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I've always found it fascinating how critics can either severely overrate a product or criminally underrate it. If you'd care to, take a look at IGN's final score for Rebellion's latest actioner, Rogue Warrior. I, and many other gamers, assumed that the lowest score they could possibly give any next-gen game was to Spark Unlimited's late-2008 shooter Legendary; they awarded it a laughable 2.5. I wasn't at all surprised considering Spark's track record with shooters thus far, but I did find Legendary to be a much better game than IGN gave it credit for.

Now, before I go any further, allow me to state that IGN gave Rogue Warrior a measly 1.5. I do understand that RW does absolutely nothing new with its few ideas or genre, but I'd still only warrant giving a score that low to a game that is without any merit whatsoever (i.e. broken beyond repair). Rogue Warrior will not sell, will not make any Game of the Year lists, and will ultimately be forgotten (as if it hadn't been already) as more end-of-year heavy-hitters start seeing release. Furthermore, after Rebellion's last abysmal foray into the FPS genre with Shellshock 2: Blood Trails my hopes weren't exactly high for Rogue Warrior and certainly not for next year's Aliens vs Predator reboot.

Before I delve any deeper into this review allow me to clear the air. Rogue Warrior is by no means an utter abomination that everyone should steer clear of. Just as Blood Trails has found a cult audience, so will RW. There seems to be a trend with critics being overly harsh on what are nothing more than generic shooters. Rogue Warrior has subpar graphics and controls, as well as a decidedly last-gen feel to it, but I've certainly played far worse. If nothing else it warrants a weeks' rental just to plow through its brief 3-4 hour campaign and collect the easy-to-obtain trophies for those into that sort of thing. I think the biggest injustice publisher Bethesda has done is charge the unsuspecting public $60 for a game that would have been priced at a mere $20 five years ago. Even if the game itself is nothing more than substandard, charging full price for a budget shooter is going to backfire on them, and hard.

But let's dig into the innards of this sucker, shall we. The Rogue Warrior license was originally given to Zombie Studios (Spec Ops, Spec Ops II: Green Berets, and Saw: The Video Game) and, from what I gather, their game had been in the works for quite some time. It took the idea of making legendary Navy SEAL Richard Marcinko the player character in a tactical, stealth-oriented FPS that favored brains over brawn. That idea was ultimately scrapped for whatever reason and Bethesda brought Rebellion on-board and gave them nothing more than a year to completely rework the title. Although that doesn't exactly justify a game this generic, the myriad technical issues, freezing problems, and other bugs, however, are. It's amazing even as mediocre as Rogue Warrior is that Rebellion managed to make it playable at all.

Despite being a relatively impressive feat for such a short amount of development time, there will be many gamers who just can't get over how unpolished it feels. The controls are jumpy and stiff, the action is unsatisfying save for the cool Kill Moves and great ragdoll deaths, environments are largely static, and explosions look horrid. For a game touting itself as a first-person shooter you'd figure that the actual shooting would respond better. With a big holiday title like Modern Warfare 2 releasing just a month before Rogue Warrior did, it really set the bar high for future FPS's. Despite the game being completely incompetent I still stand by the thought that it could have been much worse.

There are a few decent game play innovations to be found throughout, as well, but nothing that you'll shit yourself over. Being able to blow out fuse boxes, consequently powering down the lights, and offing your enemies in the dark with help from your Night Vision goggles is interesting, but too many times the poor AI is able to spot you in what is essentially a pitch black room. I'm also sure you've heard about the Kill Moves that Rebellion have incorporated into the game, and if there's any reason to at least give Rogue Warrior a try, it's for these. You can perform them on both unalerted and altered foes and depending on their level of awareness, you will be able to pull off around 25 of these moves. You take no part in them other than hitting X when prompted then the game goes into a short cut-scene showing Marcinko slaughtering enemy soldiers with his knife, a broken neck, or a toss over a high-reaching balcony.

Other than that, however, Rogue Warrior is as cookie-cutter as it gets. By no means deserving of its rating on Metacritic (an unsurprising 36 out of 100) or, moreover, it's shockingly low score from IGN, but I contribute that to the time of year it was released. If Rogue Warrior was a PS2 game it would have probably fared much better, but as a next-gen title it really disappoints. There's little to do outside of running from room-to-room and taking part in various ineffective gun battles. Even the ragdoll system - which does supply some fun - is seriously dated. That's the problem with the whole game in a nutshell: it just feels so out-of-touch with current gaming standards.

I also hear that RW is being powered by Epic's updated UnrealEngine3 and during specific moments of an otherwise bland looking game, it does show. Nothing is ever eye-popping, but there are brief instances where it rises above Rebellion's obvious love of low-res textures, sticky character movements, dated environments, and poor-lighting. Marcinko's character model looks decent and the Kill Moves are executed with just the right amount of panache. Going beyond the forgettable visuals, even having Mickey Rourke voice Marcinko isn't enough to make this worth your money. As cool as Rourke is, he sounds miserably uninterested in the project (and probably was). Nothing's really out-and-out wrong with Rogue Warrior, it just comes off as being painfully "too little too late."

If the horrid AI, technical problems, and last-gen visuals doesn’t turn you off to Rogue Warrior I'd recommend a rental. Even with poor controls and jumpy crosshairs, Rebellion has managed to inspire some moments of fun. The idea of putting Marcinko in a game is a novel one and could have been a great one if only Zombie got to finish their game. You really can't blame Rebellion too much for this one as it seems they were at least trying. I place more blame on Bethesda for releasing a quick cash-in attempt during gaming's busiest time of the year. I feel sorry for the people (including myself) who were duped into paying full price for an unfinished product. Even still, it's not a totally wasted opportunity as there are some moments of fun to be had. Ultimately, however, Rogue Warrior is a seriously outdated game that will be relegated to the bargain bins in no time.

4/10