Forgotten Game Greats: "Rogue Trooper" (2006)

- by Ninja Ross, 21 May 2014

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned the fact that I quite like Rogue Trooper. I think I dropped it in here and there? Well, whatever the case, now you know; I really like Rogue Trooper. Now, if only there was a game based on this excellent “(if kinda underrated next to 2000AD’s other major title “Judge Dredd”) comic books series... WHAT’’S THIS?!? THERE IS A GAME BASED ON THIS EXCELLENT COMIC BOOK SERIES?!?

Of course there was. Back in 2006. And you all missed it. WHAT WERE YOU DOING?!? Probably having a “social life” or whatever. Fffffffffffreaks.

Published by Eidos and developed by Rebellion, the game followed our titular character during the Quartz Massacre; an event that cost the lives of nearly every single G.I (Genetic Infantryman).

You get to see just how Gunnar, Helm and Bagman fell on the battle field only to have their biochips (which download the G.I’s personalities upon death) placed into slots on Rogue equipment. It’s not really the strongest part of the game, but it doesn’t take up a whole lot of your play time.

Look behind you, Rogue Trooper!

Of course, the Quartz Massacre wasn’t just an accident. The enemies didn’t just happen to be there, with the equipment best suited for killing G.I’s. No no. So, Rogue takes it upon himself to find out who supplied the guys and then kill them.

And that’s pretty much the entire story. It’s not especially complex or anything, but it serves the purpose; it drives the action. Which is what you want from a third person shooter.

You won’t just be running and gunning in this, though. You’ll be able to leave Gunnar to cover you, while you focus on other tasks. For example, you can set Gunnar up to attract the attention of a large group of enemies while you take your pistol and sneak around then, planting mines or flipping switches. While Gunnar is obviously the most useful on the team, he’s not the only one you’ll need throughout the game.

Helm is often used to hack doors and computers, helping you progress in the game. You’ll sometimes need to set up a defence while doing this, which is, again, where Gunnar comes into play. Bagman is also incredibly useful, since he’ll be your main source of supplies. You’ll need to loot enemies and scrap piles in order to find salvage. This is used to build ammo, mines, grenades and upgrades for Gunnar.

There are also a few stealth sections in the game, although they’re not normally mandatory. They do offer a nice change of pace, and they’re not exactly that challenging. The problem with most games that try to use both fast paced action and stealth, is that the stealth always feels tacked on and can be a nightmare to play; not here, though, thank God.

The gameplay is a heck of a lot of fun and even the generic run and gun sections are a blast to play, especially with the tight controls and fantastic scenery.

The graphics themselves are pretty impressive, if perhaps not the best the last generation had to offer. Rogue’s simple yet effective design is as awesome as ever and Nu-Earth looks bleak and dangerous.

The voice acting isn’t fabulous, but it’s not bad. Rogue seems to be played by the same guy who played every character in every game with guns around that time. He has a pretty generic, gruff voice that doesn’t stand out at all. Which kind of makes sense, since G.I’s pretty much all look the same.

Overall, it’s an incredibly solid game that garnered average reviews at the time. It didn’t exactly sell that well, either... So, no chance of a sequel any time soon. But it’s well worth picking up RIGHT NOW. You can get it on Steam right now, dirt cheap. You should go buy it. Who doesn’t want to play a psychotic member of the Blue Man Group?!?

Did you ever play "Rogue Trooper"? Do you consider it a forgotten great? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: video games, Forgotten Game Greats.

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