Rogue Trooper – PS2 – Review

The Norts hate
the color blue and even more so when they are staring down the barrel of a
weapon held by those abominations known as the Genetic Infantry. As the
propaganda begins to fill the airwaves with a powerful campaign to destroy what
is left of the cloned, blue-skinned soldiers, the war for Nu Earth has just
begun. Of course, the Norts will have to deal with a hero who is just too tough
to kill. This is the epic struggle gamers will encounter in Rogue Trooper for
the PlayStation 2 and this summer’s most surprisingly fun action game.

You slip into
the combat boots of Rogue, a genetically created soldier with blue skin and the
desire to fight back against the human Norts who want to destroy the Genetic
Infantry for good. This isn’t just a battle for survival for Rogue but also a
battle for revenge. Having been betrayed on the surface of Nu Earth, Rogue
watches as his comrades are massacred. As the lone survivor of his squad, Rogue
continues on his path to infiltrate the enemy stronghold and exact his revenge
on the Nort forces. As a lone warrior, Rogue attempts to defeat the enemy with
his quick wit, enough bullets and the help of his dead squad members. It
certainly isn’t easy being blue.

Rogue Trooper
will seem like familiar fare to fans of third-person shooter action games and,
for the most part, it has all the appearances of a generic shooter set in the
future. Yet the one thing that sets this game apart from countless other games
in the same genre is the fact that the game is actually fun to play. Even the
stealth moments in the game don’t seem to slow the
shoot-first-never-ask-questions pace. In short, it’s an action game that skips
the story to concentrate on its various action-packed moments. In a way, it
reminds me of the campy sci-fi film “Starship Troopers” only without the
menacing space bugs.

Since Nu Earth’s
atmosphere is poison to the enemy, Norts wear suits with air tanks strapped to
their backs. Rogue, on the other hand, can breath the air perfectly and thus is
able to exploit the enemy’s need for oxygen tanks by shooting the tanks and
watching them run around like chickens with their heads lopped off until the
tank explodes. Rogue is armed with a rifle, pistol, frag grenades as well as
mines … that is up until the point when his comrades Gunner, Bagman and Helm are
killed in action. In the heat of battle, Rogue takes a chip from the bodies of
his dead friends and inserts them in his rifle, backpack and finally his helmet
– this way his dead comrades communicate with him as well as offer tactical
information and generate extra ammo, items and upgrades. Bagman, for example, is
in charge of supplies while Gunner can be turned into an automated sentry gun to
be placed anywhere you like. Helm can create distractions for the enemy by
projecting holograms of Rogue.

Thankfully,
these elements are a big help on the battlefield where Rogue will be up against
the hordes of enemies who have everything from tanks, drop ships, gun
emplacements and even floating decapitator robots. Rogue Trooper will put you in
a variety of situations that are unique from each another so one minute you will
be storming a Nu Earth beach while in another you will be sneaking into Nort
facility while performing stealth kills with your trusty knife. There are even
items to collect such as scraps of metal to use as money to purchase weapon
upgrades as well as extra ammo.

Control-wise,
the game is easy to master thanks to the fact that the game is not in anyway
complex. Rogue is able to perform dives to dodge bullets and grenades as well as
crouch behind cover and even perform a peek-and-fire maneuver or simply lift up
his gun and fire blindly hoping a stray bullet will catch one of his enemies.
Rogue’s GI rifle can also be used as a sniper weapon by clicking in the right
analog stick as well as refitting the same rifle with attachments that will turn
the rifle in a shotgun, beam rifle, sammy launcher or even mortar gun. He can
even launch mines from a distance or drop them behind him to detonate manually
when a pursuing enemy is close enough.

All of these
things help make this a good action game but unfortunately, not all is perfect
in the world of Rogue Trooper. The game is also way too short. In fact, the game
ends right when things are starting to get interesting … and fun. The next bad
news is that the multiplayer mode is fun and you can even play an
objective-based cooperative match online using a Broadband connection. Why is it
bad, you will ask? Well, there is hardly anyone online to join you and much like
the single-player mode, the multiplayer modes are short. Each map will have you
completing a set of tasks, whether it is keeping an injured comrade alive until
the timer expires or making it from Point A to Point B within the time limit and
without wasting all of your extra lives. The modes are fun but very short.

Rogue Trooper
isn’t a very pretty game but it’s not an awful-looking game either. The
character models, for example look good up close and the damage done in battle
looks spectacular. Toss a grenade explode and you’ll not only see smoke and
shrapnel but you’ll also see the enemy fly up into the air with their limbs
askew. Even the animated cutscenes look good but the plainness of Nu Earth just
isn’t as eye-catching as it should have been. Still, watching Rogue plow through
the enemy forces is still a fun sight to see.

The game’s
sound, on the other hand, fares far better than the visuals. Listening to
Gunner, Helm and Bagman through Rogue’s weapons and equipment is especially
enjoyable and it does give the impression that the often-silent Rogue is not
alone on his quest for vengeance. The score is also a highlight and thankfully,
you will hear a lot of it during the game. There are even some wonderful sound
effects throughout the game that go beyond the shooting and explosions.

Rogue Trooper
might not be the most innovative shooter available but it is certainly one of
those surprisingly enjoyable shooters that won’t disappoint in the action
department. Despite its somewhat confusing plot, the game has likeable
characters, inventive mission levels and fun combat. My biggest complaint is
that the game is far too short but given the variety in the missions this is
still a game you will want to play this summer if you like an exciting action
game for your PS2.

Gameplay: 8.0
The one-man
army that is Rogue makes him a fun character to play but having your backup in
the form of fallen comrades just makes the character all the more interesting.
The levels differ from each another and the weapon upgrades add a nice number of
ways to eliminate the scores of enemy troopers you’ll face in the game.

Graphics: 7.5
The character
models look good in action and there are great rag-doll effects but the
framerate tends to drop when the action gets hot and the environments don’t look
as good. What does look great are the visual effects and there a lot of
impressive effects here.

Sound: 8.0
The score is
nicely cinematic and punctuates the cutscenes rather well but the star of the
show here are the sound effects and the delightful voice acting that does not
fail to give each character plenty of personality. Play this one loudly.

Difficulty:
Medium
The game’s
normal setting isn’t as challenging but thankfully the other difficulty settings
will keep you on your toes. There are boss battles to fight and they will give
you something to worry about but it’s nothing veterans of third-person shooters
can’t handle.

Concept: 7.0
Just when you
think you’re settling into the solid action-packed levels the game ends leaving
you wishing there was more. There’s a nice variety of weapons and upgrades and
the mission objectives keep the battles interesting. The game also includes a
multiplayer mode but it doesn’t offer anything refreshingly new.

Multiplayer:
7.5
Up to four
players can play co-op mission-based objectives online or with up to two players
offline. The multiplayer mode runs smoothly and the mission objectives are
actually quite entertaining. Yet much like the single-player campaign mode, the
multiplayer is short and online I found it hard to find another player.

Overall: 8.0
Exciting and
packed with plenty of action-packed moments, Rogue Trooper is one of those
surprising games that fly under the radar but should not be ignored. It might
not be as huge as Halo or as deep as the Call of Duty games but it is still a
fun war game with enough bullets and heart to make this a worthwhile game to
play this summer.