Mean Machines


Robocop 2
By Ocean
Amstrad CPC464+/GX4000

 
Published in Mean Machines #3

Robocop 2

Life is never easy for a cyborg cop having to carry out the fight against crime all on his lonesome. Four months have passed since Robocop's epic confrontation with Clarence Boddicker and his corrupt OCP officer pal, Dick Jones. Old Detroit is being systematically destroyed by a combination of a colossal crime wave and the fact that the rest of the police force are on strike! Add to that, the emergence of a new drug baron, Cain, and his new super-designer, hyper-addictive drug, Nuke, and Old Detroit seems totally doomed.

Being the righteous robotic rozzer that he is, Robocop decides to take on Cain and his empire of sin and dish out some Robo-style, autopistol justice to the punks of the city at the same time. But there's a problem. Robo's mind has been re-conditioned and not only has he got saving Old Detroit from impending doom in his agenda, but he also has to contend with the feelings, memories and emotions of Alex Murphy fighting to re-surface...

Auto-9 Anarchy!

What with all this heavy combat, Robocop sometimes has to brush up on his shooting skills. In order to do so, Robo takes a trip to the police firing range and lets tip with his autopistol.

Robocop 2

As the timer counts down, Robocop must shoot as many targets as possible making sure he doesn't accidentally blast away any innocent bystanders that happen to get in the way.

Robocop Platform Patrol

Levels one, four and six all take place across four-way scrolling platform screens. Although Robo's orders vary from level to level, the actual gameplay is much the same. There's always one route through the level, and Robocop must follow it, making sure he doesn't fall foul to some of the traps that Cain has left around for him.

Spikes, deadly arcs of electricity and magnetic clamps are just some of the hazards that Robocop meets on the way to the end of the level. Here, there's a huge target to destroy, be it Cain's Nuke producers, Cain's Nuke storage, or at the end of the game, Cain's brain - encased in the awesome Robocop 2 robot.

Microchip Malarkey

Robocop 2

On the way to making Cain meet with a horrific doom, Robocop has to sort out his mind - reprogrammed by OCP. Levels two and five are much the same as each other and consist of a circuit board populated by memory-inhibiting microchips. It's down to you to save Murphy's memories by guiding a pulser around this circuit board blowing the chips away.

The problem is you can't double back on your trail, so in each level a good deal of thought is needed to come up with a trail that'll destroy all of the chips. In level two, Robocop reconstructs the memories of his old self, Alex Murphy.

Level five sees Robocop struggling with memories of his wife.

Matt

Robocop 2

Robocop 2 shows GX4000 owners just what their machine can do. The graphics are superb, with excellent presentation screens, great sprites and colourful backdrops. However, the game's a real swine to actually play.

On the platform levels, there are hidden traps aplenty that will have you rapping your head against a brick well with annoyance.

Progression through the game doesn't seem to rely on skills of any description. Although Robocop 2 is a graphical treat, the game itself is only really recommended to avid Robocop-fans.

Julian

Robocop 2

Robocop 2 features some brilliant graphics - the backgrounds are excellent, and the intermission screens are superb. However, there are some very annoying gameplay features in the platform sections which had me literally screaming with frustration.

The collision detection is very dodgy - Robo often dies when it seems he's well clear of a deadly obstacle - and he also has a habit of falling through holes in the floor when he turns around too close to them.

Another annoying feature is that some harmful objects are so well blended into the backdrops, you don't actually realise that they're deadly until you've walked into them - aaagh!

Robocop 2

It's a shame that these features are present, because they let down the excellent puzzle and shoot-out screens. Robocop 2 offers a considerable challenge which only hardened gamesplayers will get the most from.

Verdict

Presentation 85%
Excellent presentation screens help link the gameplay to the actual movie and create a decent atmosphere.

Graphics 84%
Graphically great, Robocop 2 is a treat to watch with decent backgrounds, sprites and faultless scrolling.

Robocop 2

Sound 69%
The GX4000 has an attempt at Robocop-ish theme tunes, and there are a few effects here and there.

Playability 75%
Keep all your sharp instruments away from the GX4000 when playing - Robocop 2 is incredibly frustrating!

Lastability 71%
Six levels that'll take a lot of mastering, but the frustration factor may put you off before you see them all.

Overall 74%
A graphical tour de force let down by an incredibly high frustration level.