RICO London review

RICO London’s story (and I use that term loosely) is set during New Year’s Eve 1999 in London where Detective Inspector Redfern finds herself at the scene of an emerging arms trade at the foot of a high-rise tower. As with any good rogue agent, she goes in guns blazing trying to take down the bad guys.

RICO London is a stylish FPS shooter where the goal is busting down doors and shooting enemies in stylish ways in order to get the highest score possible. Players can use two weapons at a time; a simple handgun and a machine gun; both of which are filled with limited ammo. Dead enemies will drop additional ammo and/or new guns for you to pick up.

You can also pick throwable weapons… which feel utterly useless. You can throw them in the middle of a group of enemies, yet they all manage to escape unscathed. And obviously on the flip side, even with a reasonable distance between you and an enemy’s grenade, you’ll still suffer a lot of damage.

Thankfully, you can find health packs peppered throughout each level. You also begin the game with two adrenaline shots that can revive you when downed. When completing areas, you can purchase items to help you on your way; additional shots, and regain some health; among other things. There are a handful of challenges that can be attempted solo or in co-op but still don’t change the core formula of the experience.

The game’s biggest problem is its concept; it’s linear, very repetitive gameplay. Bust a door open, shoot as many guys as possible in slow motion and if some remain, kill them at normal speed. Rinse and repeat. I sincerely feel this is a missed opportunity to make an XIII-like game (let’s just forget about that horrible remaster from 2021) with a deep story and maybe more gameplay variety like stealth or puzzles. Additionally, enemies are bullet sponges. It can easily take 3-4 bullets to the head before being rewarded with a headshot.

The game’s visual presentation is definitely one of RICO London’s strongest points. It’s done with a stylish XIII visual aspect making players hope for a real sequel rather than a half-assed, dumbed-down remaster from 2021. Each area thankfully looks different whilst remaining in the same building, but each area can also overstay their welcome. The soundtrack is a mindless, boring, uninspired rock-like score. You’ll drown it out pretty easily when you’re focused on wiping everyone in slow-mo.

I was actually hyped and looking forward to playing RICO London mostly due to its unique visual style, unfortunately, any excitement or hype pretty much died when I first started playing. It’s mindlessly and numbingly repetitive to a point after a go-round of the first floor, you’ve basically seen it all. And for £25, you’d expect a meatier experience. If you must play this, wait for a sale, otherwise, this is an easy pass.