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Sometimes, a prequel can be a bad idea, but Road 96: Mile 0 provides an enjoyable insight into life in the totalitarian nation of Petria, even if it lacks the clear direction of the original Road 96.

Gameplay

Unlike the original, you don’t leave Petria in Mile 0, and instead of playing as multiple people, you only play as two teenagers, Zoe (whom players of the original game will be familiar with) and Kaito. While both have experienced turbulent childhoods because of the state, they couldn’t be more different. A large part of this narrative-driven adventure game is centred around their friendship and finding an understanding of one another. This aspect feels very similar to games like Life is Strange.

The tone, however, couldn’t be more different and is a little all over the place. You go from deep, meaningful conversations to rebelling against the state to listening in on a bodyguard trying to woo a local celebrity. This is woven with minigames, too, such as creating some graffiti art. Being pulled through such a confusing array of themes and ideas can sometimes leave you feeling a little disjointed. By the same notion, being pulled through a seemingly random assortment of activities feels like real life. It also gives a nice break from the ‘heavy’ stuff, like dealing with a totalitarian regime and its impact on the player characters and supporting cast of NPCs.

With each interaction, there will be choices, and these choices matter – each character has a bar which can influence how things end up – will these teenagers understand one another or not? The choice is yours.

Get your skates on in Road 96: Mile 0

Road 96: Mile 0 is not just a narrative-adventure game, however. It also has aspects of rhythm games, presented in the form of skating. Every so often, a point, idea or dream will be explained in a vibrant array of fast-paced skating, upbeat music and bright colours. These stages are pretty fun, even if sometimes confusing, as you will need to dodge, change lanes, jump, and duck through the course collecting tokens.

Perhaps my favourite, which I think is the most well done, is where Kaito tries to explain to Zoe how bad the state is. You see her view – a town outside the capitol, which is picture perfect and then his, the reality that it’s all propaganda and the town is in ruins. As well as visually interesting, it’s a stark reminder of the power of propaganda and how scary this regime is – even though it’s presented as a cartoon version of a dictatorship.

Audio and visuals

Road 96: Mile 0 keeps the same cartoony, blocky art style of the original. It’s friendly, looks inviting and even feels ‘fun’, which gives you a sense of unease when dealing with the heavier topics the game addresses.

Weirdly, when the music kicks in and the skating begins, the bright colours or variations don’t feel out of place quite so much. I think the art style works perfectly for this, and had they tried realism; these moments would have felt very out of place.

The whole cast does a fantastic job of voice acting, and the sound effects are decent, too.

Final thoughts on Road 96: Mile 0

Road 96: Mile 0 is a confusing romp of how two teenagers relate to each other and the dark world that has shaped them. It is nothing like the original story or gameplay, but the narrative style works perfectly for the prequel story they are trying to tell.

In Robocop: Rogue City, you must serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law. In true Robocop style. From Teyon comes an original story that remains faithful to the original source material. It’s nostalgic, high-octane and just a lot of fun!  

Gameplay

At its core, Robocop: Rogue City is an action-shooter. Specifically, a first-person shooter. By making the game play out in first person (with third-person cinematics) you really do get the sense of being Robocop. It also allows for easy use of Robocop’s abilities, like scanning for clues. This adds some additional gameplay mechanics that feel authentic and provide alternative gameplay from simply shooting your way through each mission.

The story is basic, a villain is doing villainous things while OCP still have evil corporation written all over them. Gangs rule the streets, and petty crime is rife. It feels exactly like an old-school action film and feels exactly how Robocop should. As a side story, Alex Murphy is dealing with his new Robocop identity.

Robocop: Rogue City is violent. Extremely violent. Limbs will go flying, and plenty of blood will be spilt as you slowly walk towards waves of criminals brave enough to take on Robocop. While you always have access to the signature Auto 9 machine pistol, there are plenty of other weapons to keep you entertained.

The game has elements of RPG with the ability to carry out upgrades, and you can also use dialogue to determine how situations will play out. Not only that but missions vary between specific incidents and general patrolling, giving the game plenty of variety.

At no point does this simplistic gameplay get boring. It feels like you’re playing out a movie, and there are plenty of challenges with more difficult enemy types to contend with. It’s also not as simple as walking and shooting – you’ll want to experiment with door breach moments and blowing up the environment around you to dispatch your foes.

Audio and visuals

Peter Weller reprising his role as Robocop is perhaps one of the greatest aspects of the game. While established on-screen characters don’t always need the same voice when it comes to the gamification of them, it certainly helps the game lean hard into nostalgia. Everything sounds right – from the 80s synth music in the soundtrack to the city’s vehicles, guns, and inhabitants. The city feels alive.

This also translates to the visuals; it’s truly fantastic to look at. The city feels grimy and gritty, Robocop looks spot on as do his colleagues. There’s also so much detail packed into the missions, so it feels like it when you start shooting up the place.

It’s a slow walk

If I were to find a complaint, it would be that the faith recreation of Robocop means it’s a slow walk to each objective. While it makes total narrative sense, Robocop is a walking tank and is in keeping with the franchise lore. It doesn’t necessarily make for good gameplay. This is because it can take long to reach certain quests or objectives. Thankfully, at least when you’re walking in the city, there is plenty to do along the way with various encounters.

Final thoughts on Robocop: Rogue City

There was always a risk in taking a beloved cult classic movie and making a tie-in game. Thankfully, Robocop: Rogue City delivers on the action, the gameplay, the visuals and more. It’s a nostalgic trip back to a favourite franchise to listen to that synth music and kill plenty of bad guys in true 80s action style.

For more information on Robocop: Rogue City, you can check out the official website.