Robocop is a titan of the sci-fi movie genre — a perfect storm of 80s camp and surprisingly sharp questions about robotics, humanity, and corporate overreach. Released in 1987, the titular character exploded onto the scene with cheesy one-liners, big guns, and enough chrome plating to blind a small army. The costumes were goofy, the story was nonsense, the acting was gloriously over the top — and yet, it all combined into a cinematic tour de force with real staying power.

That staying power resulted in sequels, a remake, and a long trail of video game adaptations. The latest of these, Robocop: Rogue City, was released in 2023 with an expansion in 2025, developed by Teyon (the same studio behind other 80s IP revivals like Terminator: Resistance and Rambo: The Video Game). Peter Weller even returns to voice Alex Murphy, lending an authentic throughline from the films to the game.

Serve the Public Trust

Rogue City is a unique standalone story set between Robocop 2 and Robocop 3. You step into the heavy boots of Murphy himself in Old Detroit, a decrepit, crime-ridden hellhole where roving gangs control entire neighborhoods. (Completely unlike current Detroit, of course.)

Gameplay unfolds across semi-open “zones” — the police station, Old Detroit streets, gang hideouts — that you’ll clear out before moving on. The catch: once you leave an area, any unfinished side objectives vanish for good. This design makes the world feel segmented rather than alive, and it undermines the illusion of patrolling a real city.

Protect the Innocent

Robocop handles exactly how you’d expect an 80s movie cyborg to move: slow, tanky, unstoppable. Armed with his iconic Auto-9 pistol, you can hip-fire with satisfying impact or toggle into a zoomed-in “Robocop Vision,” complete with retro green highlight boxes over enemies. It’s silly, but it fits the franchise’s tone perfectly.

That said, Murphy’s turning speed borders on painful. The default settings made aiming feel like dragging a filing cabinet through molasses. A quick bump to sensitivity fixed it, but it’s baffling that the game doesn’t calibrate this better out of the box.

Enemy variety doesn’t do the game many favors either. You’ll mow through endless waves of gangsters who upgrade from pistols to shotguns to grenades, eventually wearing armor for good measure. The escalation works mechanically, but it’s hardly inventive. Still, there is something cathartic about plowing through waves of cannon fodder as an unstoppable steel juggernaut — and to its credit, the game captures that power fantasy well.

Uphold the Law

The story is serviceable, with enough intrigue to keep you interested across the campaign. Side quests attempt to flesh out the city, but most quickly devolve into bland fetch quests or escort missions. Developers, please take note: we’d rather have a tight six-hour thrill ride than a bloated ten-hour game full of busywork. Am I Robocop, or am I Robodog fetching packages all day?

Dialogue choices pop up occasionally, giving you the option to play Murphy as a cold, by-the-book enforcer or a more empathetic protector. In practice, the system feels undercooked. Your choices rarely affect much beyond flavor text, and the Telltale-style “This character will remember that” moments come off as more gimmick than game-changer.

Dead or Alive, You’re Coming With Me

Without venturing too deep into spoiler territory, the main plot dips into betrayals and conspiracies that don’t land quite as hard as the writers hoped. It’s tough to invest in political intrigue when you’re lumbering around in a bulletproof fridge with legs.

That said, the game occasionally nails the feeling of being Robocop. Gunfights can be fun and satisfying, even when wrapped in dated mechanics. Unfortunately, technical hiccups rear their head: framerate drops into single digits plagued at least one section of my playthrough, dragging an already slow experience into the mud.

Verdict

Robocop: Rogue City is a fascinating but flawed attempt at reviving an 80s legend. The atmosphere is spot-on, Peter Weller’s return adds authenticity, and unloading clip after clip into crooks feels good. But uneven pacing, uninspired mission design, and technical issues keep it from rising above “fine.”

It’s a game I wouldn’t trash outright — but also one I have no desire to revisit. Much like a clearance-bin VHS copy of Robocop 3, it’s best appreciated as a curiosity rather than a must-play.