Reading a local newspaper in Vancouver, Canada, today and I came across the following article, courtesy of the Canadian Press:
British developer mines comic book to tell story of Rogue Trooper
By: NEIL DAVIDSON
(CP) - Roaming a chemical wasteland has never been as much fun as it is in Rogue Trooper, from England's Rebellion development studio.
The video game, available for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC from Eidos, is a spinoff from the British 2000 AD comic, which dates back to 1977. Judge Dredd is perhaps the comic's biggest name, but for those who only know the character via the Sylvester Stallone film, don't hold that against it.
Rogue is one of the GIs (Genetic Infantrymen) employed by the Southers in their war against the Norts on the poisoned planet of Nu Earth. Betrayed by one of their own generals, the GIs with their protective blue skin are wiped out - all but Rogue - in the Quartz Zone Massacre.
Rogue salvages the silicon chips of three of his fellow troopers. With the chips downloaded into Rogue's gun, helmet and backpack, they are able to help the lone soldier on his mission of revenge until they can be transplanted into a new body.
Two years in the making, Rogue Trooper is Rebellion's second attempt at a 2000 AD property, following Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death.
"We felt we didn't do Dredd quite the justice that we could've done," Alex Moore, lead designer on Rogue Trooper, said from Rebellion's Oxford offices. "And it was a big aim right from the (start), to make sure that Rogue was much closer to the licence and please the fans a lot more. And in that respect, fans have loved it. It's been great.
"The only real negative feedback that we've had is that it's too short, which in a respect is good feedback because it means people enjoyed it."
The majority of the Rogue Trooper story was written in the early 1980s in the 2000 AD comic, before Rogue finally completed his revenge mission.
Rebellion bought 2000 AD about five years ago and started mining it for video games. It has since started reissuing Rogue Trooper comic books and launched several Rogue Trooper novels.
"We've just been building the licence back up, but sort of retelling the original story, the one that everyone knows and is familiar with and loves. Because it is such a simple emotion. Everyone understands the concept of revenge," Moore said.
The game is a third-person action adventure that gives the gamer plenty to do - from run-and-gun ground challenges to stages in the air and on supply trains.
Rogue's bio-chip buddies (Helm, Gunnar and Bagman) help the gamer along the way. Helm, for example, can be used as a holo-decoy, while Gunnar can be deployed as an automated stand-alone gun. Bagman manufactures ammo and health packs.
Together they offer gamers plenty of ways to negotiate levels.
"It's quite rewarding to be able to set up a level, an environment, almost in a sandbox manner, and basically say to a player 'Right, get from here to here and figure out how to do it,' " said Moore. "And see three different people approach it in three completely different ways."
While you can run-and-gun your way through much of the game, Moore says experimenting with some of the features adds to the Rogue Trooper experience.
"Just take your time going into new situations," he counsels. "Look at the way things have been set up. Quite often we tried to make sure there was sort of a vantage point that players could get to, without actually being threatened, from where they can actually observe the enemies.
"Just play, try using the features. ... If you just take your time and have fun, it can be very very rewarding - making mockery almost of these stupid Norts."
Equipment and weaponry can be upgraded along the way.
"It was tricky at the start because we had so much reference material available," said Moore. "It was a matter of picking and choosing, going for the things that we thought would work well in the game, things that we though the fans would be mortified not to see in the game."
Rebellion got Gordon Rennie, who spent five years writing the Rogue Trooper comic book, to help with the game's script.
Despite the fact that the British comic is not as well known in North America, Moore says the game has done well on this side of the Atlantic - helped in part to a reduced price.
Rebellion is on a bit of a roll these days. It just released the Miami Vice game for the PSP and was recently voted most improved studio in the United Kingdom. It has also purchased Core Design, the original Tomb Raider developer.
That has pushed Rebellion's staff up to some 200.
British developer mines comic book to tell story of Rogue Trooper
By: NEIL DAVIDSON
(CP) - Roaming a chemical wasteland has never been as much fun as it is in Rogue Trooper, from England's Rebellion development studio.
The video game, available for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC from Eidos, is a spinoff from the British 2000 AD comic, which dates back to 1977. Judge Dredd is perhaps the comic's biggest name, but for those who only know the character via the Sylvester Stallone film, don't hold that against it.
Rogue is one of the GIs (Genetic Infantrymen) employed by the Southers in their war against the Norts on the poisoned planet of Nu Earth. Betrayed by one of their own generals, the GIs with their protective blue skin are wiped out - all but Rogue - in the Quartz Zone Massacre.
Rogue salvages the silicon chips of three of his fellow troopers. With the chips downloaded into Rogue's gun, helmet and backpack, they are able to help the lone soldier on his mission of revenge until they can be transplanted into a new body.
Two years in the making, Rogue Trooper is Rebellion's second attempt at a 2000 AD property, following Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death.
"We felt we didn't do Dredd quite the justice that we could've done," Alex Moore, lead designer on Rogue Trooper, said from Rebellion's Oxford offices. "And it was a big aim right from the (start), to make sure that Rogue was much closer to the licence and please the fans a lot more. And in that respect, fans have loved it. It's been great.
"The only real negative feedback that we've had is that it's too short, which in a respect is good feedback because it means people enjoyed it."
The majority of the Rogue Trooper story was written in the early 1980s in the 2000 AD comic, before Rogue finally completed his revenge mission.
Rebellion bought 2000 AD about five years ago and started mining it for video games. It has since started reissuing Rogue Trooper comic books and launched several Rogue Trooper novels.
"We've just been building the licence back up, but sort of retelling the original story, the one that everyone knows and is familiar with and loves. Because it is such a simple emotion. Everyone understands the concept of revenge," Moore said.
The game is a third-person action adventure that gives the gamer plenty to do - from run-and-gun ground challenges to stages in the air and on supply trains.
Rogue's bio-chip buddies (Helm, Gunnar and Bagman) help the gamer along the way. Helm, for example, can be used as a holo-decoy, while Gunnar can be deployed as an automated stand-alone gun. Bagman manufactures ammo and health packs.
Together they offer gamers plenty of ways to negotiate levels.
"It's quite rewarding to be able to set up a level, an environment, almost in a sandbox manner, and basically say to a player 'Right, get from here to here and figure out how to do it,' " said Moore. "And see three different people approach it in three completely different ways."
While you can run-and-gun your way through much of the game, Moore says experimenting with some of the features adds to the Rogue Trooper experience.
"Just take your time going into new situations," he counsels. "Look at the way things have been set up. Quite often we tried to make sure there was sort of a vantage point that players could get to, without actually being threatened, from where they can actually observe the enemies.
"Just play, try using the features. ... If you just take your time and have fun, it can be very very rewarding - making mockery almost of these stupid Norts."
Equipment and weaponry can be upgraded along the way.
"It was tricky at the start because we had so much reference material available," said Moore. "It was a matter of picking and choosing, going for the things that we thought would work well in the game, things that we though the fans would be mortified not to see in the game."
Rebellion got Gordon Rennie, who spent five years writing the Rogue Trooper comic book, to help with the game's script.
Despite the fact that the British comic is not as well known in North America, Moore says the game has done well on this side of the Atlantic - helped in part to a reduced price.
Rebellion is on a bit of a roll these days. It just released the Miami Vice game for the PSP and was recently voted most improved studio in the United Kingdom. It has also purchased Core Design, the original Tomb Raider developer.
That has pushed Rebellion's staff up to some 200.