Rogue Trooper is based on the comic book of the same name. The game is set on Nu Earth, a land torn apart by war as the Norts and the Southers battle for control in the war. Players assume the role of a Souther’s Genetic Infantryman, lab-created super soldiers who also happen to be blue. During a mission all of the battalion are wiped out, all except one of them. Believe it or not you’re the lucky survivor, hence the title Rogue Trooper.
I'm blue, da ba dee da ba doo...
The game is actually different in the way it handles weapons and equipment. Three of the dead soldiers have possessed most of your equipment. Each of the genetic soldiers comes with a little chip that contains all the soldiers skills, personality and attributes. Essentially, when you watch your soldiers die you can rip out their chips and equip there skills, so whilst you’re a lone soldier, you actually end up with the skills of three other genetic infantrymen. The first soldier who is attached is Gunmar, who's in charge of the weapons. Gunmar assists you with reloading weapons, tracking targets and making your firing more accurate. It’s actually also possible to put Gunmar on the ground so he acts like a turret. This is extremely helpful because you may be a lone soldier but you’ve still got a lot of support.
The second genetic infantrymen that you get is Bagman. Bagman takes up home in your backpack. Bagman helps to create new weapons and upgrades using scrap. Scrap is scattered throughout the adventure. There is plenty of scrap available under normal difficulty though, so it’s not likely that anyone is going to have a problem finding enough scrap to manufacture new weapons and upgrades. Helm is the last genetic infantryman, and he takes control of your helmet. Helm allows you to zoom in and he can also hack as well as project a decoy image to confuse your opponents. The addition of these genetic infantrymen makes Rogue Trooper an extremely refreshing title. If it wasn’t for these extra skills then the game would be rather formulaic, but it shows just how much of an asset a decent idea can be to a game.
The single player campaign has a bit of variety and there are numerous ways of approaching different scenarios. The single player mode has stealth missions but for the most part you’ll be going up against large armies. It’s still a lot of fun and even though you’ve got some assistance the game really does make it seem like you’re up against the odds as an army of one. The main complaint we’d have with the game is the fact that it's far too easy; it would have been good if the single player mode had a bit more of a challenge because most people are likely to be able to play through the single player campaign without a sweat.
Impressive skyline, better get back to battle...
No third person shooter would be complete without a multiplayer mode and Rogue Trooper continues the trend by offering a decent range of options. It’s possible to play online or offline, and up to four players can play co-op to complete objectives online. In multiplayer you'll really have to use all of your abilities as well, so you cannot just go into the levels with a “run and gun” mentality - you'll need to think strategically, which sets this game apart from other third person shooters.
Graphically the game is surprisingly impressive and the levels are quite large. There isn’t a large variety in the look of the enemies though, so it’s likely you'll quickly feel like you’re battling the same enemies repeatedly. The animation is good however, and the scripted events show off the graphics engine. When there's a lot happening on screen we did encounter a few moments of slowdown, but this didn’t happen frequently enough to detract from the quality of the game.
Sound-wise, the game is very solid. The voicework is good and helps to progress the story. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the comics you’re still able to follow the story because it's explained really well. The sound effects are loud and all pass as being realistic. The music that plays in the background during the missions is solid as well and helps to make the levels feel very atmospheric.
Killing... with style.
The length really is the major disappointment with the game. Unfortunately it only takes about eight hours or so to complete the game, though thankfully the single player mode is actually quite varied so there would be good enough reason to play through the game again on a higher difficulty level. Truthfully, the multiplayer is where most people will get their value for money. We didn’t actually find many people online, which is a shame, but this could be because this game isn’t really a high profile release. Offline multiplayer may be a better choice.
As we mentioned at the top of this review, it’s always a pleasure when a game is released and turns out to be quite a surprise. Rogue Trooper isn’t even a comic we were all that familiar with, so the anticipation for this game was pretty low. And yet Rogue Trooper is a thoroughly enjoyable third person shooter that has a varied single player mode, and a title that, despite the low hype, is definitely worth trying out. Being a lonesome soldier hasn’t been this fun in a third person shooter for a long time.
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