| Rogue Spear: Hands On Preview
by Bubba "MasterFung" Wolford |
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Since my E3 preview of Rogue Spear, my selection for Best of E3 Shooter remains unchanged. After having received and played a press copy preview of four missions, my heart has been pounding! The new features that Redstorm Entertainment (RSE) have made in Rogue Spear are a culmination of the requests and desires of Rainbow Six fans from around the world. What started as a list of requests to improve an excellent product (Rainbow Six) is evolving into the supreme iteration of real-time REALISTIC first-person shooters (FPS). Allow me to take you through a rundown of what is new, changed, tweaked and exciting in Rogue Spear. New Options After installing my copy of Rogue Spear I was presented with the usual choices of options in the Graphical User Interface (GUI) driven menu. The GUI has been redesigned to accommodate more options and choices. There are great new options here. One friend of mine wanted to play Rainbow Six but did not like the fact that he could not turn off "mouse look." That ability is now present, along with the ability to completely customize all controls as in the original. A new sound option is the ability to control the volume magnification of "footsteps." Also added was a precise mouse adjustment similar to the one found in Quake 2. Arm patches make a welcome addition. In my multiplayer games it was very cool to see different colored arm patches, helping to identify Friendlies or "Tangos" before you shoot them (although it is usually after.) Two new options for game play are also present. The Lone Wolf option allows you to re-enter a previously completed mission and hunt terrorists only. For instance, if the original mission was to rescue hostages that would mean taking along silenced weapons to complete the mission and not allowing you to take along big fun guns like the M4 Carbine or M-16A2.
 In the Lone wolf option the hostages do not exist and 30 terrorists are randomly placed for your hunting pleasure. Be warned though. They react quickly, with force and usually with a great amount of coordination! The Terrorist Hunt option is like Lone Wolf except you can go in with multiple team members. One new smart option incorporated into the game was the ability to record your mission for playback later on the cinematic camera. It provides rotating views through your mission and has provided me with a great deal of magnificent footage. Graphics!! Graphics: WOW!! The graphics are even better than before. When I checked the graphics options on my gaming box, I was shocked to see 1600x1200!! I about fell out of my chair. My mind was screaming along thinking, "OMIGOSH Rogue Spear at 1600x1200 I can't believe it. There is a GOD!" |
 When my beautiful 21" Viewsonic monitor kicked the image of Rogue Spear up at 1600x1200 in the first mission I think I started hyperventilating. "Breathe", my girlfriend kept saying, "just breathe." Want even more shocking news? The game ran ALMOST totally fluid!!! I have since kicked the resolution down to 1280x1024 for fluid play but those with a Voodoo3 and P3 may well hit the sweet spot with 1600x1200. For that matter, I may upgrade myself!! Rogue Spear supports both Glide and D3d, but the game runs faster and looks better under Glide.
 Click for HUGE image. The third person view makes a very nice return as most of the screen shots on the Internet are released using this viewpoint. If you hit "F1" twice you get to see you persona from "Cinematic camera". This one I found to be especially cool as you can get an idea as to exactly how concealed your character actually is in relation to the map. One of the appreciated additions to Rogue Spear is the ability to crab walk and even run while crouching. I made constant use of this new ability in the Multiplayer session and it proved to be quite effective. I expect everyone will be using this new feature extensively. Weapons: There are many new weapons to choose from to arm your persona. The ones from Rainbow Six and Eagle Watch (the addon to Rainbow Six) make return appearances except for the CAR-15 and MP5SD5. New weapons are:
Go to Part Two: Weapons and Firing
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