The days of licenced games primarily being cash grabs seem to be in the past (the recent release of Skull Island: Rise of Kong aside).
With the tremendous Batman games of the 2010s and this year's Spider-Man 2, it seems publishers are giving developers the time they need to create something worthwhile.
Usually they are big budget releases, but there are others who are trying to leverage these licences on a smaller scale.
While RoboCop: Rogue City lacks the polish of most AAA games, it fully commits to its source material by creating a swashbuckling experience.
Similar to the 1987 movie, Rogue City is set in a futuristic Detroit that is crumbling at the seams.
The mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) are involved in almost every facet of human life and are the ones who resurrected cop Alex Murphy after he was brutally murdered and created Robocop.
The game begins with the Torch Heads gang taking over a news station and calling out the 'New Guy', the latest crime boss who is now in control of the city.
As the cops struggle to control the situation, they call on Robocop to neutralise the threat.
Taking control of the titular character feels cumbersome as the fastest he can go is a light jog, but when he takes out his pistol and lets rip you feel the true power of this killing machine.
Seeing as he is a robot, he has an inbuilt targeting system which makes popping heads off gang members particularly satisfying.
Along with your trusty pistol, you can pick up any of your enemies' weapons and use it as a secondary weapon, whether it is a submachine gun, shotgun or a sniper rifle,
Each gun feels punchy, and you regularly send gang members flying in the air with dismembered limbs.
Developer Teyon really leans into its 80s aesthetic with a torrent of blood and guts on screen.
You can throw objects as well and during one particularly chaotic fight with a group of bikers I was able to pick up one of them as they rode near me and throw them at another biker, leading to glorious carnage.
Dystopian Detroit
It is organic moments like this that showcase how much fun the game can be when you use all the tools at your disposal.
While there is an upgrade system in the game, it is fairly standard as you can improve RoboCop's deduction skills, armour or damage. Certain parts of the game are locked off until you get to a certain level with feels like a cheap design choice.
One of the more impressive aspects of Rogue City is how this dystopian version of Detroit looks. While it is not an open world game, each mission gives you an open area to explore.
Some locations feel like they were ripped straight from an 80s movie with how atmospheric they are. An area in Downtown Detroit is illuminated by neon signs and covered in graffiti.
That same attention to detail is carried over to Robocop himself, who looks impeccable and is voiced by Peter Weller who reprises his role from the movie as the "Tin man".
Along with the main missions, there are various side missions you can do in the different locations or the police precinct.
None of them are particularly remarkable, but there is a zaniness to them that gives the game a sense of charm.
One mission sees RoboCop trying to solve people's complaints at the station, while in another you get officers to sign a Get Well Soon card for an injured cop.
The main missions do ratchet up the action as you infiltrate various gang hideouts or stop a bank heist.
For the most part, it is a fun romp blasting through enemies, but in the first boss fight against a malfunctioning robot ED-209 I died so much I had to cheat by picking him off from cover that he couldn't break.
Ultimately, RoboCop: Rogue City won't blow you away with its story or set pieces, but it absolutely nails the power fantasy of being a one-man wrecking ball.
7/10
