Bethesda may have done something right with Rogue Warrior, and that one thing is how many laughs you will have.
I don't quite know if I should be welcoming anyone to this review for a game that can really be described by one or two words. This game is that bad, though because of how bad it is, you will actually find an enjoyable experience in this short 2-3 hour campaign largely due to the amount of laughs you may have. You play as Dick, a hardnosed no-nonsense guy who no matter what the situation looks like, always aims to complete his mission. Each mission is extremely short, and consists of maybe one objective, and that can lead you to believe early that this should have been on the Xbox Live Arcade, instead of retail shelves.
Gameplay:
This game is a crossover of both first-person and third-person shooting, along with some cool looking "instant kills" to take out unsuspecting foes. Early on you will be shown how to use all your various moves, granted, there are not many at all. You will have a decent amount of weapons to find over the course of your mission, but they all feel like they have the same amount of effect. Silence pistol you have has the same amount of power that the Ak-47 may have. This leads you to forgetting that you can even pick up weapons, and just stick with your pistol the whole game, especially since you have infinite ammo in it.
The fact that there actually is a multiplayer feature in this game disgusts me, and honestly, is a pure waste of time.
Sound:
This game sounds awful. You play as Dick, voiced by actor Mickey Rourke, and his voice acting essentially kills any skill he may have had in some of his recent films. I am actually a huge fan of Rourke, which was one reason I wanted to play Rogue Warrior, but when pretty much every line of dialogue involves the worst profanity can provide, then you have a recipe for absolute disaster. Though the funny part is, most of the laughs I continue to talk about come from Rourke's horrible job, and actually, overall, made this short game quite entertaining.
Story:
If you are looking for anything in this category, go play a game by a developer who cares. There is none to be found here. You don't even know who Dick is until after the first couple of missions, and even then you are trying to make sure that isn't Rourke trying to insult someone. I paid attention to one thing in this game, and that was the "action" that actually went on, because there was no substance to be found in what has been the worst attempt at a plot that I have ever seen.
Graphics:
As I mentioned earlier, this should have been an arcade game, at maybe 800MP, or even 1200. Not $60. Largely the reason being are the horrible graphics which at the very first scene of the game, don't looks too bad, but progressively get worse and worse. All the enemies look extremely similar, and you start to feel like it is a shooting gallery rather than a black op you are in. This game may have looked great on the last-gen systems, but not here in 2010 (at the time of this review).
Shortcomings and Glitches/Bugs:
Where should I start here? Well, rather than even attempting to mention all the bugs in this game, I will at least mention the ones that affect you the most. First is the horrible cover system, which insults any game that has ever used the concept before. Using the left button, you are supposed to seemingly be able to transition in and out of cover. Well, that obviously didn't go well, as you slowly get in and out of cover, taking loads of bullets even on the hardest difficulty. Speaking of difficulty, there is none in this game, and you can finish on hard in roughly two hours. Yes, it is that short. Too bad all of those difficulty achievements don't stack, meaning you have to play the game three times if you achievement lovers out there want a full 1000G. Well, nice try Bethesda, I will go play your better games, Fallout and Elder Scrolls.
Conclusion:
Rogue Warrior feels like it was meant for the marketplace, because whatever developer would even think this game is worth full price hopefully gets fired. This is a terrible example of a great studio making a terrible mistake in judgement. I may even be nice on this Thanksgiving and say the game may be worth a retail price of $19.99, but even then I would feel hesitant. Unfortunately nothing really goes right with this game, except for as I said, the laughs that will come with it. Unless you are an achievement hunter, or have a rental service such as Gamefly or Blockbuster Total Access, by all means avoid this terrible excuse of a shooter.
High/Low Points:
+ Quite Fun To Make Fun Of
- Horrible Interface
- Unnecessary Language and Profanity
Gameplay Score: 2.0/10
Sound Score: 1.5/10
Story Score: 1.0/10
Graphics Score: 2.5/10
Presentation Score: 2.0/10
Overall Score: 2.0/10
Replay Value: None at all unless you need all the achievements.