When RoboCop's beloved police precinct is ransacked by a mysterious mercenary company, he has no choice but to hit up their hideout and put down the population of a small country. RoboCop: Rogue City is back, and it's still good fun — for the most part.
Unfinished Business is basically a mini-sequel. it's actually entirely separate from the 2023 title — you buy it standalone, and none of your progress from Rogue City carries over. Its story is also standalone; it takes place after the events of Rogue City, but it has little to do with them.
The whole thing is set within the concrete walls of OmniTower, a dystopian living complex that houses thousands of civilians. If you've seen 2012's Dredd movie, you know exactly what you're getting into, as RoboCop fights his way through floor after floor of gun-toting goons, automatic defence systems, and boobytraps.
However, without the exploration of Rogue City's Detroit to fall back on, Unfinished Business quickly devolves into a monotonous corridor shooter. We like the game's punchy gunplay, and some of the new melee finishers introduced here are a good laugh, but the combat alone isn't enough to carry this 10-hour killing spree.
Admittedly, we're a bit torn on this one. On paper, a smaller, action-focused RoboCop campaign sounds right up our alley, but in practice, it just goes to highlight how important the downtime between bouts of violence was in Rogue City.
Unfinished Business isn't completely without moments where Robo has to do some detective work, or chat with comically uncouth residents, but the available side quests are incredibly basic, and the rewards for completing them are barely worth the time it takes to slowly trek between objective markers.
It also doesn't help that Unfinished Business is a step backwards in terms of overall quality. The NPC voice acting — already questionable in Rogue City — is somehow even less engaging, the facial animations are beyond rough, and text typos are shockingly frequent.
Now, no one's expecting AAA quality presentation from a standalone RoboCop release after Rogue City, but smaller, expansion-esque projects like this tend to be tighter than the main experience that spawned them. And that's just not the case with Unfinished Business, which, ironically, does feel quite unfinished.
But look, let's not get bogged down in the details. For all the game's flaws, we should reiterate that we still enjoyed blasting our way through OmniTower. Hearing desperate mercs panic over the "metal freak" as RoboCop comes barrelling into their den feels fantastic, and the squishy sound effects that accompany critical headshots are still superb.
The act of actually being RoboCop remains the main draw here, and it's just enough to hold Unfinished Business together. Peter Weller's dry one-liner delivery is on point throughout, and you can tell that the developers tried to pack as many cheesy quips into the script as they possibly could. Much like Rogue City, this follow-up understands what makes the iconic property tick.
With that in mind, we were a little concerned about Unfinished Business' implementation of flashback sequences, which see you play as Alex Murphy, back when he was just a normal, hardworking cop. Fortunately, they're something of a highlight, despite being used sparingly across the campaign.
The flashbacks help break up some of the title's more tedious sections, as they tend to be slower-paced, character-driven escapades. Their purpose is to provide backstory for both Robo and the game's antagonist, and it works fairly well, with some decently directed cutscenes giving weight to an otherwise predictable narrative.
Running and gunning as a human Murphy makes for a refreshing change, too. While he's obviously nowhere near as tanky as his future self, the simple fact that he's able to crouch — and move at speed — means that firefights become quite cover-centric. In truth it's all pretty basic, but it's just nice to have some variety in what can be a very one-note release.
Conclusion
You can't really go wrong with Unfinished Business if you enjoyed its underrated predecessor, but expectations need to be kept in check. This standalone follow-up is disappointingly rough around the edges, and although its comically violent combat remains satisfying, it's not varied enough to elevate the entire action-heavy campaign.
Still, we're never going to say no to more Rogue City. Teyon still manages to capture the campy 80s spirit of RoboCop here, and that'll drive most players to the top of OmniTower.
Comments 54
If anyone's got any questions about the game or the review, let me know and I can try to answer them.
Just to reiterate, a 6/10 on our scoring scale is 'Not Bad' — and that's exactly what Unfinished Business is.
I had fun playing through this one, like the review says, but it does feel half-baked in a number of ways. I think Rogue City is underrated, so it's a shame that this expansion-sequel-thing doesn't really improve on what the main game already got right.
Thanks for reading!
Soooo bascially just like the first game. Will wait for it to come to PS+
If it's anything like the first game then I'm almost certain I'll enjoy it. I didn't agree with the 6/10 score that the first game received. I thought it was a high 7 at least.
@ShogunRok is there still an upgrade system, or has Treyon done away with it?
I've got it coming today physically. It sounds like it could do with a few patches to fix some things like those typos mentioned, but I'm busy with other games right now anyway so hopefully it'll be patched up a bit by the time I play it. It's cheap enough on launch to not wait for a price drop, I felt.
@Markatron84 I'd like to know this too!
RoboCop Rogue City was my favourite game of 2023, so I've been very much looking forward to this, though it'll have to wait as I'm still playing Death Stranding and Donkey Kong just came out as well.
@ShogunRok how's the performance of this? It could get pretty rough at times even on the Pro, though I'd imagine that the focus on being indoors should help. Oh and is ED 209 fun to play as?
@ShogunRok does it have its own plat?
@graymamba Yes it does. Looks to be a fairly easily achievable trophy list overall, mainly story and side-quest based trophies with one or two that may be missable. Nothing difficulty-based.
@Bentleyma For what it's worth I didn't review Rogue City, but I would have given it a 7.
I do think Unfinished Business is a step behind it, hence the 6. But again, if you really enjoyed Rogue City (like I did!) then you're going to like this too.
@Markatron84 There is, it's the same upgrade system from Rogue City — same perks too. But like the review says, nothing carries over on that front, so you'll need to spend points and build up again.
@carlos82 The performance is definitely better than in Rogue City, but like you say, I'd put that down to the whole game being set indoors.
Still, the frame rate does dip a bit during hectic gunfights, especially later in the game. It's not as noticeable as it could be in Rogue City, but it's still there.
Edit: Oh, and playing as ED might genuinely be the best section of the whole game. You feel indestructible and the damage you deal is insane. They nailed it.
@graymamba Yep, it's got its own Platinum. There are some missable Trophies to do with side quests, but it's a straightforward Trophy list otherwise, with most of them being from completing main story chapters.
@BecauseBecause See above! (Comment #11)
Thanks for the review! I really liked the first one so I’ll be playing this one too, but might wait for a sale instead of getting it now.
@ShogunRok @StrickenBiged 🍻
Gonna pick this up
Sounds like I will enjoy it as I loved the first one and I have got it arriving today, can't wait.
Reads to me like The Raid and Robocop combined, perfect!!
Shame it is a little rougher round the edges but for £22 I wont complain
Sounds about right to me. Wasn't impressed with Rogue City or the £40 price tag and there was no NG+ when I finished it. £40 might be cheap to some but I was gutted I didn't wait for a sale. £20 is about right. I'll wait for this to hit PS+. If these games didn't have Robocop in the title they would tank. Robocop is the only appeal the gameplay was very mediocre.
@ShogunRok
All I needed to know! Thanks!
@ShogunRok I am quite happy with this. If he was fully upgraded there'd be no reason to do side quests at all.
@ShogunRok I felt that the first game outstayed it's welcome by a few hours. It was fantastic for a AA title and the perfect game to feel like you're in that universe. Is this roughly the same length or is it noticeably shorter?
@AceReaper1994 I think this took me around 7 hours to complete, which is somewhat shorter than Rogue City (which is roughly 10-15 hours).
I agree that Rogue City outstayed its welcome at times — parts of the game dragged. Unfortunately that's also the case here, as there are a few sections that feel tediously padded to try and elongate the runtime.
Any missable trophies? How hard was the platinum?
I’ll definitely grab this is a sale, shame no progress carries over. But generally sounds like the base game, a lot of fun with no bells or whistles, jus a robocop, a ridiculous pistol and goons to mow down
I’ve already preordered this and it’s ready to go. I have the day off work today so I’ll fire it up. I never expected it to be anything other than more RoboCop, jank and all, and I’m here for it.
Think they dropped the ball with this one not repackaging it with the original game. It's a bit of an ask for new punters to invest in both granted they aren't too bad price wise.
Mine downloaded days ago and I'm pretty sure a "before day one" patch downloaded too, so maybe they fixed a few things.
Mostik wrote:
But would you buy it for a dollar?
I loved the first game which as a big fan was well worth the $25 I paid at the time. Definitely getting this.... on sale. (Dredd/The Raid Redemption are great inspiration as two of my favourite action films of the last 15 years).
I dunno, I loved the imsim parts of the game but if this strips those out then what you’re left with is a fairly uninteresting shooter.
Bought this and it's a lot of fun. If you loved the main game, it's recommended.
''Just to reiterate, a 6/10 on our scoring scale is 'Not Bad' ''
For a lot of casual players 6/10 is bad and ''never touch this game'' type of score lol.
@nessisonett The RPG or immersive sim elements are stripped back big time in this. The vast majority of the experience is blasting mercenaries in the crotch (because they all wear protective headgear).
I like how the game gets 6/10 score and the main game is called "underrated" while it also got 6/10 score here. I must say that I can't trust reviews on pushsquare because they are often very questionable. Like blaming Forza for having too much content
@ShogunRok Not that fussed then, the shooting gameplay was brilliant in the opening office mission but was incredibly monotonous by the end!
@saffeqwe Look past the number. Ratings are a relic and unfortunately still needed, but reading this review lays out very clearly whether you will like this game or not. For me, as I just played the main game on plus, I'm going to pass as I need more of the story elements.
I find it funny how Push Square usually don't like AA games lol
Robocop was fun as hell, and this one it's good. Gaming journalist sucks.
Push Square and IGN only like mainstream games.
@saffeqwe If a game is focusing on fun, they will give a 5 - 6. Robocop was surprisingly good, and I hope we can get a Judge Dredd from the same team and developer.
Great review! Really interesting to read your thoughts on Unfinished Business. You covered both the fun and the flaws in a way that’s easy to relate to. Makes me want to check out the game, even with its rough edges. Thanks for sharing your honest take!
@saffeqwe Part of the IGN group, what do you expect? haha
@darylb24 @Shrek_Realista This is absolute nonsense, and for the last time, we're not part of the IGN group — we're totally independent!
I'm pretty sure that I can refund my preorder for up to two weeks (since I didn't download it yet) so I'll kinda wait & see how the user reviews/consensus pan out, but I'll probably keep the purchase and play this. The sentiment that I see in this/other reviews is about what I was expecting. I'm currently playing like a 100+ hour game (AC Shadows, which is well made but daunting at times due to the size/scale) so I'm kinda craving playing something short next.
@ShogunRok Ziff Davis > IGN Entertainment / Hookshot > PS/NL/PX is what I am seeing, maybe I should have said all part of Ziff Davis umbrella instead. I don't mean to be skeptical, and I fully understand it's a business but unfortaunaly I struggle to see clearly what is genuine and what is done for clickthtough. It's no direct slant on you though more the trust issues with the business model.
@darylb24 Nah, I understand the confusion. We have ZD / IGN as advertising partners, but that's where it ends. Hookshot is an entirely independent company, and we have total control over of how the sites are ran — we don't have any corporate overlords or anything like a lot of other gaming sites do.
@ShogunRok That's handy to know, and thank you for clearing it up for me.
I would have given the first game a 5/10. The combat simply did not get varied enough to support 12+ hour game and I found the Detroit map/"police work" parts quite tedious. Enjoyment is entirely dependent on you whether you're wearing Robocop nostalgia goggles, and it's not a property I ever had much love for even though I did always think the ED-209 design was cool. That said, I've enjoyed some quite bad Star Wars games simply because of my love of that property and I don't think bias being a factor in one's enjoyment of a game is necessarily a bad thing.
Had the game been pruned down to like 8 tight hours, I think I would have enjoyed it more, but sadly the rest of the market doesn't seem to accept short games anymore.
Look, if its more of the same I'm on board.
@Shrek_Realista "Push Square usually don't like AA games"
If you check the review list, they actually gave enough good scores for AA games. Some of the recent ones:
Just because this is an AA game doesn't mean Push Square reviewer must like it and should overlook all the flaws.
@Andee 😂 I sure would buddy!!
@saffeqwe look at SMTV-V on metacritic, PushSquare is the only media to have put a 7/10 to this masterpiece who revolve around 9/10…
Straight 8/10 from me. I like it even more than its predecessor thanks to the new stuff, finishers and the murphy level. It' stupid fun. Bugs are little annnoying though. Experienced missing models just in the first dialogue and some time later again.
Having Platinumed it I’d say a 6 is generous enough. I played and enjoyed the original but this really does feel like a cut and paste affair. Granted that’s kinda what people expected but coming 2 years after the original I’d have hoped for a bit more polish and new features. But the game is still bugged to bits with graphics popping in and out in cutscenes and I frequently “rubber banded” out of the damn game when I was shot only to zoom back into the action and totally lose any sense of immersion. The Murphy flashback was dull and the much anticipated ED 209 section more of a slog. Some side quests were literally just fetch quests or “hit the machine”/“open the door” minute long inclusions and everything just felt rushed and unfinished.
But yeas, it was still decent enough just not as good as it could and should have been and not one I’ll return to in a hurry.
So yeah, a 6 is what it gets!
This is the same guy that gave Dragon Age Veilguard an 8/10 and I played that on PS+ and couldn't even be bothered to continue playing it past a certain point because I thought it was so awful. Apparently they gave a 6 to the last Robocop game which I loved and had a blast playing. Easy for me to say I won't trust this as a good source for reviews.
@Shrek_Realista Yup these gaming journalists and sites always seem to have it out for any AA games and studios while being extremely generous towards big AAA games and studios.
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