Rogue Trooper is the sort of game that aims for something really big and manages to achieve something a little above sub-par. The game follows the adventure of a G.I. who’s gone rogue, and happens to be named Rogue. During the battle in the first stage, three of Rogue’s friends (Bagman, Gunnar and Helm) die and become part of his equipment. Bagman gets drilled to death and becomes a chip attached to Rogue’s backpack. Gunnar gets gunned down from behind and becomes Rogue’s chip-guided gun, which can become a stationary turret players can deploy. Finally, Helm gets poisoned and tortured to death, conveniently becoming Rogue’s helmet-guided chip as a result.
For those unfamiliar with 2000 AD, you might find it difficult to understand what Rogue Trooper is all about. 2000 AD is a series of comic strips--released weekly--and very popular in Britain; Rogue Trooper was originally created in 1981 as a comic book. The premise of the story (both the comic and game) takes place on Nu Earth Circa, a futuristic wasteland plagued with incessant wars. The air is no longer breathable without purifier masks, and no one is more suited to the environment than the genetically enhanced, blue-colored troops. The story itself follows the exploits of a genetically enhanced soldier with “bio-chips” implanted in him, which embodied the personas of three fallen companions. His mission was to track down and deal with a traitorous General. The G.I.’s (the genetically altered soldiers) unique traits included abilities such as an immunity to chemical warfare of any kind. All of this still holds true in the video game. Rogue’s quest to get revenge against the general who betrayed him and his fallen friends is the driving force behind the game’s plot, just as it is in the comic.
Big and blue
The main enemy in the game is the Nort Republic, and they are intent on destroying the Southers. Throughout the game, players will help the Southers and in turn, they’ll help provide cover fire or dispatch a couple of enemies for you. This aspect of the story is quite thin, and the game’s real interest is in the character dichotomies and personalities. The only problem is that in this game, Rogue’s rival(s) don’t really butt heads with him often, and for the most part this leaves the game feeling a bit blank. While Halo, Half Life 2 and Fear focused much of the gameplay on elements in relation to the story, the problem with Rogue Trooper is almost the opposite--much of the gameplay consists of shooting and running and sneaking and more shooting, but rarely does any of it have relevance to the actual story. The intensity for many firefights was missing, and this made the shoot-outs seem dull. There were some moments where the actual story affected the action on-screen, and that made those segments very fun. However, most of the time I found myself getting a bit bored with the repetitive tactics required for dispatching very competent enemies in a less-than-competent scenario.
This is not to rant on the stage design at all, as each level is very highly detailed and vast...immensely vast. It’s a bit shocking to know that such large levels could fit onto the current-gen consoles without loading during the gameplay. The texture mapping is superb, and the cover-points (areas designed for flanking) and obstructions for laying heavy suppression fire on opponents are excellent. The maps require very similar tactics to those you might find in Brothers in Arms. Yet simultaneously, the gameplay itself allows for players to run-and-gun as they please. There’s even multiple routes through some areas, and the gameplay is entirely replayable based on different methods available for completing a stage. Kudos to the designers for making the stages so multi-versatile, so gamers who prefer stealth can use stealth and those who prefer all-out-action can stick with that method. If there was a drawback, though, to the latter tactic it would have to be in the stiff response for getting around areas quickly.
Move it, soldier!
While Rogue can dive and jump, he doesn’t get bullet-time Max Payne, have the jet-pack like in Battlefront II and he’s not as agile as Sam Fisher; controlling him seems like moving around a soldier who is heavily weighted down. Maybe that was the feel Rebellion was going for? Who knows. Overall, it just made it difficult to jump out in the open and take on several guys at one time. It wasn’t necessarily the controls, just the fact that the pace of the game is measured by the speed of Rogue, and he doesn’t move very fast.
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