I have been consistently surprised by the quality ofRobocop: Rogue City. Mylicensed game-loving heartcould sniff out this was going to be a good game, but I was still floored by how much love and attention was put into the mechanics.
The shooting is phenomenal and only improves the more you level up thanks to earning skill points. you may invest those skill points in other categories, such as your vitality, which I also heavily recommend. But one of the most interesting systems in the game is the dialogue, which, while not perfect, has got me all whizzed up and wanting to talk about it.
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Authenticity above all else.
I Did That, I Guess?
If you’re familiar withTelltale Games, you’ll quickly understand the basics of the dialogue. You’ll be interacting with somebody as Robo and get a few options. Each option earns a different response, and most of them will seem pretty obvious, while others may throw you for a loop.
If a character liked what you did, you’ll see text that the character “appreciated that”. In fact, they basically do that whole Telltale trope that’s now become a meme! Near the beginning of the game, Robocop is told to go under OCP-mandated therapy sessions with Dr. Olivia Blanche. Blanche asked what Robocop prefers to be called, I chose Alex Murphy, and the little green text went “Dr. Blanchewill remember that.”
Small stuff like that is cute, and there’s plenty more where it came from. At one point, I gave a young graffiti tagger a warning instead of a ticket, plus community service, then a few missions later I came across a mural painted in Robo’s honor.
But I did somehow ‘fail’ some encounters later, and I don’t think it was from not investing any points. I looked the menu over and the only real bonus I saw was that “preferable options will be highlighted.” I only saw an additional dialogue once, and that was from upgrading my armor enough to survive a forced explosion of a bomb, making it no different from secret routes you can open by investing in scanning.
The mayoral election kept swinging back and forth for seemingly no reason. I brushed off both candidates to their faces and the game would then tell me “you supported Mayor Kuzak/Mills” when I very much wentoutof my way to not support either.
Then there’s my greatest failure; I was friendly to Dr. Blanche but tried being private on some questions that naturally felt like Robo/Murphy wouldn’t really have a great answer for. This somehow doomedherinto never getting over her personal trauma with machines, as I found out through Google later. I failed to achieve her good ending, while wondering why it was that I had to say the right things to the therapist so she could get overhertraumas. Who’s therapising who here?
The stories for all the other main characters went fine though. Reporter Ortiz realized she was doing good the wrong way and went to join an underground resistance group (hinted to be the one from Robocop 3, so sadly, Robocop 3 does still exist). Ulysses Washington stood up for himself and became the hero he always wanted to be. But, there’s one character who needs his own section, as he utterly surprised me.
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When Did Robocop Get So Real?
Joshua “Pickles” Green is an informant for the police you’ll meet very early on. He’s dirty and knows it, but he also has a hidden heart of gold. He’s a surprisingly deep character, despite how much he’s played as a joke at first glance.
I spent a lot of time with him in optional side missions, learning things such as how much of a movie buff he is, and most importantly, that the reason his life is in shambles is an addiction to Nuke (Nuke was a drug in Robocop 2 and Rogue City mentions it liberally).
In the only mission Pickles does something underhanded, he tricks Robocop into helping him steal lost funds from the Torch Heads gang. When confronted, he admits he knows it was scummy, but that he’s still going to spend the stolen money on Nuke. The obvious right thing to do was keep the money and tell him you are doing this as his friend.
Why was it that I had to say the right things to the therapist so she could get overhertraumas?
Now I’ve been around video games for a while, and was convinced the right response should’ve been:“Ah, alright fine, I know you’re right Murphy. Sorry I got you into this mess.”
That didn’t happen. Instead, Pickles got both sad and angry, and said:“If you really were my friend you’d help me out asshole!“with the green text saying ‘Pickles didn’t appreciate that,’ as if it wasn’t bleedingly obvious.
Rogue City dared to remind me functional addicts don’t really exist. At the end of the game, I still managed to turn Pickles' life around, because it was the right decision to try and get him unhooked from Nuke (granted, a detox clinic would have truly been the right call). But Pickles was still at a point in his life where he wasn’t ready to understand that.
Robocop as a franchise is satirical, and yet here I am, surprised that a Robocop game had something to say. I don’t completely get how the dialogue trees worked, but when they did, they really added to this stellar little game.
