The new RoboCop video game RoboCop: Rogue City has a deep reverence for Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 gory action satire movie, from the game’s cast of characters to its authentic re-creation of a dystopian, derelict Detroit. RoboCop: Rogue City also takes RoboCop’s penchant for shooting bad guys in the nuts to heart: Groin attacks are an important part of gameplay.
RoboCop: Rogue City acknowledges the dickshot in one of the game’s achievements, “Zip This Up,” which rewards you for shooting an enemy “in a sensitive spot.”
But that’s more than just a cute nod to a scene from RoboCop. While headshots will do the trick for most enemies — and are immensely satisfying in a video gamey, “Is it true that there’s a place in a man’s head that if you shoot at it, it will blow up?” kind of way — dickshots are often just as effective. When it comes to certain heavily armored enemies in RoboCop: Rogue City, aiming for the balls is actually the preferred method of attack.
I didn’t learn this until it was far too late in my playthrough of Rogue City, when I was getting pretty tired of having to fire a dozen rounds into the helmet of each armored merc. Out of luck, I landed a tactical testicle shot on one of these guys, and he went down immediately. It was a game-changer. I then revisited earlier levels and found that exploding dudes’ cojones with my Auto-9 was an extremely efficient method of law enforcement.
After that, the rest of my playthrough of RoboCop: Rogue City went down something like this.
RoboCop: Rogue City is out Nov. 2 on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. Early access to the game is available through its Alex Murphy Edition.