
	Platform PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Genre First Person Shooter Developer Zombie Studios Publisher Bethesda Softworks ETA Q4 2007
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Rogue Warrior

For those who keep up with current events, it’s not hard to be concerned with recent events in North Korea. Granted, the conditions in that country are so poor that there is always cause for concern with the DPRK, but with the recent nuclear testing there things have gotten much worse in the region. Interestingly, Bethesda Softworks and Zombie Studios are teaming up to make a very topical first person shooter called Rogue Warrior, which will put players in the role of a Navy SEAL deep behind enemy lines in North Korea to assess a nuclear threat from the country.

The game actually features real life Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko who spent 30 years in the U.S. Navy, both in its Underwater Demolition Team and with the SEALs, as well as helping to create and oversee a number of special anti-terrorism teams within the SEALs. This game takes its name from Marcinko’s autobiography and fiction series that he dubbed “Rogue Warrior”. This in mind, Marcinko is also helping to oversee the development of the game, helping to ensure that enemies respond realistically, and that tactics available to players are in line with what an actual SEAL would do.

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One of the key gameplay elements that Zombie Studios is striving for in Rogue Warrior is to create a very open battlefield. From a physical standpoint, this will mean that players can explore massive environments while attempting to complete mission objectives. In terms of the actual missions, these will also be very open in that the developers want players

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to have as much freedom as possible to complete missions however they want. This will be done by eliminating scripted events as much as possible, so players don’t feel as though they’re simply being led by the hand from one objective to the next. At the same time, players will have to contend with enemy AI that is reported to be quite bright.

There are also some interesting plans for multiplayer modes in Rogue Warrior, which will have ten different options available to players. What each of these ten modes will entail remains to be seen; however, we do know that the environments will be highly customizable here. This will be done through a tiling system where players select certain aspects of how they would like the battlefield to be. From the looks of things, the game takes in everyone’s request and formulates a map based on these preferences. It won’t be exactly as everyone specifies, but be a combined reflection of what everyone would like. According to Zombie, this will result in 200 possible maps to play on. Also of note is that not all multiplayer modes are competitive. We’ll actually have cooperative play in Rogue Warrior, something that there simply isn’t enough of in FPS games these days.

Those hoping for a slightly more topical experience in their games may want to keep an eye on Rogue Warrior. It looks like Zombie and Bethesda are taking extra special care that the game is not only realistic and challenging, but also holds a fair bit more real world relevance that your average FPS.

Jeff Nash

March 2, 2007