With simple yet complex gameplay, Future Cop is an addictive game and well rounded through out.
(-) the riot shield weapon takes most of the difficulty out of the game
In Future Cop you take control of a robot that has two different forms, one where you stomp through the place like a transformer, and the other is a super fast hover mobile. Either way your mission is basically to be an agent for security to defeat evil forces spread throughout industrial environments. You have three sets of weapons, light, heavy, and massive, which you can unlock new weapons throughout the game.
First of all there is a single player mode where you wander through various places to reach a check point, destroying things like tanks, turrets, enemy soldiers, and other dwellers of the level. For the most part your goals are pretty straightforward but the single player mode isn't by any means a cake walk, the difficulty is pretty uneven throughout and you will get stuck at times.
Aside to the single player mode is an arcade style mode where you either face another person or go against a computer opponent. My memory of the single player mode has blurred significantly, but I still remember this fun and exciting mode pretty clearly. You are placed in an arena with another opponent, which is divided into halves for yourself and the enemy. You use your vehicle or transformer (yeah, why not?) to claim neutral turrets. As you claim these, or destroy your opponent directly, you are awarded with points. With these points, you can purchase tanks and choppers, or claim outposts throughout the level which are essentially additional bases, or if you get enough you can send a dreadnought (basically a super tank) or a flying fortress (a super chopper, you get the idea). This mode most definitely adds up to more than the sum of its parts, because in order to win the game you must release a tank into the other player's base. But these bases are littered with turrets that remain there except for a brief moment after you destroy them.
As I mentioned before you can play this arcade style mode with another player, or a computer opponent. But it's not what you expect, the computer opponent isn't another transformer, euuh, thingy. You fight Sky Captain, which is a flying battle ship equipped with weapons depending on what difficulty he is set on from 1 to 10. He also has a personality, because you hear his voice overs throughout the game. Like sometimes when you kill him, his eerie devilish voice will snarl "I'll see you in hell!" Or sometimes when you claim an outpost, he'll remark, "You think that will help you?" Of course Sky Captain plays differently than another human player, because not only does he fly, he also gets a full health recovery if he goes back into his base. If you damage him to a near fatal level, he'll cower back to his base for that reason. Compared to traditional AI controlled opponents, Sky Captain is actually a smart endeavorer, reacting to damage and trying to claim the outposts quicker than you do, and even unleashing the dreadnought tank when he gets the required points.
In the arcade mode there are several different maps you can choose, some you will recognize if you have already played through the single player mode. I find the training area to be the best choice, because it is very well rounded and it isn't difficult to roam through the area. There is one other arena that I must give a mention to. This game may appear to some to be a pretty serious and mature game, but they did take some risks with silliness. There's a level where all the tanks are replaced with worms, turrets replaced with flowers, choppers are replaced with butterflies, flying fortresses are replaced with bats, and Sky Captain is a dragon fly! You'll also be hearing some uncharacteristic silly music in the back ground, giving the game that same distinct playability but with a more satirical look. It's better used as a joke than a serious play session.
Graphically this is one of the better looking games on the first Playstation. Your transformer (ugh. Sorry, don't know what else to call it) has reasonable appeal and the environments are clear and colorful. Not something that will wow anyone with today's standards, but it has a lot less rough edges than anything else on this system. The sound was perhaps more impressive, offering some pretty suspenseful musical numbers as well as automated voice overs throughout the single player and multiplayer experiences. Both the game play and the presentation hold up even to this day and age.
It was difficult to find something to be desired in this package, but there is something. You see, as you play more of single player mode you unlock new weapons to use. The ones you start out with hold well, I personally like the concussion beam and the shock wave. Other ones you unlock are pretty unique as well, like the robo dogs that attack your enemies, and a flamethrower although weak was a compelling weapon choice. Then there's the riot shield, good god, chipped the game's difficulty close to zero. If you got a power pick up that maximizes a particular weapon, and had one for riot shield, you could very easily kill level 10 Sky Captain within seconds, despite all the artillery and weaponry upgrades. This is is close to necessary at times in the single player mode, but still it made the game far too easy.
Future Cop is without a doubt one of the best games the Playstation 1 has to offer. The simple yet challenging gameplay in the arcade mode adds up to more than the sum of its parts, the single player campaign holds out pretty well, and the production values are good compared to other games in this generation. It's worth checking out for sure.