Nu Earth is a planet beleaguered by endless war between the Norts and the Southers. Chemical and biological weapons have turned the planet into a toxic soup, forcing troops to live in a state of perpetual biological protection, wearing combat suits and living in enclosed cities. Into this situation steps Rogue Trooper, a blue-skinned, genetically-modified, mind-downloadable infantryman (think a smurf crossed with Arnie) who is immune to all the poisons and chemicals which force his enemies to don protective suits. Engineered by the Southers, Rogue and his buddies must engage the Nort forces for a battle to win control of the planet!

Sounds pretty cool huh? And it should do, being as the game is based on the popular 2000AD comic of the same name, created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons. Now, before my cynical side attacks the logical holes in the story thus presented (why would you bother to take control of a planet that is more screwed than Paris Hilton? And personality downloads?? - they're genetic soldiers, not robots), I have to admit that I did enjoy the game, though the experience was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that I had just bought an Xbox 360.

As third person shooters go, Rogue Trooper certainly has all of its bases covered. It's fairly engaging, action filled, not chokingly linear and there are heaps of cool individual elements that help to make it appeal to its audience (presumably fans of the comic). But apart from being very solid, the game itself ultimately comes across as a little anachronistic; yes it's good but it feels almost like it should have been released two or three years ago.

I said above that the game is not chokingly linear, but that's not to say that it's exactly open-ended. Each mission sees you needing to get from point A to point B and the route is always mapped out for you. It's the way that you do things that are open to your creativity, helped immensely by the game mechanic of companion GIs (Genetic Infantrymen). Not companions in the physical sense but the mental - Rogue's best buddies (and here I found the general American gung-ho personalities of each character a little jarring given their social position as cloned grunts) inevitably come to gruesome ends during the first stages of the game. In the final moments of their lives Rogue cuts their personality biochip from their still warm bodies and attaches them to his own equipment.

The names are wildly inventive and original. Wait for it - Gunnar's specialty is, er, guns so he adds new abilities such as a silencer, sentry gun (which you can place and activate for a distraction) and sniper zoom. Rogue's second buddy to meet a horrible and entirely scripted death, Helm, goes into Rogue's helmet and gives you the ability to hack into networks and open doors and the cool ability to holo-project yourself in the level to distract enemies. The final comrade to accompany you post-death is Bagman - a man who manages your ammo, upgrades and health boosts. Bagman does this by converting salvage, which is found throughout the level and taken from fallen enemies, into whatever you desire. This is good and bad; good because upgrading is fun but bad because every single thing you want to use needs to be produced by Bagman - including ammo. And seeing as there's a limit to how much ammo you can make at one time you'll inevitably end up dry if you like to spray more lead around than a Rambo movie marathon. Sure, more ammo is only a few button presses away (assuming you have plenty of salvage) but it would have been nice to be able to loot enemy bodies for health packs and ammo.

The problem with rogue Trooper is that it left me in two minds. On the one hand (or is it mind?) I really enjoyed the game for what it was and I admit that I was hooked by the way that each section of the game was accompanied by story expositions and fairly good quality movies. I enjoyed the fact that with each of my companions' abilities I could approach situations in multiple ways. For instance, you could get through a warehouse section simply by running and gunning your way through. Or you could set up Gunnar as a sentry gun, sneak around the level, activate the sentry gun to create a distraction and then descend upon the enemy from their flank, remembering to collect your gun after a successful scourge. Another method could be to set your sniper to silenced and take the enemy out from a distance - there really are options in the game.

My other feeling about the game is that is feels entirely too 'old skool'. I can't help but think that I would have been much more excited about the options available here had the game been released two or three years ago, or even more. As it is, and very much influenced by my aforementioned 360 purchase, Rogue Trooper failed to excite beyond my simply having a little bit of fun playing through it.

If you're a fan of the comic and/or a fan of big guns, heaps of enemies and a lot of customisation then Rogue Trooper could be just the thing for you. Technological wizardry combines with Gunnar's abilities to give you many different weapons in the one gun. Sniping is as easy as entering sniper mode and other attachments include the shotgun, mortar, sammy launcher and beam rifle. You'll also be give limited reign on some stationary heavy duty weapons scattered throughout the levels, such as flak cannons, lazookas (a mortar that climbs to a desired altitude and then rains down damage) and the good old machine gun.

There's also a plethora of grenade types - the usual frag grenade is great for open situations but for other situations it's more useful to use the sticky grenade (which are magnetic). The scrambler grenade is particularly cool as it confuses enemy troops by disabling their communications and can provide that few seconds of distraction that you need to gain the upper hand. And then there are micro-mines, which are used to blow up locked gates but can also be set as traps outside doors where you know troop reinforcements will be coming from, detonating and wiping them out nicely.

I didn't get a chance to look at the multiplayer but the manual tells me that two categories are available: Stronghold and Progressive. Each character that you play in multiplayer has certain specialties/advantages. For example, Bagman has infinite medi-packs and Helm can use his holodecoy. So, all in all, Rogue Trooper certainly seems quite a complete package.

Why the low score? Well, I'm leaning towards my feeling that the game is just a little dead out of the water. It's as if a great game from three years ago has been plucked from the time-space continuum and left for dead in today's next-gen climate. That's not to say that older games cannot stand on their own legs in this climate, but Rogue Trooper ultimately fails to differentiate itself from other games in its genre. There are enough fun tricks and weapons to certainly warrant a play through - and indeed I found myself hooked by the great pacing of the game, but in the end it's a game that, much like the fat kid who never gets picked for sports, kind of just sits there dejectedly and does little to draw attention to itself.