ROBOCOP: ROGUE CIT Y’s engaging, hyper-violent combat only takes it so far
There is a tremendous sense of physicality in Rogue City. You can pick up enemies by the neck and fling them against walls so hard that chunks of rubble will rain down on their ragdolled corpses.
Bullets scatter reams of paper and turn clutter into hurricanes of plastic and metal.
Environments are littered with a comical number of explosives, too, that behave in hilariously different ways. A propane canister will bonk against the head of whoever you throw it at and then rocket around the area before exploding. RoboCop can pick up landmines and whip them like frisbees.
I loved the way RoboCop’s Auto-9 machine pistol handles, a modular burst fire SMG that just vomits a ridiculous stream of small calibre rounds with pinpoint accuracy. I could go for another whole campaign of doming someone with a full burst and watching their body ragdoll backwards in slow motion.
Yes, Rogue City has a skill tree system, and it’s way too bloated. My advice: get the first tier of every ability ASAP, because they’re the juice that keeps Rogue City’s combat from getting repetitive. There’s Max Payne-esque bullet time, flashbangs in your eyes and, my favourite, a forward charge which sees RoboCop plant his feet and surge ahead like a flat-footed freight train, bowling over everyone in his path.
This is made all the better by a dismemberment system that seems to prioritise the funniest outcomes possible, enemies clutching their mutilated stumps and crying out, “My hand!” There’s even some ragdoll magnetism, where shooting some jobber standing by a ledge will cause him to tumble over, arms and legs flailing.
RoboCop: Rogue City’s combat feels like straight up murder:
I totally lost it when I punched someone for the first time and RoboCop’s fist flew out with the force of a particle accelerator, instantly atomising their skull. A few minutes later I had to take a breather after picking up a dumpster and squashing four guys into a corner with it, like it was a malevolent hydraulic press adorned with Oakley and Punisher skull stickers.
Environments are littered with acomical number of explosives
REPEAT OFFENDER It all starts to fall apart though when Rogue City introduces enemies that don’t explode with gore – there’s a god-awful boss fight against a malfunctioning ED-209 early on, and since you’re both two giant, slow-moving tin cans packing nearly identical heat, it boils down to RoboCop awkwardly clambering around the arena taking cover behind too-small pillars.
Between missions you return to the precinct to undergo rou
