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RoboCop Returns in Glorious, Gritty Fashion

RoboCop: Rogue City is the kind of surprise you don’t see coming. In a time when many licensed games feel like cash grabs or forgettable tie-ins, this one dares to deliver a full-blown cinematic experience rooted in love for the source material. It plays like a direct sequel to the original films—ignoring the reboot and stepping in as a worthy RoboCop 4. From the unmistakable voice of Peter Weller to the smog-choked streets of Old Detroit, this game is clearly made by fans, for fans.

It’s a game that gets a lot right: the tone, the pacing, and especially the first-person feel of becoming RoboCop. But for every step forward in immersion and style, there’s a stumble in technical polish and replayability. The result is an experience that feels both authentic and ambitious, but ultimately uneven.

Authentic RoboCop Vibes

RoboCop: Rogue City does a great job capturing the gritty, dystopian world of the classic RoboCop films. Set after the events of RoboCop 1 and 2, the story throws you into the boots of Alex Murphy once again, with new villains and conspiracy theories that feel right at home in the franchise.

It nails that RoboCop tone—grimy streets, corrupt systems, and violent justice. What really impressed me was how faithfully it recreated iconic locations from the movies. These environments have been rebuilt from the ground up and are surprisingly detailed and immersive. It actually made me go back and rewatch the original films, which says a lot about how well the game captures the spirit of the source material.

Peter Weller Returns as RoboCop

One of the coolest things about this game? It’s voiced by Peter Weller, the original RoboCop himself. That alone gives the game a huge dose of authenticity. His signature monotone delivery and presence make it feel like you’re really stepping into a forgotten chapter of the movies. Fans of the franchise will absolutely appreciate hearing that familiar voice again—it’s not just a nostalgia hit, it’s a game-changer for immersion.

This feels like RoboCop finally got the Alien: Isolation treatment.

A Great Start with Solid Gameplay

The first 15 minutes had me hooked. Playing in first-person as RoboCop feels right—it gives weight to every step and bullet, immersing you in his heavy, methodical presence. The pacing, music, and tone blend into something cinematic yet still fun to play. It’s reminiscent of how Alien: Isolation brought its movie world to life—this feels like RoboCop finally got that same treatment.

Combat is satisfying. RoboCop doesn’t sprint or dive-roll—he stomps through enemies like a tank. As you level up, you can upgrade your skills and customize your Auto-9 pistol. The Deduction skill is especially useful early on for a 30% XP boost.

Customization and RPG Elements

The skill tree is simple but effective—you’ll likely max it out by the end of the campaign. Each skill tier noticeably improves RoboCop’s capabilities, from combat efficiency to environmental scanning, making you feel progressively more powerful without overwhelming you with complexity.

As far as customization goes, the RPG-lite mechanics are surprisingly engaging. RoboCop’s iconic Auto-9 sidearm supports swappable chip sets that alter its performance—everything from increasing damage and armor-piercing capabilities to boosting fire rate or ammo capacity. You’ll collect these chips throughout the game and use a clever mini-puzzle system to optimize how they’re slotted in. The trick is to align power flow through a circuit grid, finding the most efficient path to activate multiple bonuses at once. It adds just enough depth to reward experimentation without slowing down the pace.

A Cinematic but Restrictive Experience

Beyond the action and leveling system, the game leans heavily into its cinematic roots. The cutscenes are frequent, well-acted, and beautifully rendered, often blurring the line between game and movie. This immersive storytelling works great in your first playthrough. The story even branches in some interesting ways. You can affect relationships with characters and your decisions lead to either a “good” or “bad” ending.

This layer of choice is a great addition to the RoboCop franchise in game form. But it also introduces some technical constraints that I don’t think the developers were quite prepared for. The branching narrative adds replay value, sure, but it also complicates things like mission select, and replayability—making the absence of those features feel more like a necessary compromise than a design choice.

New Game Plus and Replayability Issues

But once you get towards the end of the game and New Game Plus, the pacing falters. With RoboCop already fully leveled, enemies go down almost instantly, making combat encounters feel more like brief intermissions than actual challenges. The excellent cutscenes begin to feel like barriers between gameplay, especially when you’re just in the mood for some RoboCop-style carnage. Those moments of explosive action become too brief simply because of how overpowered you are.

New Game Plus should’ve been a chance to relive the best moments with more freedom. Instead, it’s more of the same—and too easy. Once you’ve maxed out your skills and gear, even the hardest difficulty becomes a walk in the park.

As mentioned before, there’s no level select or mission replay, which is a major oversight—especially in a game with such strong cinematic highlights. If you want to relive a specific shootout or story beat, you have to replay the entire campaign from the beginning. A sandbox or freeplay mode would’ve added a lot of value, especially for players who prefer gameplay over story or just want to flex their fully-upgraded RoboCop in combat.

A dedicated practice mode or combat simulator could’ve solved this, offering quick access to action without narrative interruptions. There is one section of the game that does something close to this—and it’s a blast—but it ends up feeling more like a tease than a feature. Its presence only emphasizes how much the game would benefit from more of that kind of content.

Ambitious World Design, Uneven Execution

The game tries to walk the line between open-world exploration and a linear narrative. Some zones feel lively and well-integrated, offering side missions, interactive NPCs, and environmental storytelling that expands the RoboCop universe in interesting ways. However, this semi-open structure often clashes with the more rigid, cinematic pacing of the main story.

Dialogue doesn’t pause when you walk away, and characters don’t repeat lines—so if you miss something, it’s gone. This leads to moments where the storytelling and gameplay feel out of sync. For instance, you may stumble across a meaningful side activity only to find it undercut by your current story objective or accidentally miss important narrative beats by straying too far off the path.

It’s like the game wants to be both things at once—story-driven and semi-open—but doesn’t quite stick the landing. The lack of dynamic systems or reactive world-building means exploration can sometimes feel flat, and you’re left deciding whether to slow down for immersion or risk missing content entirely. A more focused structure or better integration of open-world elements could have really elevated the experience.

The Technical Glitches Hurt the Experience

As fun as it is, the game isn’t without its issues—and they can pile up fast. Frame rate drops are common, especially during high-intensity scenes or crowded environments, which undercuts the game’s cinematic momentum. One particularly frustrating bug caused the right stick to stop responding entirely, meaning I couldn’t turn the camera—mid-fight or while exploring, that’s a dealbreaker.

The audio also suffers: voice lines sometimes crackle, sound effects cut out, and lipsync frequently drifts out of sync during dialogue. Add in the occasional flickering textures or glitches, and immersion starts to crumble. If this game ever had a VR version, the performance alone would make it nauseating.

Most of these issues can be temporarily resolved by restarting the game, but that’s no real fix. It disrupts the flow of gameplay and can make progress feel tedious rather than rewarding. For a title that relies so much on atmosphere and presentation, these technical flaws stand out even more. The developers clearly have a strong foundation here, but they absolutely need to follow up with patches and performance updates to let the experience shine the way it was meant to.

Final Thoughts: A Love Letter to RoboCop with Room for Improvement

RoboCop: Rogue City is clearly made by people who love the franchise. The visuals, the tone, Peter Weller’s return, and the general feel of the game all come together in a way that really honors the movies. It absolutely succeeds at making you feel like RoboCop.

But as strong as the heart is, the body still needs work. Technical bugs, lack of quality-of-life features like mission select, and shallow replayability keep it from being a truly great game. With a little more refinement—like a training mode, improved pacing, and patching out the glitches—this could’ve been a definitive RoboCop experience.

6/10 – Okay

With a few patches and a little more content, it could easily be a 7 or even 8. As it stands, it’s a rough but lovable tribute to an ’80s icon—and definitely worth playing for fans of RoboCop.

RoboCop: Rogue City
Release date: November 2, 2023
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Developed: Protostar
Published by: Teyon
Platform(s): PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, GeForce Now, Microsoft Windows, Amazon Luna, Mac operating systems

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Author

Dylan Lepore is a multimedia professional, entrepreneur, and lifelong gamer who’s passionate about blending creativity with strategy. As the founder of LeporeMedia and The Part-Time Gamer, and the Business Manager at Port City Architecture, Dylan brings a unique mix of storytelling, design, and business savvy to everything he does. He lives in Portland, Maine with his fiancée.