I mostly enjoyed RoboCop: Rogue City when it launched in 2023, by far the best of developer Teyon’s roster of licensed shooters based on classic ’80s action films. It did have one amusing problem as an FPS though, namely that RoboCop’s signature Auto 9 was so good it made virtually every other available weapon redundant.
RoboCop fans would probably say that’s how things should be, and from the perspective of respecting the fiction they’re almost certainly correct. But having one gun reign supreme over all others isn’t ideal in a 20-hour long shooter, so while watching the latest trailer for Rogue’s City’s expansion Unfinished Business, I was pleased to see a few firearms that might give the Auto 9 a run for its money.
This trailer focusses on the broader mechanical changes coming to Unfinished Business, which sees Alex Murphy rooting out a gang of troublemakers from a tower block in a setup strongly reminiscent of more recent action flicks like The Raid and Dredd. A few things caught my eye in the video, like the enemies equipped with jetpacks and what appear to be other cyborgs with unsettling rictus grins that look almost as sharp as the katanas they wield.
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Mainly though, I was drawn to the new weapons showcased in the video. Among its expanded arsenal, Unfinished Business introduces a hulking minigun that looks like tremendous fun, and ideal for mowing down large groups of enemies. More interesting still is an experimental cryo-cannon that can instantly freeze any foe. It’s not clear whether this simply disables enemies or kills them outright, but either way, I reckon it’ll come in handy for dealing with those speedy katana-wielding fellas.
The trailer also briefly highlights the ability to play as different characters during the game, in addition to the playable flashbacks of Murphy’s pre-RoboCop days in the Detroit police force. This includes a section where you play as ED-209, mulching mercenaries with the bipedal walker’s twin cannons. Messy!
I will say that the trailer’s voiceover is A Choice. It sounds like it was recorded by one of the developers asked to put on their toughest-sounding voice. There’s also some weird intonation and distortion at one point that made me wonder whether the voiceover was AI generated. But I think it’s more likely to be a recording issue. Either way, I hate how this is something I have to be wary of now. I sure love living in a world where I can never trust any voice I hear ever again!
None of this has any bearing on Unfinished Business itself, which looks like it builds on everything that was good about Rogue City. It isn’t long before we’ll be back in Murphy’s chrome-plated boots either, Unfinished Business launches on July 17.
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