A great late entry into the PS2 action catalogue, well worth the time and a steal at the bargain price.
Thankfully its so much more than that, and for many reasons. First up the license itself, based on the British series from 2000 AD, lends a unique and well developed world to explore. Nu Earth is a war zone, and the design, sound, and just plain look of it, though otherworldly, are still reminiscent of World War II. For a sci fi action game that lends a huge level of immersiveness to this, for when the war is raging strong around you, it has that WWII feel, not some sci fi laser fest.
Building upon that is the story itself. Its basically a civil war between the Norts and Southers, and you're one of the GIs, Genetic Infantrymen in this case. Each GI has their personality embedded onto a chip, so they can live on after death. Your three squadmates are oh so cleverly named Helm, Gunnar and Bagman, and end up inhabiting your helmet, rifle and backpack, providing maps, data, weaponry, ammo and health. Defeating enemies allows you to salvage from them, which lets Bagman manufacture medpaks and ammo for you on the fly, adding to the intensity of things even more since the game is well structured to ensure you need to rely on this gaming mechanic.
Gunnar is particularly brilliant, as you can sneak in, set him up in a hallway, then sneak around behind some foes, activate Gunnar remotely and he'll pop up on a tripod, fireing away, drawing their attention. He'll take some foes out, but you're free to sneak up behind them and get stealth kills, which adds to the salvage you collect afterwards. The best part is there are loads of opportunity to do things like this, as you can prop him in front of doors before opening them, etc, and its like having a second man providing cover and drawing fire. The levels are really well thought out with this option in mind, though of course you can always barge in guns blazing too.
Another aspect of the design is the use of cover, as you can blindfire to force enemies to duck for it, or lob grenades before hopping over to clear the room. Everything feels right, and you will find yourself using everything at some point, even the shotgun, which seems useless outdoors, but once you hit some closed corridors its time to break that thing out and let loose.
The graphics are perfectly capable. Nothing spectacular, but not even remotely bad at the same time. The design is great though, with both the look and feel as well as the camera angles used, great direction and some fun wow moments.
The story is pretty cliche, but ends up being an origin story of sorts, leading a sequel open of course, and considering the tech available on next gen consoles, Rogue Trooper 2 could be something special.
In the meantime though, with pricedrops raging, this debuted cheap and can already be found in bargain bins, but don't let that fool you: this title is well worth playing, and though is fairly short and even fairly easy, its well worth checking out considering it will only cost $10 or so to do it.