Rogue Trooper

THE BAD:
The campaign is short (but very varied while it lasts) and a bit derivitive in terms of gameplay.

SUMMARY:
Welcome to Nu-earth. If you have been reading the comics of 2000AD then you'll be familiar with Rogue and his quest for the traitor general. In which case for the sense of creating a living breathing version of this world score this a 4.5.

If you are new to it then let me explain. In the future a key planet is being fought over by 2 armies. The Norts (in the North) are a cross between the Soviets and the Nazis and are pretty much everything bad. In the South the Southers who are sort of the good guys and sound like tommies from world war 2. This war has been raging for so long that the whole world is an environmental disaster everyone must wear gasmasks and even the animals have mutated to be nastier. In this war the Southers launch an attack using a new breed of soldiers the genetic infantry men (G.I.s) who are strong, fast and are immune to all the poisons in the atmosphere (and for some reason never explained are bright blue and don't wear shirts). But they are betrayed and the Norts are waiting for them and all but 1 is killed. That would be you, the rogue trooper, who sets off for revenge.

The game itself is split into a group of very varied levels, sometimes you are the gunner in an aircraft, other times you are dodging snipers in the desert at others you will be sneaking around a naval base. Generally level design is very good, usually giving you several ways around areas definitely adding to replay value. All the while you are trying to track down the traitor who allowed all your kind to be wiped out.

The bit I failed to mention earlier is when a G.I dies their memory is stored in a chip which then can be added to a piece of equipment. You have 3 such buddies whose names are rather conveniently linked to the item they are in there's helm, gunnar and bagman (imagine growing up being called bagman). Seriously though they can all give you special abilities that add a lot of depth to game play. want to set up a trap? put gunnar on auto and he becomes a sentry gun, bagman helps lay mines and helm can not only unlock doors but also throw a hologram of you to confuse enemies. This plus the usual running and shooting where you can hide behind cover. There are also sneak moves where you can get behind an enemy and take them out with 1 cinematic cut scene. Also not forgetting the fact everyone is wearing gasmasks you can have a 1 shot 1 kill by hitting their air tanks.

True to the comic you only really have 1 weapon, gunnar but he can be upgraded to become the standards of shooters, a grenade launcher a snipers rifle, a shot gun, etc. The twist comes that everything you use has to be made by bagman so you have to scavenge dead bodies or occasionally find salvageable remains around levels. This idea isn't properly integrated meaning you have to go to every dead nort and push a button or you will run out of ammo later on. It's a gimmick more than anything else.

The graphics are perfectly serviceable if nothing spectacular and the levels are well designed. What's great are the little calls from the enemies the Norts shouting "he's scared of me" in a slightly muffled and soviet sounding voice if you are reloading behind cover.

The whole thing is over too quickly- 5 hoursish and there is a multiplayer that because few people are using means co-op at home rather than big battles online. You can also unlock original art work and find out more about the things you encounter which even if you recognise them you'll find of interest. So as a package it's not the best ever but if you are reading this now you're likely to get it for peanuts in which case it's definitely worth while.

Even if you are not a fan the universe is one you care about and therefore you want to finish the game. It's got some great ideas, some great levels and is what a game should be- fun!