Back in the late 1970s, there was a weapon so lethal, so hardcore that the Navy’s best chance at harnessing its power was to make it the leader of a counterterrorism team. Richard “Rogue Warrior” Marcinko named his group Seal Team 6.
Marcinko’s autobiography, entitled Rogue Warrior, is an account of Marcinko’s experiences during his years prior to and becoming a Navy SEAL — from his days with SEAL Team 2 and his leadership days from SEAL Team 6. Unfortunately, the game Rogue Warrior is like the books and less of an autobiographical representation and more the fictionalized tale of the ever-popular cult icon. This isn’t to say that neither the game nor the books are true representations of Marcinko’s life. However, they are more accounts of what could have happened, rather than what did happen.
Rogue Warrior was developed by Rebellion and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game begins as Marcinko and his team are sent into North Korea to gather intelligence on some ballistic missile launchers. The game takes place at the height of the Cold War. Marcinko must battle his way through North Korea and Soviet Russia chasing down missiles and preventing their launches by disabling the launch codes. While doing so, Marcinko uncovers a hidden Star Wars-like program about to go online. If it should go online, it would annihilate the United States by rendering it defenseless. Marcinko has no other option than disobey orders and save the United States from destruction by the Soviets.
As far as video gaming goes and first-person shooters, Rogue Warrior isn’t the best game to hit the market. It has received a tremendous amount of bad reviews and is surrounded with drama — first being developed by one studio then given to Rebellion to redo the game. However, with all that has gone on to get the game on the shelf and all the bad reviews it received once it did, I had to take a look at the game to see for myself what the deal was.
Now, I am a big Marcinko fan. I enjoyed reading his books while I was in the military, and I enjoy them now as a civilian. I know there is a fair degree of embellishment in the books, but I find them entertaining. As far as the game, I have been looking forward to it for a long time. Last year at E3, I was lucky enough to meet Marcinko and Mickey Rourke (who voices Marcinko in the game) and was reignited with excitement about the title.
However, because of the negative press Rogue Warrior was getting upon its release, rather than purchase a copy right away as I had intended, I waited. I waited for the game to drop to a price I would be comfortable spending; just in case the game really was bad. So, I didn’t pay $59.99 for my copy. Rather, I paid $19.99. I don’t know if the price made the difference or if there were other factors involved, but at $20, I have to say that I enjoyed the game.
Rogue Warrior isn’t the best game on the market. The AI is lacking some levels of intelligence. Also very noticeable, were the enemies always conveniently facing away from you. To finish the list, some of the gunplay felt like it was lacking a level of sophistication. Sophistication, this is the word that caused me to have a revelation about this game.
Sure, Rogue Warrior isn’t a game to the standards of other FPS games on the market. Yet, it does have an entertaining “Rambo”-like story and charm. It also has some fun single-player play. I enjoyed running through the levels shooting communists. Equally, I enjoyed sneaking through the levels trying not to be spotted in a Fisher-esque sort of way.
What Rogue Warrior boils down to is this: It is not a “hardcore” gamers game. It should have never been price marked at $60. However, as a value title worth 3-4 hours of gameplay, Rogue Warrior is a solid game with a solid story. Also, if you haven’t seen it yet, Rogue Warrior has the best credits video to have ever been created for a game. It is a fun and creative way to have used all of Rourke’s recorded dialogue from the game. Check it out!
