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In the Dredd story the journo mentions something about BOING, then we see something like a bungee cord thing, instead of BOING. Have I read this wrong or should the lads be jumping from the building in big round bouncy things? Also, how come when Dredd turns up ages after the jumpers have gone, he doesn't know about the guy who got mashed in the window? These things confuse me...!

I found this preview on GameSpot. Gotta say it sounds fairly entertaining, if not particularly groundbreaking. I noted that the reviewer doesn't really know what to make of Helm either...

(BTW I spotted the game for sale on Play.com for what looks like a bargain price for a new game).


Preview from GameSpot->
Rogue Trooper Exclusive Hands-On - Battle for Nu-Earth
We battle the nefarious Norts in a nearly final version of this comic book-inspired third-person shooter.
By Brad Shoemaker
Posted Apr 14, 2006 5:41 pm PT

Four's a Crowd One rogue trooper plus three disembodied voices equals a whole lot of carnage.
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Just because the Xbox 360 has been picking up steam since its release and Sony and Nintendo's next-gen offerings are looming on the horizon, don't think that every publisher under the sun is done with those old workhorses the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. For instance, Eidos and developer Rebellion are readying Rogue Trooper, a third-person action game based on the comic book of the same name from Judge Dredd publishers 2000AD. We had a chance to check out a nearly completed build of Rogue Trooper recently to see what sets it apart from the rest of the third-person pack.

For starters, you probably won't get the storyline mixed up with those in any other games. Like the comic book version, the game version of Rogue Trooper focuses on a group of genetically engineered supersoldiers fighting against a hostile force called the Norts for control of Nu-Earth, which is apparently where humanity ended up when the original Earth went kaflooey. You play as Rogue, one member of a four-man squad. Each of these guys has a personality chip implanted in his skull, and these come in awfully handy when Rogue's three teammates all meet inauspicious ends at the hands of the Norts. Rogue simply pops out the chip, installs it into one of his pieces of equipment, and next thing you know you've got another disembodied voice egging you on as you gun down wave after wave of bad guys.



In an intense combat situation, four heads are generally better than one.
Eventually you end up with Gunnar installed into your multifunction rifle, Bagman kicking it inside your high-tech backpack, and Helm residing inside your apparently computerized helmet. These three disembodied personalities make for more than just an interesting plot device, though; they also confer a bunch of extra abilities that Rogue can use to waste Norts with giddy abandon. For instance, Gunnar will help you out with a loose auto-aim when you've got your reticle more-or-less centered on an enemy, and you can set up the rifle to act as an independent sentry gun if you need to flank an enemy position. Helm can project a holographic version of yourself as a distraction, and he's even more useful for hacking through security terminals when you come up against an obstacle you can't otherwise surpass.

Those other capabilities are nice to have, but Bagman is the one who will contribute the most to your armament. You can pick up "salvage" from downed enemies, and your backpack has the ability to use this scrap to manufacture ammo for all your gun types, extra grenades, medical kits, you name it. Occasionally, you'll even gain access to blueprints for new weapon or grenade types, which Bagman will also make for you. In fact, aside from salvage, there are no pick-ups in the game--everything will come straight from your backpack. You'll gain new weapons and gear--such as a shotgun, which flattens enemy soldiers with a serious punch, or a scramble grenade, which disables nearby electronics and is useful against enemy mechs--periodically throughout the game, and you're generally getting some new toys to play with every level or so.

There's nothing out of the ordinary about the combat in Rogue Trooper, but it has a solid, tactile feel to it. Enemies drop quickly when you mow them down with your primary weapons, and the grenades produce a satisfying amount of splash damage that sends foes flying with a well-placed throw. You don't have to dash into the fray with guns ablaze, though; the game gives you a respectable amount of flexibility to approach the various combat scenarios in different ways. Your multipurpose assault weapon (the one manned by Gunnar) can also be used as a sniper rifle, so you can pick off enemies from a distance. Sometimes you'll pretty much have to snipe, such as when you're facing off against computer-controlled pillboxes. These will mow you down if you step out into the open, but you can disable them simply by switching to sniper mode and destroying the small sensor located up top.



Making all your weapons and ammo out of scrap salvaged from dead enemies is a pretty neat concept.
There are stealth elements integrated into the combat, too. You can move quietly while crouched, and if you can sneak up on an unsuspecting foe, you can do a one-button instant stealth-kill. Taking out enemies this way will give a bonus to your salvage, though usually you can only get away with stealth-killing one enemy before the rest of them come running. There's one more comical way to take out unsuspecting enemies. It seems the Norts can't tolerate the atmosphere on Nu-Earth, so they have to wear oxygen masks and tanks at all times. If you can hit an enemy's tank when his back is turned, it'll begin to leak gas and eventually explode, which is worth an instant kill and a good chuckle at the same time.

We like what we've seen of Rogue Trooper, with its wide assortment of offensive options and a core combat engine that's been quite satisfying so far. The game even features a four-player cooperative mode that lets you play online with all four members of the original squad still alive and fighting. The game is due out in late May, so look for more information on that co-op mode and more in the coming weeks.

-GameSpot

Link: http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/roguetrooper/news.html?sid=6147731" target="_blank">Rogue Trooper Preview

I got an Athlon 64 3000+ CPU for a total of about 120Euros (?83 - I think), when it would have cost me 160 Euros(?105)in the shops here.

Looking back on it, the listing did say that there was ?5 postal insurance, and that the international postage rate was a flat ?10 for international posting (it was going from the US to Ireland). So I was prepared to pay the money and make a really good saving on the item.

However, I was hoping for more than a thin padded envelope to transport the CPU though!

Hola Amigos,

Just got a pc item in the post, it looks okay, but the postage marked on the package is significantly different from what was advertised/charged on eBay.

The package says $1.70, I paid ?15.00...

Whaddya reckon? Anyone any advice on this type of thing?

I thought Wulf always referred to himself as "Vulf", but maybe I'm imagining things.

Also, I used to think that Chem-Clouds were pronounced "shem" rather than "kem". Resyk, meanwhile, was "resik" in my mind rather than "resike". Ah, the ignorance of youth...

I think that Sith is the worst of the prequels simply because it is so disappointing after the long wait. The first one was a bit rubbish, but it had that lightsaber fight at the end which was really exciting, and you couldn't wait for the next one to come out. The Clones movie was a bit better overall so you weren't too unhappy. But the third one was supposed to be the biggie. The one where the shit hits the fan and everything goes a bit wavey. It sort of did I suppose, but there was such a crushingly dull inevitability in the way the scenes played out that all dramatic tension was completely diluted.

Russian vampirey movie Nightwatch. Anyone seen it? Any opinions? Been quite devisive topic from people I know who've seen it.

Some DSL modems will allow you to connect your PC to them through an ethernet cable as well as the USB cable. If your laptop has a network port you could try using that to connect to the modem instead. The modem would have come with an ethernet/network cable if this is possible.

*Clearly* Giant was killed in that story. Wasn't surprised to see him hale and hearty at the end of the Meg though. And won't be surprised to never see a mention of this episode of death ever again...

Yeah, but I think loads would have seen the one where Lee got captured the first time, but Giant wouldn't have been around for it, I think... (Lee tries to escape, falls off roof, Dredd beats living daylights out of him, sometime around late eighties early nineties I reckon)

Rico was one of the babies in the midwife robots in Dredd Angel from the late 300's (prog 380-ish), which is from '85, which would make him 20 I reckon.

Sneck! Bit of a mix up there folks! Was gonna add my question on to the end of the "this weeks prog" thread, and then just added it as a new thread at the last second. Big apologies to House of Usher, and anyone else who got caught out before the spoiler markings were added (by unseen forces, Wake, maybe? Thank you.)

Opaque seems to have access to the relevant hidden government files, and it's seems fair to say that, looking back, the whole thing was realistically short for a future conflict, but maybe too short for anyone to do any proper collaborating, whaddya reckon?

(By the way, I wouldn't want to change any of the story for anything, it's perfect as it stands, I'm just nitpicking to get some new ideas on the topic).

I was reading the Apocalypse War recently, and, after the shooting collaborators bit of this week's Savage it got me thinking about the similar-ish scene in the Dredd story. (Dredd and other Judges in guerilla mode take some time out from knocking off Sovs to execute a group of collaborating citizens, *VERY* grim stuff!). What I was wondering about what the timeframe of The Apocalypse War was supposed to be? Reading it week to week would make it months long, but reading it all in one go in collected form makes it seem to rattle along in a matter of days (if not hours!).

I'm curious to know if anyone has any theories on these timeframes, and the extent of collaborating-ness that could have been carried out in that time?

Just as well it didn't continue so. I would have been disappointed when someone didn't staple a big eagle to their shoulder and start kicking future robot arse!

Just wondering, what direction was Armageddon: The Bad Man supposed to be going in? I seem to vaguely remember that it was supposed to lead into some kind of history of MC1, or was it just some kind of Terminator knockoff?