Rogue Ops

"Yawn.. another 3rd person spy shooter...yawn"

It's the future; you, Nikki Connors, an ex-Green Beret must defeat an entire terrorist organization for revenge of your dead husband and daughter...or something. You get to shoot, punch, crawl, sneak, hang, jump, and hang in order to complete your missions; your arsenal will include several weapons and futuristic gadgets, and the latter you will more the likely not use much. What Rouge Ops brings to the table, a 3rd person stealth-action game, has been done before, and better. It's just a new face, albeit a clone akin to the better Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell franchises. The game itself is relatively solid, but many times you'll wonder: What's the point? It's a simple game; plot and game play so simplistic that a 6 year old could do it, but they attempt to ''adultify'' it by adding swearing...poorly. The first time you play this game, you can do it in about 4 hours, or less. And that's all the fun you'll get from it.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are for the most part flawless, but they aren't by any means spectacular. Of all the consoles, the XBox looks the best (obviously), with Gamecube and PS2 at about the same level. It seems, however, that the PS2 version runs at a slightly faster speed, and the Gamecube version looks a little bit more clunky. The characters are all modeled pretty well, but there is nothing too spectacular, and some pretty interesting clipping will appear with certain actions. Also, some guards will walk through each other, and it's sometimes amusing to lay several dead bodies on top of one another to make your own Goro. Weapon effects are rather bland, but explosions look quite nice. The gadgets each have their own graphical enhancements normally, the flycam being the best done in my opinion. Even then, they are all rather bland. The PS2 version's gadgets are a little harder to use than the Xbox and Gamecube versions, as the visor shows things monochromatically and rather crappily when looking through walls. Later in the game you'll encounter some robots which are well done, but again, done better elsewhere and therefore not very spectacular. The textures look clean if not bland, and most levels are short enough to remove background monotony. That's all there really is about the graphics, but it's such a minor factor compared to the gameplay that just because the graphics are good doesn't mean the game is. I'm covering the movies in the games under another category, as they aren't in game graphics, and they are bad.

Sound & Music: 7/10
Again, nothing spectacular. But, there are some sounds which get annoying, none of which i can actually remember. That's how lasting the sound is, even the annoying stuff you forget pretty easily. The voice acting is quite bad. The only person who delivers their lines well only has about 6. Everyone else sounds rather contrived. They don't sound like they have emotion, they sound like they are trying to sound like they have emotion. I'm going to cover the rest of the dialogue in the 'Movies' section, below 'Controls.'

Controls: 8/10
The controls are actually pretty solid, however the game does some funky stuff that can completely mess you up from time to time. Some problem areas are quickly selecting a weapon or item, and sometimes you'll shoot too many bullets or shoot any bullets at all when you pull out your weapon. Aside from that, they were kind enough to let you holster your weapon, but it's hardly necessary.

Movies: 5/10
The movies are pure 80's bad action scripting and production. When it doesn't look ugly (glaring orange background for instance), it's either incredibly corny or just plain horrible due to the voice acting. Whomever plays Nikki is apparently pissed all the time, or tries to have attitude when it is either not required or just a dumb thing to say. When you encounter this dialogue: ''Whats your status?'' ''Waiting for you a**holes to pick me up!'', you'll be confused. Wait, weren't we just racing to get to the helicopter that was waiting for us? Or better, the hesitation added before swearing, like they have to think about what word is appropriate. My current favorite is an incredibly blaring message over the helicopter coms: ''FIVE MINUTES TILL INSERTION'', complete with distortion. Compared to the rest of this particular movie, this phrase is two times too loud, and just grating. However, with movies comes plot and storyline, which will be covered next.

Plot/Storyline: 2/10
I'm really wondering if it actually deserves two whole points. I guess it does, there are one or two switcharoos that keep you guessing.....for about 5 seconds. Seriously, this plot seems to be taken from about 10 bad 80's action flicks. Ok, so your family was killed, so you go work for this super-secret national security agency, who are working on taking out a terrorist organization that......get this...stole...ready for it?....a nuclear weapon! WOW! They stole a nuclear weapon! How original! And let me guess, you have to find out where it is! Tell me there's going to be a fight in a missile silo.....YES! Or, how about the one when you break into the mansion to get the secret plans and assassinate the evil terrorist collaborator, that's got to be in the game...oh, it is? SWEET! This would all come together if there was a mecha fight...there is? Oh, but I bet it has a weak spot that only you know about......it does? GREAT! Seriously, the plot is so predictably bad that by the end of the game you really don't care what is being said, you just want to watch Nikki die. Painfully. And then they leave it open for a sequel. And then you cry.

Gameplay: 6/10
At first, the game seems pretty cool, but then it just turns into one boring situation after another. I have to infiltrate that building and get some secret info, and then the next level, I get to infiltrate another building and get some secret info, and so on. The weapon selection is less than the Metal Gear series, and many levels you'll start with some ridiculously low amount of ammunition. I mean, sure, you're supposed to be stealthy, but at least I'll carry 2 full clips. Not 10 bullets. The handgun in many respects is better than the sniper rifle, as it will pretty much kill with a few shots anywhere, where the sniper rifle sometimes has difficulty getting head kills on the tougher difficulties. And then there are the shiruken, or ''throwing stars.'' You can go through almost the entire game on normal difficulty using these, and what's even more surprising is that the guards sometimes carry them. Yeah, you can take more ammo, I'll take some shiruken. You also get a crossbow, which is cool, but I'd still rather have ammo. Then there are your standard grenades, frag, smoke and EM dispersal. Yawn. One of the most useless weapons in the game, to be sure, is the tazer. When you get it to work, you'll be quite annoyed when it takes a good 7 plus seconds to charge again for another attack, as it takes several good blasts to knock down an enemy. It's needed for two things in the entire game, and otherwise it's just crap.
The gadgets are pretty ridiculous, starting with your nifty x-ray specs, to an ocular scanner (for iris identification locks), a flycam, and some other stuff. Like Zelda games, you don't get it until you need to use it, and then you'll have them but they will be practically useless for the next level. You also have to watch your battery level, which is a cool concept but just annoying. On the difficult levels your equipment drains the batteries in about 5 seconds of use, enough time to do practically nothing. I mean, given they are pretty high tech, but as technology rises we also increase the capabilities of our batteries. It looks like the batteries are C cell, which has a pretty high capacity even by todays standards, but apparently in the future they cant do squat. You also get a grappling hook which can only be used to grapple only at very specific grapple points. Can't strangle with it, can't attach a larger anchor and huck it over walls and then use it, no, it only attaches to specific grapple points. Why the terrorists would put grapple points in their own installations, I have no idea. But most of the time, the weapons and gadgets do not affect the gameplay too negatively. It's usually the level layout or the enemy AI that creates the most problems.
I've read in other reviews that the puzzles are too hard in the game. I wonder what they are talking about, as there are only about 4 puzzles, and the only one that is difficult is difficult because a robot is trying to kill you while you complete it; and even then, it's not a puzzle. Anybody with half a brain can figure out the puzzles pretty easily, and most can be bypassed by going through the correct path the first time around.
With many levels, you will start off with a clear path, and then get confused and wander for 20 minutes or so with no idea what you are looking for, and then only to find it in a glaringly obvious location that the game decided not to signify. Many levels have areas that you can skip by finding the correct path; while this isn't necessary bad, it will create some confusion when you go through areas you didn't know about and suddenly end up either where you didn't want to be or where you have no idea you are. Also, each difficulty not only uses the same layout of enemies, they use the same amount of enemies, just makes them stronger. While this better mirrors real life (as now the enemies can take as many bullets as you, making you equals), if you have discovered a good strategy you can clear them all out easily, without fear that a hidden enemy is lurking nearby. This is also due to the ''aural radar'' that we've seen in the Metal Gear Solid series as well as others. It's the radar that lets you see where your enemies are looking, and where they are. Though on the later levels they can see farther a little bit, you don't see this on your radar. However, the same strategy from previous levels will still work. The enemy AI is also usually way too smart, or way too dumb. When it's smart you'll at first get mad due to the fact that you wouldn't expect a computer to do that, but then get used to it. When it's dumb, you'll wonder why it is so dumb in contrast to all the smart stuff that it's done. They won't look up, but they will see your feet under a table and come running. Or they'll hear you walk, and then go ape trying to find out where you are- and finally they will just wander right up to you, not because it's what the AI meant to do, it's because the game automatically makes them take this path so you can get found out. Hide in a locker, they walk right by...continue hiding, eventually they will open the locker and then kill you. And you can't fight back, either. The only melee attacks you can do are when you sneak up on somebody, and if you blow that, all you can do is shoot them. No kicking, no punching. No fun. Some levels you'll screw up, and they will send troops after you...forever. It will never end, a constant stream of enemies. This practice used to be excusable in earlier games, as you could actually complete the mission, but in many situations you will not be able to escape at all; the only course of action is to die and start over again. I've managed to make some mad dashes, but it's incredibly hard to survive when it's on permanent red alert. And on some levels this will happen all the time, so you will constantly have to restart until that one time out of 80 you do it correctly. I said earlier that the AI doesn't look up, but sometimes they'll know you are there, and then you are screwed. On one mission, possibly the most un-fun mission, you get to sneak your way through an area with no weapons. Unless you do it flawlessly, it will more than likely take you more than an hour to beat the first time, and possibly many times after. If you do it flawlessly? 8 minutes.
Later in the game you encounter some mecha. However, for the rest of the game, the most complicated robots you see are little flycams and some hovering sentries, and then all of a sudden, a fully autonomous killer robot. And also giant spider tank (though it should be a scorpion tank), that is incredibly easy to hide from. If I only destroy one of the spider tank's weapons (out of 7), I can sit in a certain spot forever and not die. And if I don't take out that one weapon, I can still waste a lot of time there as well. This boss is quite easy compared to the one before him, as they set you up to do battle with it. What I mean is that even if you struggle with the boss before, they will give you ample items so that you don't go into combat totally screwed. Each level runs around this kind of tactic, it seems. You'll have the tough parts, but then be rewarded for them for the next area, and so forth. If you are every really pressed, you just have to manage to make it to the next section, when you'll find enough to carry on easily. It's just too easy.

Replay: 2/10
Once you are done with the game, you are done with it. There aren't even any fun things to do in the game in order to kill time. In other games you could pass time by shooting things, searching for little hidden items and the like, but Rogue Ops only offers throwing shiruken into guards. That's about it. And that is not fun after the 20th shiruken goes into the face, as they just pop out. Once you beat this game, you may want to beat it on a harder difficulty, even though the experience will probably be about the exact same. The parts which don't get your heart pumping in the other difficulties will continue to not get your heart pumping on the harder difficulties. It's barely even fun the first time around, so why would you want to play any more?

Overall: 6/10
I'd like to give this game a lower score, but I can't dismiss the fact that it is a rather solid game. It's just incredibly unoriginal, and not very fun. At most I'd say rent it, or buy a copy for your enemies. It's just not fun. I can't stress that enough. Some people will play this game and like it, but most will realize it's just a crappy knock off of Metal Gear and Splinter Cell, which you can get for cheaper.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/03