RoboCop: Rogue City is free to play next week

Who doesn't like to play highly anticipated video games long before the official release date? We sure do.

If you’re a fan of a certain cyborg law enforcement officer in Detroit, you could be in luck. We are of course talking about Alex Murphy aka RoboCop.

Over the years there haven't been too many great RoboCop video games, at least on console. That being said, the old-school RoboCop arcade games of yesteryear were a treat. Though looking back, it was perhaps a little strange to have a video game aimed at kids based upon a brutality-violent movie. Ah, the good days of the 80s and 90s, I am right?

However, developers Teyon look to finally bring RoboCop to glory on PC and consoles later this year. If the name of that developer rings a bell, it’s probably due to the fact that this studio likes to adapt iconic action movies from decades gone by into modern video games.

It’s fair to say that at this point, it’s been a mixed bag of tricks for Teyon. The studio infamously developed one of the worst video games of all time, none other than 2014’s Rambo: The Video Game. Like seriously, that game was bad.

To give you an idea of how bad this game was, on Metacritic it scored a lowly 23 from critics and 1.8 from users. If you had the misfortune of playing this game, the likelihood is that the phrase “He’s a man, not a god” will still be haunting your dreams.

To give Teyon credit, its next game, Terminator: Resistance which was released in 2019, was a much better affair. Was it perfect, no, not by a long shot. However, the game was clearly made with a lot of love for the IP and had a certain charm about it. This was perhaps reflected by the positive 7.5 user score, which was in contrast to the critical score of just 47.

So it does seem at least that Teyond is learning and improving as they go, which is why fans of classic action movies are at least moderately optimistic for the upcoming, RoboCop: Rogue City.

Robocop: Rogue City is set between the movies RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, so I assume Alex Murphy won't be having a jetpack in this game. RoboCop will once more be assisted by his loyal partner, Officer Anne Lewis to take down a gang known as the Torch Heads, as the illegal narcotic ‘Nuke’ has again plagued the streets of Detroit. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, Peter Weller is also reprising his role as Alex Murphy/RoboCop.

If you wanted to try RoboCop: Rogue City for free ahead of its official launch later this year, then you can try out the game as early as next week, but how, I hear you ask? It’s simple because all you have to do is sign up to be considered for the playtest.

If selected for the playtest, you will be able to experience the game from Monday 3 July to Sunday 9 July 2023. Before signing up, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, you must be 18 years of age or older. Secondly, the test is for PC Steam only, and thirdly, you will be required to abide by a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement, otherwise, RoboCop will arrest you.

What’s more, if you’re selected for the playtest, publisher NACON will gift you with a 30% discount code after the test has concluded to spend on NaconGaming.com, and you will receive a PC code to redeem a RoboCop: Rogue City digital artbook at launch.

RoboCop: Rogue City will be released this September for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.