My Dream Game Is Getting Bad Reviews But I’m Here To Defend It

I was surprised when I realized an FPS game had snuck its way onto my 2025’s most-anticipated list. It isn’t that I hate the genre; in fact, several of my favorite games are first-person shooters. Rather that I haven’t found myself drawn to any games in the genre as of late. FPS games have to be doing something really special to grab my attention, as they all too often meld together into one big gloopy Call of Duty-inspired soup. So, for an FPS game to not just get onto my most-anticipated list, but be quite near the top is impressive.

So, color me surprised when I discovered that this rather incredible-looking first-person shooter that ticks practically all of my boxes was getting slated by critics. Apparently, one of the most anticipated FPS games of the year just didn’t hold up to scrutiny. Naturally, that sent me scrambling and wondering if I’d put my proverbial gun-shaped eggs in the wrong basket. Fortunately, it seems like I was right in believing this game would be worth the wait, as my dream game, despite bad reviews, is actually well worth playing, especially for fans of the 2012 film Dredd.

RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business Is Getting Bad Reviews

Critics Think It’s More Of The Same

I have been waiting utterly impatiently for RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business since it was announced. I played and thoroughly enjoyed the severely underrated Rogue City back in 2023, and dreamed of all the possible directions developer Teyon could take a potential sequel in. What I hadn’t envisioned was a megastructure-clearing homage to the 2012 film Dredd and a flashback-centric exploration of Alex Murphy’s human side. Frankly, that combination, as well as the ability to play as a ED-209, felt like a dream come true.

Unfortunately, the reviews haven’t been painting it in the kindest light. Unfinished Business currently sits at a 69 on Metacritic, with the majority of critics pointing to its lack of innovation and missing exploration gameplay as its downfall. I can somewhat understand how a lack of exploration would hurt Teyon’s core RoboCop experience, especially as it is one of the key features that made Rogue City a faithful adaptation.

However, a lack of innovation seems like a confusing critique, considering it is ostensibly DLC for Rogue City. It would be like going into DLC for The Last of Us, Bioshock, or really any linear narrative-based experience and expecting it to be a radically different game. While I appreciate Unfinished Business is being packaged as a separate experience and not sold as direct DLC, its smaller scale and reduced price point position it more as DLC than its own full-blown experience.

Unfinished Business Is Absolutely Worth Playing

It Is The Ultimate Follow-Up To Rogue City

I almost let these negative reviews dissuade me, and then I remembered how, at least in my eyes, Rogue City is one of the best FPS games I’ve ever played, and Unfinished Business just seems like an extension of it. Fortunately, I made the right call. Unfinished Business is absolutely a phenomenal follow-up to Rogue City, and while it does remove one of that game’s best features, it doubles down on the violence and carnage in the most satisfying way possible.

The gunplay has never felt better, each shot packing a serious punch as bad guys ragdoll ten feet across a room. The Cryo Cannon is a blast to use and adds a whole new dynamic to combat, as do the new enemy types that, while not substantially harder than the base game’s toughest enemies, do put up a fight. What makes Unfinished Business truly stand out, however, is its story. The flashback sequences do a good job of smoothing out any pacing issues while also adding a lot of heart and weight to the otherwise chaotic carnage.

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While the narrative follows on from Rogue City’s excellent ending, you can more or less figure out what’s happening if you have even the slightest bit of RoboCop knowledge. That’s beneficial, as I suspect a lot of people who may have skipped Rogue City may actually be interested in Unfinished Business anyway. This mini-sequel offers an experience I, and I’m sure many others, have been craving for so long that no other game has really ever attempted to do. Simply put, Unfinished Business is the closest we’ll ever get to a Dredd game.

Unfinished Business May Be The Closest We Get To A Dredd Game

I’ve Always Wanted A Video Game Adaptation Of 2012’s Dredd

I absolutely love 2012’s Dredd, a film that follows the titular Judge Dredd as he and his rookie partner climb a megastructure floor by floor, taking out gang members while searching for their leader. It is a masterclass in action filmmaking and also one of a handful of stories that follow this formula. There’s something about the cramped hallways, steady progression up the tower, and the final boss at the very top that feels perfectly suited for a video game. Which is why I’m so surprised no one has ever attempted to make something like it before Teyon.

Of course, there have been other Judge Dredd games, but Unfinished Business perfectly captures the look, atmosphere, action, and violence of 2012’s Dredd in the way I had always hoped a game would. Really, this singular component, something I fully believe is intentional yet not entirely the point of the mini-sequel, is what drew me so intently towards it and put it so high on my most anticipated list. RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business is well worth checking out, if only to see what an FPS Dredd game actually looks and plays like.

Source: Metacritic, Steam

RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business

Systems

Released

July 17, 2025

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Developer(s)

Teyon

Publisher(s)

Nacon