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Preview  Rogue Ops
- By Daniel Maraglio [Senior Editor]


It seems that every developer wants to have a little "Espionage Action" in thier game lineup these days. Even Nintendo couldn't resist having Link dodge searchlights, hide in barrels and sneak by armed gaurds for a short duration in Zelda: The Wind Waker. Ever since Metal Gear Solid showed us that not killing can be just as much fun, there have been many attemps to copy the formula to this new genre of action titles. Some of these games have proven to be quite fun, while the rest have failed miserably. Kemco's upcoming stealth title "Rogue Ops" looks like it will include all the necessary elements and then add a few new features of its own.

Rogue Ops put you in the shoes of Nicola Conners, a well trained counter-terrorism operative for the government. Fresh out of 2 years of training, she is assigned to take out the terrorist group Omega 19, "A Ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world." It seems that Omega 19 has aquired some Cold War-era weapons and its up to Nicola to eliminate the threat.

Besides the standard stealth fare, hiding in shadows suspending from ceilings, hiding behind or inside objects, Nicola has a few extra tricks up her sleave. For example, killing a guard and leaving a trail of blood will cause another guard to follow it and investigate. Nicola can set a mine trap or ambush the next victim or simply sneak by. Another feature is a more complex AI. Guards will be aware of suspicious circumstances and behavior, so after taking a guard out, you will want to make sure to dispose of the body and any other evidence of your actions to avoid detection.

Nicola also has a few new weapons. A pistol, taser, sniper rifle, dart gun, shuriken, smoke bombs, frag and jamming grenades as well as remote and proximity mines. Weapon selection will be important under certain situations. Using a shuriken to down a guard is alot more discreet than a frag grenade. There are also some new spy tools to play with. A retina scanner, special vision, fly cam, thermal optical camouflage, adrenaline boosters, a grapple hook and that all important communications device. Some of these devices will run on a limited battery supply so using them wisely is the only way to succeed.

The game will also have a cinematic soundtrack, with dramatic musical scores and realistic sound effects to help immerse the player into the game's experience. The graphics also look very sharp and take advantage of special effects. The storyline will also play an integral part of the game's development with lots of twists and surprises.

While it is obvious that this title (like most other stealth games) borrows a few features from Metal Gear, it also adds plenty of new features to make it stand out from other games of the genre. Rogue Ops also seems to be even more stealth based. I really look forward to setting up traps. Filling a room with remote and proximity mines can cause all kinds of trouble for a bunch of unsuspecting terrorists. With eight long missions filled with challenging objectives, Rogue Ops looks to be a very interesting, fun and challenging game.

- 6.21.2003