Baldur’s Gate 3. Diablo 4. Starfield. Dead Space. Alan Wake 2. I get it. 2023 has been a big year for impressive, mainstream releases. Whether it’s horror, shooters, or RPGs, every couple of months there’s been something new – something that gets raves and everyone tells you you need to play. But one of the greatest games of the year, boasting a huge 9/10, ‘very positive’ rating from players, has somehow passed people by, at least on Steam. Nacon says it’s the publisher’s biggest release yet, but the stats show that it’s not getting the attention it deserves. If you haven’t played Robocop Rogue City yet, this is one of the smartest, funniest, and most original shooters in years.
I can understand why Robocop Rogue City might put people off. It’s a tie-in game. It’s a movie that you’ve not seen. It’s made by a studio, Teyon, that unless you played Terminator Resistance, you’ve probably not heard of before. It feels like there are two types of FPS games now, either ultra-expensive, multiplayer-driven service games, a la Call of Duty and Rainbow Six Siege, or throwback boomer shooters like Forget Me Father 2 and Dusk. Robocop Rogue City is neither of these. It takes inspiration from Deus Ex, Dishonored, and other immersive sim hybrids, but its style and substance are all its own.
Released on Thursday November 2, Nacon says Robocop Rogue City is its “best ever launch,” accumulating “435,000 players in the space of two weeks,” who between them “racked up 2.7 million active game sessions.” Based on Steam stats however, it feels like Robocop isn’t getting the attention it deserves.
Basied on figures from Steam DB, at its peak, the shooter attracted 4,971 concurrent players. In the last 24 hours, it’s been played by 1,059 people – as of this very moment, on Thursday November 22, 633 people are playing Rogue City on Steam.
Nevertheless, based on more than 3,000 player reviews, over 90% of which are favorable, Robocop Rogue City is rated ‘very positive’ on Steam. And so it should be. It’s spectacular, it’s gory, it’s unabashedly eccentric. At the same time, it’s funny, and it’s intelligent, and you get the sense that every single moment and line of dialogue has been pored over by the creators.
Since you play as actually Robocop, and are therefore near invincible, Rogue City has to find new ways of injecting tension, drama, and intrigue beyond just combat. The result is a different kind of FPS where satisfying, pyrotechnic violence is the seasoning to an engaging and worthwhile narrative, and not the other way around. If you haven’t played it, seriously, Robocop Rogue City is one of the most exciting games of 2023.
Alternatively, you might want to get some of the other best new games that have recently arrived on PC, or perhaps look ahead to all the upcoming games expected in 2024 and beyond.
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