Rogue Ops Review

Developer	Bits Studios
Publisher	Kemco
Genre	Action

Call it the most bitter form of cynicism that you’d like, but when we first laid eyes on Rogue Ops, it didn’t seem like a highly original gem of the stealth genre – looking a bit like a cross between Tenchu and Splinter Cell, with a foxy blonde as the heroine, the game literally screamed out the fact that it was cashing in on the success of other stealth titles as its sole draw. But while Rogue Ops certainly does owe a good deal to the formulas of stealth titles past, really the most derivative thing is the fairly average tale of revenge set up as a means to get you through the story.

Nikki Connors is a former Green Beret whose husband, an ambassador, and daughter are killed by a car bomb in Istanbul. With nothing left to lose (sigh), she seeks to track down those responsible for the death of her family, and comes across the Phoenix organization, the U.S. government’s most elite anti-terrorist group. Nikki finds that her husband secretly worked for the Phoenix group, and is given the opportunity to train with and work for them, going after the members of a terrorist organization known as Omega 19. On its own merits, the story is worth little more then that of a supermarket-aisle espionage thriller, but it is compelling enough to push gamers far enough to see what the game truly has to offer.

Gameplay – The game structure is fairly straightforward – using Nikki’s strong array of acrobatics, gadgets and weapons, you proceed through the levels dispatching enemies as quietly as possible, hiding in shadows and accomplishing a surprisingly versatile range of mission objectives. From that description, Rogue Ops seems little more like an imitator rather than an innovator, which isn’t entirely the case. It’s true that the presence of stealth kills, while bolstered by the need to input directional combos for them to work successfully (and a cool X-ray shot of what bone Nikki is breaking), is strongly reminiscent of Tenchu, and the amount of gadgets and acrobatics available to Nikki certainly has the potential to trigger some Splinter Cell flashbacks. But despite some fairly notable flaws, Rogue Ops has some strengths of its own that make it a worthwhile experience.

The puzzles, in particular, are a particularly well designed aspect of the game. Although some more typical movement puzzles that require the player to use a fair majority of Nikki’s acrobatics are fairly straightforward, the game requires some fairly complex thinking to accomplish more simple mission goals. Many of these puzzles seem intuitive after the fact, but can be baffling while you’re trying to figure them out – a museum mission early in the game requires you to figure out what passcode a security guard is using to enter a locked area – this is solved by simply equipping your sniper scope and zooming in over the guard’s shoulder to see what he types in. This type of puzzle-solving does take a bit of getting used to, but a majority of the puzzles are so well designed - in that they require you to think using every bit of your inventory – that this isn’t a major frustration. It is, however, slightly frustrating that there are generally few ways of going about a given mission, and the fact that certain items like the Retinal Scanner and grappling hook can only be used in certain places – hopefully a sequel will allow for multiple approaches to every mission a la Deus Ex, not multiple solutions for only a select few puzzles.

But for all the promise and innovation that the game shows, there are some notable flaws. A general lack of polish applies to almost every aspect of the game, from the enemy A.I. to the slightly less-than-responsive default controls, and while individual flaws may not seem like much, they drag down the final game a good deal. The game control features an all-purpose, context sensitive action button that turns green near objects that can be manipulated – i.e., when the grappling hook can be used, where ladders and pipes can be climbed, etc. But the game always seems a bit too slow to recognize when the button can be used, making some of the precision timing and movement that the game requires a bit more difficult than it ought to be. The game isn’t really long enough – 8 multi-part missions can take between 20-30 minutes each for completion, depending on how easily frustrated you are, and one gets the impression that a lot of the ideas would’ve been better fleshed out with more space in the game to try out new things. The framework for what could, with some more polish and refinement, be a heavy contender amongst established stealth action titles is present in Rogue Ops, and hopefully a sequel will work out all these problems.

Graphics – The blonde femme-fatale archetype that Nikki is based upon is nothing particularly special, although she isn’t a wasted effort. Those turned on by shapely female video game characters won’t find her an eyesore, but there’s nothing too distinctive about her design that is worth mentioning. In-game graphics are fairly decent, although they don’t suggest high-realist, top-of-the-line graphics with their remarkably bright color scheme – most other character models in the game have a very slight cartoon tinge to them, and the environments all seem slightly exaggerated – this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t benefit the game’s attempt at immersing you in the story. Most of Nikki’s animations are well done, at least.

Sound – Probably the best part of Rogue Ops presentation, the sound serves its purpose well, from the fair range of emotion in the voice acting to the passable score. While Nikki may not be the typical gruff-voiced ex-military protagonist that most stealth games have, she’s still almost as stoic in her expression as anything Sam or Snake could offer. I suppose that for someone so single-mindedly focused on revenge, Nikki’s voice could afford to be more monotonous, but the real voice talent comes from the various members of Nikki’s team from whom you receive radio contact during missions. The sound effects are a bit limited, although the game does offer one of the most satisfying shuriken-impact sound effects I’ve heard since the original Tenchu. The musical score seems influenced by a half-dozen espionage films, so while nothing of it stands out, it’s never too grating to be an annoyance.

Overall Value - Rogue Ops is one of those games that makes you regret the way the industry works – it’s clear that with more refinement and development time, not to mention higher production values, the game could’ve easily been a standout title amongst a sea of stealth games. And while Rogue Ops is still often a blast to play, the game’s lack of polish and numerous minor frustrations noticeably hamper the solid, if somewhat derivative, gaming experience that lies underneath. The game is worth playing, if only to see how the myriad borrowed ideas come together with some of the developer’s original ones, but the amount of time in which a dedicated player will be able to power through the game simply isn’t enough to warrant a purchase.

Review by Adam Matlock