Game: RoboCop

Surprise, surprise—a licensed mobile game conveniently released to coincide with the near-future opening of the film on which it's based has proven to be subpar. Such is RoboCop from Glu Games. You are Alex Murphy, a good cop and even better lover who was terribly injured and then six-million-dollar-man'd into a futuristic cyborg cop ready to police a world in which robot violence has become commonplace. And though it would probably be sweet if the city of Detroit just let you out on your own to, y'know, slay criminals, you're going to have to train via a series of incredibly lifelike simulations to hone your coppin' and killin' skills before you do any of that.For a film series that is, for all intents and purposes, over the top and god-awful, RoboCop is oddly beloved. As such, most of the buzz we've heard about the upcoming reboot has been negative and/or bewildered, but despite this and the obvious B-movie air with which the films carry themselves, trailers for the upcoming action flick look pretty damn cool. Sadly, this level of high-quality action set-pieces meets bazonkers plot doesn't translate so well into a game so clearly rushed to release in order to capitalize on the possible success of the film.Admittedly, the gritty, urban environments found within RoboCop are not bad. Certainly there are more beautiful games to behold, but for its stand-and-shoot mechanics, the look and feel of each area serves its purpose well. These are some of the better lighting effects and detailed character models to be found within the App Store's 3D shooter stable, and it is undeniably satisfying to line up and execute a headshot on some bespectacled (seriously, a lot of these dudes have glasses) enemies. RoboCop himself looks pretty detailed, but what kind of world are we living in when the hero of a game seems to have had more development attention than gameplay? I guess that this is actually not all that uncommon, but still…it's weird.