Robocop Rogue City Developer Said the Slow Movement Speed Was on Purpose

RoboCop: Rogue City surprised players with its gritty atmosphere and faithful recreation of the iconic cyborg cop. One aspect that stood out – and sometimes divided opinions – was the calculated slowness of RoboCop’s movement. In a recent interview, Game Director Piotr Łatocha revealed that this wasn’t a technical limitation but a conscious design decision to capture the essence of the character.

In an interview with Metro, Latocha explained the team wanted players to truly inhabit the power fantasy of being RoboCop, but that comes with drawbacks. Robocop needed to feel like a walking tank, just like how he was portrayed in the movies. They wanted to let the player be an unstoppable force, pushing forward through any obstacle but also being limited by speed.

“We were thinking about making the player fulfil his power fantasy of being RoboCop. So we definitely wanted to make him feel unstoppable and this power tank that he moves slow, but he moves always forward… We wanted to make it truthful to the original picture but, also, we didn’t want to make it super slow because it could be boring at some point. We’ve been prototyping this stuff a lot and I think we ended up pretty well in the sweet spot, I would say.”

Piotr Łatocha

The slow movement was one of many ways they made the game related to the movies. Other ways were the game’s environments feeling crime-ridden, from the oppressive corporate headquarters to the grimy underbelly of Detroit. The iconic score kicks in at pivotal moments, sending shivers down the spines of RoboCop fans. Sure, the movement is slow, but that’s a chance they needed to take.

It’s the little details that truly bring RoboCop: Rogue City to life. The clunky, methodical aiming, the satisfying weight of his weapon fire, and the way his visor reflects the neon-drenched cityscape. These all contribute to the feeling of being a powerful but weighted machine.

Of course, the slow movement wasn’t universally loved. Some players found it frustrating, which is understandable, but it worked with the character in this case.