Saturday, April 29, 2006

Rogue Trooper

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?

12 comments:

Copernicus said...

pchaw! The Norts are human too!

Major General Creedon said...

They were in the comics, but in the later stories (when it went to shit) I think the Norts had Alien assistance. But here it seems like they're basically aliens unless the infomation I got was a 'watered-down' version of the plot.

Anonymous said...

I was actually looking at this yesterday myself. It might be interesting.

Major General Creedon said...

Aye, no sense in spending a couple of thousand euro on a new computer for only one game ;)

Anonymous said...

Is Judge Dredd in it?

Major General Creedon said...

No, 2000AD isn't like the Marvel or DC universe the characters don't 'meet' each other.

Anonymous said...

Colonel, you are mistaken Johnny Alpha did indeed meet Judge Dredd in the 1991 Judge Dredd Annual story "Top Dogs", in which Johnny Alpha travelled back in time to Mega-City One in pursuit of a criminal, and encounter, and only narrowly escape, Judge Dredd.

Johnny and Dredd renewed acquaintances in 1992 in the Judge Dredd story "Judgement Day".

Wow, did I just blast the term "Military Intelligence" apart or what?

Major General Creedon said...

That story in the JD1991 Annual was so bad that I erased it from memory when I got rid of the book (I have the '88, '89, '90 and '92 Annuals though.
But you point is conceeded.
What I should have said was that 2000AD characters don't meet each other with the rediculous frequency so much that you have to look at the cover logo to see what character's book you've bought.

Anonymous said...

Colonel, just because I have proven your fallibility doesn't mean you have to do anything silly, the world still needs right wing jerks.

Colonel put the prosthetic down...

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

COLONEL!!,.. NOOOOOOO!

Major General Creedon said...

That'll learn ya!

Anonymous said...

I have Rogue Trooper Books 1 - 4 for sale on ebay if anyone is interested: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZtmisgavQQhtZ-1
Thanks,
Gavin.

Major General Creedon said...

I've heard the newer reprints are superior...