For those of you who live outside of the UK then let me enlighten you. For many years now stores across the country have stocked a well known fantasy comic called 2000AD. Whilst many of you are perhaps familiar with the character Judge Dredd, especially since Rebellion (the developers) made the game Judge Dredd vs Death which appeared on Xbox and also because a film was made starring Sylvester Stallone. Well as one of many characters that feature in the comic, Rogue Trooper has featured for quite a number of years. Well it comes as a pleasant shock to find that the blue cloned GI gets his very own video game and as a fan of 2000AD I can say that I was looking forward to playing Rogue Trooper the game. Well UK fans can rejoice as Rogue Trooper has shipped first to Europe and so any Americans wishing to sample what Rogue Trooper has to offer will simply have to wait. What is more important though, is Rogue Trooper any good or does it fall into the genetic generic category of third person shooters?

Gameplay

As previously mentioned, Rogue Trooper is third person shooter whereby you the player take control of the cloned soldier Rogue. Anyone who has played any other third person shooter before will feel right at home as the controls are pretty standard with the left stick controlling movement and the right controlling the camera view. I must say that the opening level which acts as a basic tutorial does not really do the game justice but does give a flavour of what is to come. There are some basic fighting alongside team mates during scripted moments which help convey the feeling of being a small part of the bigger picture; however as the story progresses this changes especially as during the first level a lot of the clone army gets wiped out. It is at this point where Rogue establishes himself and where the game begins to show its true colours.

What is special about Rogue is the fact that although he is often alone he is supported by three personalities that offer him valuable assistance throughout his adventures in the game and in the comic. After the massacre of his comrades Rogue is able to take the bio chips from the bodies of cloned soldiers if he gets there in time and during the game’s opening it does seem that many of his war buddies bite the bullet early on. Luckily Rogue is nearby when this happens and with a quick cut with his knife he removes their chips and slots them into his gear. The bio chips hold the personality of the clone soldiers and therefore are brought back to life so to speak via his gear.

Firstly we have Bagman who controls Rogue’s ammo and health. Players can find salvage from the fallen which Bagman can then recycle into all sorts of ammo and health packs. Bagman proves to be a very useful ally indeed despite only being a small backpack! Rogue’s rifle is able to shoot several types of rounds including sniper, shotgun, beam and even homing missiles rounds. Then there are various grenades that can be used such as sticky mines, fragmentation grenades, incendiary grenades and scrambler grenades. Well Bagman can create them all and if you make a point of collecting salvage from everyone you kill you will always have a plentiful supply as well as enough for the various upgrades that come available throughout.

Our next ally is Gunnar who slots into Rogue’s rifle and proves extremely useful if deployed correctly. Gunnar often helps Rogue when it comes to targeting enemies but his main skill is being used as a remote gun emplacement which means Rogue can set him down and let Gunnar look after himself whilst Rogue flanks enemies or takes cover. Sometimes during heated moments in the game it easy to forget that Gunnar could have helped in certain situations and more often than not there are times where in retrospect Gunnar could have proved most useful. Either way Gunnar’s deployment is entirely down to the player and it is quite possible to beat the game without ever needing to deploy Gunnar. However there is much pleasure gained in getting it right and watching Gunner unleash pain on enemies whilst you creep up behind them for a quick kill.

Last up we have Helm who offers Rogue several options. Not only is Helm able to hack terminals and such like he is also able to create a controllable holographic image of Rogue which acts as a perfect decoy. Helm is also able to lure guards into traps by making a distracting noise. Again the decoy can be used at will and players can choose whether they use this ability or not.

With the three bio chip team mates offering their advice and comments makes Rogue a formidable opponent. Rogue himself can hug walls, blind fire, scale objects and perform a number of dives which help him cross gaps and avoid incoming fire. Rogue needs all of the skills he can get especially as he is often outnumbered. The enemy AI is a mixed bag with some moments where the enemies react to team mates being shot and other times when they couldn’t care less. Rogue Trooper features some stealth moments too and although these are never forced players are able to choose whether they wish to snipe opponents or try and sneak behind foes and try for a stealth kill up close and personal.

The levels themselves and the objectives contained within are standard fare with Rogue simply having to navigate some very linear terrain whilst simply staying alive. There are plenty of opportunities to man gun turrets and flak cannons throughout the game and these moments help add some variety. Combat can be as slow or as fast as player dictate depending on their play style. It’s also encouraging to know that should a stealth attempt fail, Rogue is adaptable and mean enough to take on what the game throws at him. It all works rather well and once you get used to making your own supplies with Bagman and utilising the features of Helm and Gunnar there’s much fun to be had and you kind of ignore the fact that the AI is a little limited and the levels are linear.

Graphics

The opening levels and to be honest a number of levels feature barren wasteland type terrain; which more often than not, looks very bland. There are some city based moments and variations which suit the comic style but are generally nothing to get too excited over. The character models are well rendered and leading man Rogue remains faithful to his comic book counterpart. In general the graphics aren’t going to be wining any awards but do the job adequately especially with things like the spray of blood which spurts out of shot foes.

Sound

Sound is fairly intense throughout with some reasonable voice acting and general sound effects bombarding your ears from the offset. The squad aspect is handled very well especially when your bio chip buddies cut in with their comments which happens to be quite often. The enemies all sound like German World War 2 rejects and often repeat phrases which can get a little annoying. Luckily the rest of the sound makes up for it and generally compliments the game the way you expect it to.

Longevity

Rogue Trooper’s single player story offers an entertaining ride through the world of Rogue and chums. However the game is a little on the short side which is unfortunate as it has a lot going for it. Most gamers should be able to beat the single player story during a weekend. To make up for this rebellion have included some extra difficulties to mess around with and some off / online multiplayer components which allow players the chance to tackle specific co-op maps alone or with friends. These do add some extra life to the game and are a welcome inclusion as you get to choose to be Rogue, Gunnar, Helm or Bagman in their respective clone forms of course.

Overall

Rogue Trooper at first appears to be another futuristic generic shooter. However once you delve beneath the surface you are left with a rather neat action title. The abilities of your comrades adds a level of depth often missing from games of this nature and with a little experimentation can be quite rewarding. The length of the game might be an issue for some but with the added bonus of the extra missions and difficulties available means that there’s still some reasonable longevity to be had from the game if you give it a chance. I’ve enjoyed playing Rogue Trooper not only as a fan of the comics but more so because the game offers a simplistic yet engaging story with some rather neat game play nuances that work well within the context of the game thrown in. I suggest renting this first and if it appeals to you then go out and buy.

Pros:

• Bagman.
  
• Gunnar.
  
• Helm.
  
• Co-op play.
  
• Lots of action.
  
  

  Cons:
  

  • Short single player.
    
  • Bland levels.