This game was not the first attempt to turn Robocop into a first person shooter, but it is the one that they got right. It takes place between the second the third movie which means that we get to keep his partner Lewis. (To be honest, the fact that Lewis is killed in the third film is one of the major reasons the film isn't very good. I actually liked his jetpack thingy!)
The new game actually goes with the design scheme of the original films. Everything looks like it came right out of the 80's/90's. Detroit looks... well... pretty much like it does today. In fact, I always thought it was odd that they somehow managed to make it a bit more violent than it actually is, which is really saying something.
Graphicly everything is crisp, but they did not do a very good job animating people's faces. It looks like everyone is dead but still somehow talking. This is more something I was used to seeing in the early to late 2000s in games. Seeing it now is a little off-putting. Everyone's characterization was great though!
As far as the gameplay... well... You're Robocop doing violent Robocop things. Criminals show up, and you blow their limbs off with the world's most unfair pistol given to a cop. It is just as violent as the movies, and I am glad they did that. They even have a modification you can add to your gun that has no other purpose but to make gunshot wounds more gory. I thought that was hilarious.
The plot of the game was always interesting. It had to do with a man named Wendell who had found some way to cause Robocop to glitch. It's being seen by the people of Detroit which is lessening their opinions of the project. There's also a lot of other things too, because this game has a lot happening at one time. There's a project to rebuild Detroit to get rid of crime, a political campaign you can get involved with, and some sort of project that can make people immortal... or something. There's also crime. Like... just regular crime.
The latter is referring to the fact that you are occasionally just sent out to solve small cases. Some of these are very good, but others are as simple as printing tickets for parking violations. I personally found most of these segments to be a bit boring. After all, Robocop cannot run. He walks everywhere, and you are not allowed to drive a vehicle... ever. The idea, however, is to make it clear that you are actually a cop and not just some robotic killing machine... although you are a robotic killing machine.
I do have a couple annoying complaints. One has to do with a political campaign happening in the game. No, no. It wasn't because their was a political problem per se. I actually liked that part. The two candidates are both trying to get your endorsement, which is a neat idea. The execution, however, kinda sucked.
Sometimes you would give your endorsement from telling them you do, and other times just talking to a candidate would be the same as endorsing them. How is that even a thing? You can talk to a political candidate without endorsing them. It's called communication! But the real fawx pas was when they finally ask which candidate you endorse towards the end. I did not want to suppose either of them, but the option they give you makes him say "I support no one." Big fail. Even though this is technically true, it would have made more sense for him to say something like, "I support the people of Detroit." I would have loved that so much more, and it was what I really wanted to say when I chose the non-political option.
The second annoyance was the pistol upgrading system. It was a needlessly complicated mess. It took me a long time to figure out how it worked, and, even when I did, I still hated it. I just about wanted to ignore it entirely, but you kind of have to figure it out by the end of the game or else your gun will be too underpowered.
Those two criticisms aside, this game was 21 hours of brilliance. I loved it and I do recommend it. You should play this game. It captures the look and feel of the old Robocop movies and most importantly treats the character with a lot of love. It's nice to see a game come out that isn't full of political garbage now and again.
This blog was written on May 20, 2024.
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You gave a PERFECT review. Your critique was objective. Though you promoted the game, it was with mentions of what you deemed its flaws. You elaborated on what you appreciated. It seems the making of this game was a labor of love... and that love energized the final product.
ReplyDeleteIt was good enough and accomplished what it set out to do. Great job!
DeleteThe first movie was violent and fun. You could really feel for the character and the ones he loves. While it would be horrible to live like that, a lot of good could be done.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is that the real people who live there have no hero.
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