets, converse with people on the street who are breaking the law, and decide whether to issue a summons or give them a warning.

There are some consequences to your actions. If you let a graffiti artist off with just a slap on the wrist, he will paint a mural celebrating RoboCop later in the game.

RoboCop can also engage in politics, as he will be forced to help Old Detroit elect a mayor. Fans of the films will recognize the current mayor, who will seek help on his campaign from you.

The dialogue options add a nice touch to the game that will affect how things turn out in the end.

Dead or Alive, You’re Coming With Me Punk

Teyon makes you feel like you’re the ultimate badass…

Another area where this game shines is the action. It’s an absolute joy to control the tank-like character who can’t run, jump, or take cover behind a wall because he doesn’t need to.

No, RoboCop is not impervious to the barrage of bullets, grenades, and sometimes the occasional axe or sledgehammer, so yes, you will have to pay attention to your health because it can quickly hit 0 on you during firefight scenarios, but that just adds some tension and requires you to imply some strategy instead of just going in auto-9 blazing.

Still, Teyon makes you feel like you’re the ultimate badass, and you use RoboCop’s signature targeting system and pop thugs’ skulls. I must add that it never gets old seeing a brutal headshot happening.

RoboCop can also level up and acquire cooler perks. One perk allows his armor to reflect bullets shot at him back to the thugs, while another improves his dialogue and safe-cracking capabilities.

You can also level up RoboCop’s trusty auto-9 by using circuit boards. In this task, you activate nodes while avoiding the buffs on the board. It’s fun at first but becomes annoying as you progress.

Boss battles are also fun. A particular showdown with Robo’s nemesis, ED-209, is one of the game’s many highlights. There are others, but I won’t spoil it for you.

You Call This A GlITCH?

None of these bugs are game-breaking, but I am sure Teyon Games that “they will fix you, they fix everything” with post-launch patches.

Unfortunately, RoboCop is not the only thing glitching in the game. There are plenty of bugs that will capture your attention. Sometimes NPCs literally walk through objects, enemies sometimes fall through floors, or the lipsynching during dialogues is entirely off.

One time during my playthrough, the lipsynching wasn’t working at all. The person I was talking to lips was not moving as she spoke to me, and I could barely hear what she was saying, thanks to the captions saved the conversation.

The AI is laughable, and the thugs outside the bosses don’t do much to ensure their survival but instead hilariously make themselves easy targets for RoboCop.

Sometimes, missions break and do not proceed, forcing you to restart the game and campaigns. Yes, it is annoying when it happens, but it does not happen often.

None of these bugs are game-breaking, but I am sure Teyon Games that “they will fix you, they fix everything” with post-launch patches.

Final Verdict

No, RoboCop: Rogue City does not belong in a category in The Game Awards unless they have one for best adaptation from a RoboCop film.

It’s the perfect example of a video game being just fun and delivering on its main premise, and that’s become RoboCop.

You can tell the folks at Teyon Games are huge fans of RoboCop because of the care and attention to detail to deliver an authentic RoboCop experience.

The narrative-driven focus is well done. It’s cheesy when it has to be and serious when it has to be, just like in the films. It’s not a useless feature; it helps drive Rogue City’s surprisingly good story, which honestly makes this game a way better sequel than RoboCop 3 ever was.

But is this game perfect? No, some bugs just can’t be ignored, but this is an impressive-looking game, and Teyon should be proud of its RoboCop game.

I know your backlog is already full, but I recommend adding RoboCop: Rogue City. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

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Photo: Nacon / Teyon Games / RoboCop: Rogue City

*Review key for PS5 provided for use by Nacon*