Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, author: DLS_MWZZ

A full feedback to IP fans, or an open farewell.

I don't want to start with a routine, or I'll feel sorry for the meticulous and painstaking adaptations of "Robocop: violent City" (RoboCop:Rogue City). However, I tried to restrain the excitement of customs clearance and didn't come up with any suitable tricks after thinking about it for half a night. So, according to the long-standing style of this IP, come directly!

Get rid of the re-beating and uncontrollable wandering caused by individual cases, the game time is at least 15 hours to make a conclusion: although it sounds a bit exaggerated, but as an old fan of the whole childhood accompanied by the "Robot War Police" movie trilogy, imported TV series, cartoons, multi-platform adapted games and so on. I think this work should be the best Robocop adaptation game on the planet. It may not be suitable for everyone, as a video game also has many shortcomings and flaws, but it is excellent in the aspect of "fan orientation" and can be called a "favorite fan textbook".

If you are a fan of the Robocop series, especially the old trilogy, just buy it. If you are a new player and want to learn about this old IP with a history of more than 30 years, you can also listen to me talk about it.

Who is Officer Murphy? the film "RoboCop" was released in 1987, and it tells an uncomplicated story: officer Murphy, who was originally human, was scientifically transformed into a celebrity and machine super policeman who continued to fight criminals after he died on a mission.

Just like Blade Runner to the cyberpunk culture, RoboCop has a pioneering position in the concept of "Cyborg". It is the first well-known film to depict the image of "Mechanical Flying rise" in detail (DC's steel bones appeared earlier, but the cartoon image was less influential than the film at that time), and had a great impact on film and television, animation, comics, games, popular literature and other fields. Therefore, the protagonist Murphy can also be said to be the forerunner of the role of "cyborg" in cultural works.

As soon as the main melody of the piano version of the main menu rings, I feel refreshed. Nowadays, many creators have grown up watching Robocop, so we can always find tribute and eggs to it in all kinds of science fiction. A more famous example in recent years is Genji Shimada, who is "Watchman Vanguard". Not only does he directly use Murphy's setting of "died once", but the mechanical replacement part of his skin "Shadow Watch" is exactly the same as that of Murphy. In addition, in works such as "Live Live Quick fight", Police Officer Murphy is often involved as a classic image.

Not only the protagonist, but also the villain in the film, Murphy's "fateful opponent" ED-209 bipedal armored robot image is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and later in many works often appear on two anti-articular legs walking mechanical, mecha characters, but also to some extent affected by it. From this point of view, a film has given birth to a number of temple-level images, which shows its excellent design and status.

Oh, my 209 old man, I haven't seen you for years. When was the last time I kicked your ass? Many shining points in Murphy later became the reference and benchmark for many similar images to play in the interpretation. Among them, the core is "some human beings, some mechanical, but human nature lasts forever". The film repeatedly depicts Murphy in the great difficulties, rely on the awakening of self-will, show the good quality of human beings, overcome the practical obstacles caused by various mechanical forms, and make the right choice with the attitude of human beings. Such stories are always inspiring.

In the second half of the original RoboCop movie, Murphy correctly understood himself, took off the helmet that concealed his personality and represented the robot police, and revealed the human face to face the world. At the end of the story, when asked "who are you" by the president of OCP, he echoes "I am Murphy" and a relieved smile-this classic "self-Awakening" passage and its inner logic are still carried forward in many works today. The routines of "as long as you take off the cover and you can join the team as a teammate" in many two-dimensional mobile games, such as "Azure Archives" and "tomorrow's Ark" mudstone, are all the same.

"my name is Murphy" can be selected as one of the most classic paragraphs in sci-fi movies. Another great charm of Murphy is the ideal sense of security based on his strength. Unlike other unnatural protagonists, Murphy once had a family. He was a very qualified husband and father. Even if he became a cold robot, he still retained a lot of unique black humor and touching tenderness of iron blood. It can be called "cute in contrast". For example, in the second film, his iron fist for punishing criminals also stretches out his fingers, gently but slightly stiffly appeases the crying baby, and solves the root cause of the child's crying very directly and efficiently-the contraband factory radio.

As a result, under the increase of sense of security, he naturally became an ideal "robot lover", which can be regarded as the enlightenment of a lot of "opportunistic love". Among the more famous similar characters in recent years, the iron chin Thunder Brother Thunder, who is beaten by nano machines every day, can be regarded as one of them. When it comes to the chin, "Robocop" may also be one of the origins of this stem: the film director mentioned in the interview, when choosing actors to find a sexy lip, so as to deliberately show it to the audience, which makes fans wonder that Murphy clearly shows the human jaw, but is never afraid of being shot. It has never been broken, exactly why-the answer can only be "the chin is actually iron".

Of course, Murphy still has a lot of attractions, but limited to the number of words, let's talk about his image in the violent City.

Choose your "robot husband" conscience adaptation of the game "Robocop: violent City" uses the film trilogy worldview and characters, familiar with the old sheriff, familiar old partner, from the promotional film to see the past full of feelings. After entering the game world, players will find that these feelings are not just superficial kungfu perfunctory, the production team is with great respect and love for the "Robocop" series to reflect the game world, although there are many easily detectable limitations and deficiencies, but we can still feel the intention of the production team in many ways.

For example, in the game plot, the beginning of the story of "violent City" is chosen after the end of the first film, but does not "reproduce" the subsequent film plot as rigidly as many adaptations. Although it is a matter of conscience to reproduce the original work and not to correct it, it is still a rather conservative approach.

The FC version that many veteran players like is "copy adaptation". What if it can go any further? To my surprise, the game production team did not stop here, but bravely reinterpreted the key elements and original characters without violating the classic impressions, such as readjusting the timeline and the characters involved. make the logic of the whole story more reasonable, the rhythm of expression more suitable for the form of the game, and so on.

For example, in the background conflict of "Mayor Election", in the first film, former Mayor Miller is beaten by Murphy because he lost the election, and the FC version also sets him as the second Boss. In the violent City, the campaign timing is moved to the story, so candidate Miller and the black mayor will take turns to woo Murphy's support according to the story, thus restoring the unique atmosphere of the original work.

The effect of this is to make the game play like a remake movie with parallel worlds, where players can not only participate in the interaction themselves, but also feel the atmosphere of the original work with all kinds of meticulous designs, and the taste is all right. it is more interesting than the so-called copycat in some games. This kind of risk-taking "one more step" is not only ambition but also conscience for the adaptation of the game, which deserves a high praise and appreciation.

Writing a note for illegal parking really makes me laugh. I really feel that I am on duty in Detroit, another big conscience of "violent City", that is, with the support of today's technology, I have made a variety of interactive reproductions of movie scenes that I could only watch.-- the adaptation of RoboCop into a game dates back to 2003. The game technology at that time was really difficult to support the restoration of the degree of "cyber tourism".

"violent City" really unfolds a "amusement park"-style scene. When the structure is completely reproduced from the police station of the first film, and the semi-open streets of Detroit appear in front of me, it is really shocked and moved. I couldn't help but stroll around first. In the follow-up checkpoint, dilapidated abandoned factories, dirty gang lair, and even the elegant OCP headquarters, you can all visit in person!

Even did not forget to make a toilet from a game point of view, the map scene may seem a little empty, but for movie fans, walking in a fantasy environment, can do a little bit to flowers and plants, this is a kind of ultimate dream come true, isn't that what is sold in the theme amusement park? Even when the "walking simulator" comes to play, as long as I walk around Detroit while listening to Murphy's heavy footsteps of safety and justice, it will be worth the ticket-- along the way, I can issue a fine, save the kittens and throw off the gangsters.

In addition to the above two more intuitive points, a variety of details can poke players who are familiar with the movie. The game uses the "one Road" main line, in which each pass is a semi-open scene with a range of hundreds of square meters, and several feeder copies of the plot are reasonably set in the scene. as well as individual small tasks encountered on the road to fill the rhythm and show the reality of playing the police. In general, there is a lot of content to play, and it can be seen that the production team is trying to avoid boring repetition (there is no can game to ask you to write 10 tickets or the like), because almost all of them are based on the impressive fun things in the original movie.

A regional task that impressed me with the sharp contrast between the dilapidated downtown and the resplendent scenery in the distance was an arcade hall. The layout, structure and atmosphere of the arcade clearly refer to the location where Murphy and Louise went to catch child drug lords in the second film. Soon after the start, players will be given a task to find a stolen luxury car, which is the 6000 Sux repeatedly advertised in the first movie, and everyone who has seen the movie should not forget the spectacle of the car being shot off by the villain with the Cobra assault Gun that hunts Murphy. In short, the more familiar you are with the movie trilogy, the more you can unconsciously raise the corners of your mouth in the game, and they are not casually littered eggs, but properly re-designed.

Even the achievement words in the game have their own profound meaning. The achievement of customs clearance is "good marksmanship, kid", which was said by the president of OCP in the first film when Murphy saved him at the end of the story. This achievement not only pays tribute to the original work in the position of the whole game process, but also has a further sublimation of its deep meaning, which can be called a wonderful pen for adapting the plot. It's a pity that if you talk about it in more detail, it will be a great deal of emotion from the past, and interested friends can experience it for themselves.

When old fans see this picture, they will hear a wail of the car chassis.

If you take a screenshot of the original film, you can say whether the taste is right or not. For non-fans, "violent City" does have obvious defects in many places. I can anticipate some of the problems that players who don't know much about this IP will encounter, and I also want to point out these problems for reference by friends who are willing to experience it.

For example, for many players who have come into contact with FPS since the "COD" era, the slow pace and slow movement of the protagonist Murphy may be torture. The production team should understand this problem, so it added "running" ability for Murphy, along with size control and detail filling in semi-open scenes, so that Murphy's speed does not seem too far away or too monotonous. But overall, such a design will still make it difficult for new players to adapt.

There are a lot of monotonous designs in the scene, such as spray paint cans that can explode, which partly reflects the difficulty of combining "game" and "movie" elements. In the film, Murphy's steady and slow footsound is his iconic representative, enough to impress the audience, and many of the cyborg characters in subsequent works have designed unique footnotes. Even in the violent City, Murphy's pace can still give players a unique sense of body and immersion-in this footsound, Murphy slowly walks towards the criminal step by step, exerting great pressure, which is the criminal's ultimate nightmare; for legitimate citizens, especially children, it is the best lullaby for people to turn over and sleep. For police colleagues, this is the greatest comfort in their work, and the strongest defenders of justice and law are coming with hope. But in any case, the action of a game hero is too slow for players to accept.

Even if hide in the wall is useless, come with me in the enemy's intensity, layout, intelligence and other aspects, "violent city" is relatively simple, almost all ordinary enemies use a kind of AI, see players dangling around, brain-mutilated fire, just changed the appearance and offensive and defense data, for players accustomed to the traditional FPS, obviously not interesting, and even a little annoying.

In terms of intention, this may be a place to try to play tricks. You can see that the production team wants to recreate the messy, smoke-filled atmosphere of the shootout in the film. In all kinds of firefight scenes in the game, there are a lot of things that can be destroyed and then splashed. For example, the sofa can be shot with four or five shots, and the damage after each shot is different and a little ridiculously fine. There is also the water dispenser, the water in the bucket is actually "real". After the player breaks it, the spray will stop for a period of time, just like the reality that the water flow stops at the height of the shot hole, and then there is no response in the higher part of the shooting bucket. but hit shorter places will continue to spray water …...

The details that are really beneficial to the immersion experience obviously, if no one hits them, the work that can be restored as much as possible is not easy to show. And what the player plays is, after all, an invulnerable mechanical policeman, not the "bunker breathing blood man" in the ordinary FPS, which is meant to be bulletproof and full of armor skills with random angle rebound bullets.

So-- just let all enemies keep firing, there's always a chance of hitting the background props. If players are aware of this and don't play with FPS logic, such as seeing an enemy throwing lightning instead of turning around and running away, then the overall feeling is all right, but it is difficult for other games to provide the unique experience of "slowly approaching a desperate and screaming enemy", "picking him up" and "throwing him against the wall to reflect on his life."

In addition to the simple and difficult experience, there are many simple problems in the game: aiming and shooting feel strange, physical collision calculation is abnormal, too few tips, poor archiving mechanism, always a bone movement left and right NPC. There are more than I can count.

But even so, I still pass the "violent city" in one breath, after all, it has done too much in the "adaptation". If you are a fan of the series, you can imagine, with the majestic symphony theme melody, stepping in the steel footsteps of sanctions, interspersed with the invincible partner Officer Louise in the intertwined thread to protect innocent people and punish criminals. There are really not many such experiences.

"come with me quietly, or there will be trouble."

"dead or alive, you must come with me."

"you have the right to remain silent."

Jokingly, maybe the production team thought more about it, taking into account the patience of old players all the way from the FC era: "guys who have seen old movies and played old games will definitely be able to stand it."

Police investigation is almost contrary to many popular shooting games after customs clearance, in addition to satisfaction and excitement, I still have a touch of sadness.

Behind the hard work of the production team, I have a vague feeling that this way of giving full feedback to IP fans is a bit too "commercial" for young players to accept. As a game with a price of 200 yuan, its production resources are very limited, and all kinds of details can be felt in the game.

Many of the depictions of the first perspective in the film are also very enlightening to the design of the FPS game. because of this, many unexpected efforts in the game are more conspicuous, and some of the places that make up for it are not so hard to forgive. I have experienced a similar feeling before, such as "Cherry Blossom Wars 4". Today, I can understand that its "flower language" is "there is no next time".

Yes, this is 2023, and it is a time when the reality has already surpassed the ancient science fiction a little bit, and it is not difficult to guess the end of the science fiction works that have been surpassed. At the end of "violent City," the story ends in the OCP acquisition of the third movie, which is like leaving a tail, a sequel or DLC if sales are good, or an open farewell.

Agreement 3, protect the iron. Protect the iron law! Maybe this is the last time I'm on duty in Cyber Detroit. Fortunately, I didn't miss this opportunity.

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