Rating: 7/10
Don't worry. We're not turning Micro Mart into a comic book love-in. Yet to understand Rogue Trooper, a bit of scene setting is required. Hold on...
Set on Nu-Earth, a highly polluted world decimated by constant war, the Rogue Trooper is one of a legion of genetically engineered infantryman. When Rogue finds a traitor in his midst has left him isolated and those around him dead, he sets off to hunt down them down. Only problem is, there are lots of troops standing in his way, and they're heavily armed.
Still, to even the odds, Rogue has a trick or two up his sleeves. His dead comrades leave behind biochips, which Rogue can take advantage of. Thus, the biochip in his gun means that he can, for instance, drop it and leave it on sentry duty, so that it intelligently provides covering fire. Other biochips offer hints, can turn salvaged materials into fresh munitions and weapons, and generally provide much needed assistance. Also in Rogue's corner is the small matter of some very hefty and powerful weapons, although your delight at that will be quickly tempered when you realise that the numerous enemies are equally well armed. Ah well.
The stage is therefore set for a futuristic third person action game, that primarily relies on lots of shooting, dashed - as you'd expect - with a topping of stealth and mild puzzle solving. And d'you know what? It works, certainly a lot better than the undercooked Dredd vs Death, the last game to spring from the pages of the 2000AD comic. The levels - which are fairly freeform with a series of objectives to each - are suitably sizeable playgrounds for the heavy artillery on display, and while you'd hardly call the game particularly suitable, and you'd certainly not build a case that it's anywhere near as clever as something like Far Cry, it is good fun.
There are several factors that certainly help give it a leg up. The learning curve is well thought out without being patronising, the action itself is tremendously entertaining when the game hits its peak, and it does feel that you're part of this scorched and unpleasant planet. Visually, the game is striking from a distance, although closer scrutiny doesn't do it as many favours. Yet the graphics certainly do their job.
So where does it fall down? Well, in spite of some clever innovations - the biochips work very well, for instance - it doesn't really carve out much of a niche for itself. The insistence on you manufacturing replacement ammo can frequently leave you short when you need firepower the most, and yet it won't be too long before you've battled your way through to the end.
These quibbles aside though, Rogue Trooper is a pleasant surprise. In much the same way that Eidos sprung one out of nowhere on us last year with the desperately enjoyable Lego Star Wars, here they've managed again to deliver something really in excess of what we were expecting. And while developer Rebellion's mantelpiece isn't likely to be troubled by end of the year awards, with Rogue Trooper they've nonetheless offered a fun, striking action game that offers some very welcome pure gaming fun.
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