Rogue Trooper review thread...

[The Amstor Computer]

OK, picked up my copy at lunch & have now clocked 2+ hours & collected the last of my biochip buddies.

I'm enjoying parts of it, but I'm not finding it entirely satisfying. With the caveat that I'm running the PS2 version, here are a few of my thoughts:


-- The general presentation - menu screens, direction of cut scenes etc. - is pretty good. The Nort & Souther propaganda vids are nicely realised, if a bit too heavily influenced by Verhoeven's Starship Troopers and too reliant on comedy accents.

-- In-game graphics are OK. The character models are an improvement on those in Dredd Vs Death, but they still aren't that great for a late-gen PS2 title. Textures are variable, but most seem quite muddy and unattractive even from a reasonable distance.

There are some really clunky moments - GIs dying and falling into the ocean look as though someone turned the clipping off & they've just dropped through a floor - mixed with some nifty effects - the black hole is nicely realised, and the lighting & atmospheric effects are generally very good.

It's not ugly, but it just doesn't look like a late-gen PS2 game that's been three years in development. Perhaps later levels will show it off in a better light.

-- Combat is OK, with some variation in tactics once you unlock other add-ons and your biochips that serve to make it more interesting. For the most part I'm just running & gunning, but there is some flexibility in approach - sniping, stealth kills, using Gunnar as a sentry gun etc. I haven't really been pushed by it yet, and I haven't been caught in a firefight that really excites.

-- I'm going to have to disagree with Noisy on at least one point. The AI may well be improved over Dredd Vs Death, but it's still pretty ropey at points. For example, I've just sneaked up on a group of Norts standing in a row along a platform. I snipe the guy at the far end who's out of their sight & he drops like a stone. I then snipe the second Nort who is standing beside number 3. His tank explodes & the third Nort dashes about for a second or two then returns to his original position. There have been a fair few moments like this, as well as occasions when I've been spotted only for the Nort who saw me to turn away & wander off seconds after shouting a warning. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of intelligence when they're coming at you, either - they dash at you, if you shoot they take cover, then come running out when the firing stops.  

-- On the level of minor niggles, the game-stopping cutscenes for stealth/special kills are frustrating. For example: I tried to take out an armoured enemy on the Orange Sea level with a special kill. Two Nort sailors are firing at me, and I dash up behind the armoured trooper & tap X to execute the move. That kicks in a cutscene that plays out as though there was nothing else happening - no music, no Nort sailors - then once its done drops me back into the game. It's obviously not a game-breaker, but it feels clumsy & pulls you out of the game a little more it would if the game carried on while you executed a special move.  

Another minor niggle has just cropped up on a mission I'm playing - a hopper is buzzing around above me, so I find a gun emplacement, train it on the flyer and start firing. Nothing happens. It doesn't react, get damaged or start attacking me. It just carries on flying around in its little pattern.

-- The various bits of RT tech are nicely realised. The Hoppers, Decapitators and Blackmare tanks are nifty, and the Norts & their equipment feels right.

-- Weapons so far are a bit basic, but interesting. Rogue's weapons - Gunnar, a pistol, shotgun attachment, frag & EMP grenades - are all fairly standard action game fare, but pretty solid nonetheless. The heavy weapons - gun emplacements, flak cannons, lazookas - are satisfying when you get to use them, though the lazookas seem to only let you target what the game chooses, so I can attack a pair of turrets on a Blackmare, but not the soldiers in the gully below.

-- Music, SFX and voices are nice. The music is very reminiscent of Dredd, but it has its own flavour. There's a nice repeating motif that crops up wrapped into the themes for each level. I haven't noticed any tricks like dynamic soundtracks - changing tempo or key when a firefight erupts, for example - but it's pretty good. The voices are generally nicely done, though there are some pretty iffy accents in there. Rogue & the chips are good, and there's some nice dialogue from Gunnar in particular that fits well with the character from the comic.

-- The female Nort officer (name escapes me) is just as ludicrously big-breasted and tight-uniformed as in the previews, and it really is a little embarassing. Still, as of writing, she seems to be dead, so perhaps that'll be the end of her & her massive Nort cleavage.


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As you can see, I'm a bit torn at the moment. There are some moments - the intro, for example - where the game gets it right & captures the atmosphere nicely, there's some fun combat & some interesting gameplay elements - sentry guns, micromines, salvaging - but some poor AI and occasionally repetitive gameplay (so far, at least), plus a few other niggles, serve to drag it down a bit.

Hopefully the opening missions are just a taste of what's to come, and I'm certainly enjoying it enough so far to carry on through the rest of the game.

SNAP JUDGEMENT - BETTER THAN DREDD VS DEATH, NOT YET A MUST-HAVE

[Wils]

Although I'll be (hopefully) getting my copy for PC in the morning, one question is still eating away at me. Are there subtitles if you want them?

Wils the Deaffo

[Art]

So the special kills ARE cut scenes and not some nicely executed character animation? Shame. That's a bit arse.

[Art]

(Note: I'm probably a little biased here as I regard any and all interuptions to gameplay to show off pre-scripted stuff to be evil. I hated MGS2 for instance...)

[Noisybast]

Yep. Subtitles are go.

[The Amstor Computer]

Wils --

Yep, there are subs on my PS2 version, so I'd expect there will be on the PC edition as well.

Art --

They aren't quite what I'd hoped for either, and I find the "sneak up, tap a button, cue game-halting cutscene" a little bit irritating.

I'm now onto Nu Paree, still relatively early in the game as far as I can tell. It's linking in with the comics quite nicely so far in terms of storyline, and I must say I was a lot more impressed with the previous level than I had been with the earlier ones. Hopefully it'll carry on improving & the patchy first impressions won't reflect the game as a whole.

BTW - Gunnar rocks. Some very funny lines from him when you try and equip a silencer, and he's the most useful of the chips so far. Helm's decoy function is useful, and Bagman's ability to build items from salvage is quite neat & adds an appropriate feeling of living off the battlefield to the game.

It is definitely a much better game than Dredd Vs Death, but I still have some reservations and complaints.

[Wils]

Subtitles are go.

YES!!!

[cue one-person Mexican wave]

[Something Fishy]

it looks like it does work on 360. can anyone confirm this?

[Wils]

I still have some reservations and complaints

TBH, though, there aren't that many games at all that I don't have them about, so you're still making the game sound appealing to me.

[Something Fishy]

I will play this , once i finish FFX FFXI and Oblivion.. oh gawd.  about 2010 then.

[thrillpowerseeker]

I just got the June issue of Bizarre Magazine through the post today and the Rogue Game has quite a glowing review in it...so much so that I'm considering investing in an actual machine to play it on..now all we need is a Stronty game..Johnny and Wulf based loosely on Tom of Finland Sailor and Woodsman characters....oh yes

[Keef Monkey]

Fishy, did you hear that it did work on 360? I'm buying my copy in the morning and trying to decide whether to just get the ps2 one or risk trying it on the 360.

[The Amstor Computer]

TBH, though, there aren't that many games at all that I don't have them about, so you're still making the game sound appealing to me

Aye, fair point.

The more I play, the more I like it, though. Just blasted through Nu Paree and through a great mini-level after that, and I'm just beginning an assault on the wreck of a downed Souther satellite.

The upgrades are coming thick and fast, and each upgrade - shotgun, Sammy, mortar launcher etc. - seems to have multiple levels with the weapon becoming more powerful each time you level it up.

The biochips are really fun, and each has their own character, just as in the comic. Random comments aren't too frequent, but there's enough chatter ingame to make them feel like they're there & not just random names for your equipment.

A few missteps aside, I think Rebellion have nailed the atmosphere of Rogue here - far more than they ever did with Dredd - and my only issues are with some of the presntation & the gameplay itself, and even those aren't game-breaking problems.

Noisy - how far are you in, and what do you think now?

[Something Fishy]

keef. i thought i saw James on it earlier.. however i'd need him to confirm.

he's going to cost me thirty quid if he was. doh.

i was tempted toward ps2 also but want to try and hold out for 360, what with overall better visuals with AA and progressive scan.

[The Amstor Computer]

Just up on to...















SPOILER



















...a level set in the Dix-1 desert, fending off Nort Stammel riders aboard a massive troop train. Met the Traitor General, and the story is deviating a bit from the comics, but still keeping the spirit. Venus Bluegenes & Kolonel Kovert have reared their heads - fingers crossed for Bland & Brass, and maybe even a visit to Fort Neuro?