Daniel Learmouth reviews Rogue Warrior (PS3, PC and XBOX 360)
I don't know what kind of narcotics Bethesda were on when they sold Rogue Warrior. Let's think what games Bethesda have at least done well with: The Elder Scrolls; Fallout 3; Fallout New Vegas etc... Bethesda, you ruined yourself.
You play as slurry-mouthed Navy SEAL Richard 'Demo Dick' Marcinko, crossing the border into North Korea. However, your comrades get killed in an ambush, with you being the only survivor. Despite warnings to pull out of Korea, Demo Dick goes rogue and continues with the mission regardless. You have to make your way to the Russian border in a few days and both investigate and destroy a missile base in Russia.
From my experience, there is no good aspect to this game at all, frankly, other than it is a way to waste time in the same way that patricide can kill your mother. There are also stealth kill moves which vary depending on the situation, and they look pretty cool.
The looooooooooong list of downsides now ensues. First of all is the most obvious. Demo Dick himself. He is voiced by actor Mickey Rourke. Now I wouldn't mind if he didn't have a huge swearing fix. At any oportunity, he will say "****" at any ****ing chance he ****ing well gets, then you're pretty ****ed off by this.
Next is the graphics. Nothing is anti-aliased. All of it looks jagged and there is a lot of blurring when you don your night vision goggles. The textures are below-standard and look even worse than those of Half-Life 2, in comparison. Half-Life 2 was a 2004 game, too! FIVE BLOODY YEARS DIFFERENCE!!
Next, the very start of the game. It's rude and somewhat insulting on the difficulty select screen, stating expletives and vague sexual innuendoes. I'm not giving any example, but you can imagine.
Now onto the AI. Rogue Warrior supposedly combines action and 'stealth' mechanics. The stealth mechanics work like this: they don't. You could walk in front of an enemy and it would take a while before the enemy woke up to see you. Didn't the developers think to include NPCs with AI do they can tie their own shoelaces?
Lastly, because I'm kind of getting bored of this, is the inconsistency of the difficulty. At times you may think it to be a cake walk, but at others, it's like baking a Victoria Sponge whilst performing acupuncture on a bacterium whilst balancing on a tightrope over the Niagara Falls on a unicycle with a flat tyre. It is THAT baffling.
To sum up, Rogue Warrior is horrifically bad. I recommend you do NOT buy this game. I will condemn you if you buy it, play it and even LIKE it!
FINAL VERDICT: 12%