
You'll have to have read
2000 AD to know why the super soldiers of Eidos' upcoming
Rogue Trooper are blue, but you'll only need a few minutes of gameplay time to see that these troops are tough as nails. Cut up with muscles and super-human soldier instincts, these bright blue genetic infantrymen are Smurfs on steroids.
2000 AD is a British institution
and, thus, a perfect fit for the UK-based publisher Eidos and UK-based developer Rebellion. Basically: Humanity is at war with the evil
Nort, and the battleground is the planet of
Nu Earth. Rather than sending humans to do the dirty work on the hostile atmosphere of
Nu Earth, the powers that be genetically-engineered regiments of
Genetic Infantryman, the aforementioned blue bombers.
You control
Rogue, squad leader of four G.I.s, on a drop mission from a space cruiser into
Nu Earth. You and
Gunnar,
Bagman and
Helm, and the rest of your regiment jump into drop pods like recently in
Quake IV to start the incursion, but the
Nort are waiting. Somehow, they knew exactly where and when
the landing would be and ambushed them. Without going too deep into the story, your regiment has been betrayed and
Rogue goes follows the path of vengeance for the deaths of his comrades.
Rogue Trooper handles similar to a lot of other third-person-shooters out there with a few extra twists. Rogue can take cover behind rocks and walls, similar to the mechanic in
James Bond: Everything or Nothing. While taking cover, he can aim at enemy
Nort, and by hitting the fire button, you'll pop out and fire several rounds with your automatic machine gun. You can also blind fire at the push of a button --
Rogue will push his gun out and fire randomly to provide cover for fellow G.I.s.
Rogue will also get his hands on rocket launchers and gun emplacements, like simple machine gun turrets to anti-spacecraft flak guns.
Despite
Rogue's proficiency for
Nort-smashing, his three squad mates will eventually meet their own respective dooms at the hands of the
Nort. A funny thing about those genetic super clones, though: these guys never really die. The personalities of the clones are encoded into bio-chips, implanted at the base of a G.I.s skull, and
Rogue can cut his friends open and remove the chips. If enough time passes, the chips will power down and the personalities will be lost forever. But
Rogue manages to use his three chip-slots to preserve the lives of his friends and pick up their special abilities on the way.
Gunnar's chip plugs into
Rogue's machine gun, for example, and unlocks an auto targeting reticule. By aiming at the helmets of enemy
Nort, a head-shot icon will also appear, indicating a one-shot, one-kill situation.
Helm's chip plugs into
Rogue's helmet and he'll dispense advice along the way.
Bagman's chip hooks up to
Rogue's backpack. Then you'll be able to grab scrap metal, process it into your backpack for upgrades to your ammunition and your weapons, which adds some minor role-playing elements to
Rogue Trooper.
While Rogue Trooper was released on April 21st in the UK it hasn't got much publicity or reviews as it's US launch won't be until the end of May apparently, and as the US controls most of the worlds media, you probably won't hear anything about it until then. If it appears good to my trusted sources (and based on my appraisal of any demo) then I'll give it a go and tell you all about it. But let's face it, it HAS to be better than the last conversion of a 2000AD character to the game screen- Dredd Vs. Death doesn't it?