Platform: PS2, Xbox

Developer: Titus Interactive

Publisher: Titus Interactive

Genre:  Action

ETA: February 2003  

Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly.

Enter E-Mail Address Below:

Robocop

In honor of the famous North American TV show, Dragnet, here are the “facts”:

- Complex [and] involving story and plotline

- 8 Massive levels covering a wide variety of settings with multiple objectives in each

- Adaptive AI with enemy behavior adjusting to the situation

- 53 different types of enemies and other NPCs including humans, robots, and animals

- Interactive environment features, which can be damaged and destroyed

- 7 Different Weapons

- Cinematic environments and visual effects

- Criminal arrest and interrogation mode

- Civilian assist and rescue mode

- Enhanced Vision: radar, zoom, and infrared

- 3 difficulty levels

Some other things to take into account:

“As Robocop, you must protect the good citizens of Delta City from drug dealers, cyborg gangs, and renegade robots while foiling the plans of crime lords, corrupt executives at Omni Consumer Products (OCP) and the omnipresent conscious central computer MIND.”

There you have it – you now know as much as I do.  Basically, you’re put into the cybernetic head of Officer Murphy in a futile effort to clean up the streets and possibly bring down OCP.

With Robocop’s movie heritage it’s almost a mystery why it hasn’t been turned into a first-person shooter before this.  Well, maybe not much of a mystery when you consider how lame Robocop 2 and 3 were – lacking the kind of humanity and ultra violence of the original.  With the promised “involving story and plotline” the game might be able to separate itself from the movie tradition, but with FPS’s decided concentration on action over narrative, describing the story as “involving” might be like describing a Yugo as a chicken marinated in lemon and herbs.

Of big concern is the game speed.  Officer Murphy was never one for quick footwork, instead plodding along at a slow pace -- whine, THUMP! whine, THUMP! -- and relying on accurate shooting and his iron hide to deflect bullets.  If the game replicates this, there could be a problem.  And if it does replicate his movements, you can discount any stealth missions, too.  Unless Murphy gets an upgrade, the pace could be plodding and repetitive.

The mention of enhanced vision modes makes me think of Metroid Prime with its multiple visor options.  If these are made integral to the gameplay (as Metroid Prime does) there should be some variety in Murphy’s approach to a level.  Taking a leap of logic, this may also mean a targeting system in some way similar to Metroid – being able to lock-on and target specific areas of enemy targets.

Look for Robocop when it ships February 2003.

- Omni

(December 10, 2002)