Rogue Trooper Impressions

Earlier today, during a visit to SCi in London, we were afforded our first glimpse at the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Rogue Trooper. There had been some hints of the game's development, but it was actually only officially announced by SCi today, and the first details of the third-person stealth action game are now starting to emerge.

Remaining faithful to the comic on which it's based, Rogue Trooper will be set on the war-torn planet of Nu Earth where, previously, the titular genetic infantryman (GI) witnessed the betrayal and annihilation of his squad at the hands of the Nort Republic. Rogue is determined to hunt down the traitor responsible for the deaths of his brothers-in-arms, and, as fans of the comic series know, he is well equipped for the task.

In addition to a number of experimental weapons, Rogue's arsenal will include encoded biochips containing the digitized personalities of fallen comrades. The chips themselves are stored in his gun (Gunnar), helmet (Helm), and backpack (Bagman), and one SCi representative we spoke to mentioned that it will be possible to use each fallen comrade's expertise and assistance--effectively making Rogue Trooper a one-man squad.

Unfortunately there was no playable version of Rogue Trooper available for us to try, but we did get to watch a brief movie trailer for the game. After the camera flew over an area of Nu Earth that boasted some nice lighting effects, we saw a Nort Republic dropship flying close to the ground and throwing up some impressive-looking dust clouds. The camera then cut to a shot of two Nort Republic soldiers having a conversation about the existence of the Rogue Trooper, who was dismissed as "Nu Earth propaganda" by one of them. Moments later he dropped dead, killed by an unseen assailant, and the second soldier, terrified, attempted to leave the area. It wasn't to be, though, and as he backed up against a wall, he was grabbed from above and pulled up off the ground by the Rogue Trooper, who gave him a quick but painful-looking death.

The visuals in the teaser movie were quite impressive, but they didn't really give us much of an idea as to what we can expect from the game when it ships toward the end of 2005.