In short: They did it. The gameplay is solid, mouse+keyboard controls work (even if I had to tweak the hotkeys for some equipment which didn't fit all too well on a german keyboard). I play the original with keyboard only and do the same with The Force Engine. In this game I finally switched to mouse controls. It runs as smooth as you'd expect it, auto target works just like in the original (where looking up and down could decide if you could hit someone behind a balcony or not). You'd do good to replace the soundfont, that's designed to sound like a Roland soundcard with some higher quality General MIDI standard soundfont. It's still not the same as it was in the original, but the result is better. I use HQ Orchestral V3.
My review for the base game you can find here https://www.gog.com/en/game/robocop_rogue_city This pack costs (undiscounted) 10 € more than the base game and gives you DLCs which are sold separately for 20€. So if you are interested in some skins, a weapon and an artbook, this is for you. The skins are a nice to have, but not really necessary. You can choose between the classic RoboCop 1 look, the blueish RoboCop 2 look or the damaged look from the first movie. While the latter one looks nice, it does not feel right to play the story with it. The weapon skins don't make much of a difference at all. Go for black, if you like, or don't. The additional weapon gives you a small bonus when the level begins since usually you start without a second weapon. Once you swap it for a different gun however, that bonus is gone and later in the game the Auto-9 can easily become your weapon of choice in all situations anyway.
I finished this game on Epic already, have to play it again on GOG :) The creators of Terminator: Resistance show once more their love for the 80s franchises and their skill to actually pull it off. The story takes place before RoboCop 3. Crime is spreading (of course), Murphy is being called to a hostage situation. But lately he suffers from blackouts, can't act while he relives memories from his past. And rumors about him malfunctioning spread, OCP is close to relieve him from duty. I don't want to go too deep into the story. The reason for his malfunctions are made very clear very early. They are used as a gameplay mechanic, the assigned techs evaluate his performance during missions. The shooter parts are as straight forward as they can be, there is nothing too complicated about them. In time Robo learns new tricks, like dodging or a temporary shield, but that's it. He always carries his Auto-9 and can pick up one additional weapon, pick up items to throw or enemies to do the same. Of course he also goes toe to toe with the iconic ED-209 at some point. Two competitions against a SWAT deam or a ED-209 are included, where you need to take out more enemies than they do. The result does not affect the story however. You find pieces of evidence and notes for EP and information. You can punish all misbehaving civilians or just give them a warning for minor. Some decisions will affect later cut scenes. You can upgrade your Auto 9 to be the ultimate weapon, sadly chip merging has random outcomes :( A list of all possible side quests that add to the evaluation BEFORE starting the mission would also have been nice. Invest your XP in deduction and scanning first. Shooting enemies is easier than finding small items, faster XP gain is always good. The game's biggest biggest problem is the budget. While Downtown is done beautifully, it should be bigger and it's hard to believe that mayor candidates would hold their events here. It would be perfect for a open world city.
