It all starts with a plan. You mark out your path on the map, you prep your gear, and then you head in. You’re determined to rescue the hostage, breach the database, or defuse the bomb. You deploy, but you get this sudden feeling that you’ve seen this before, like you have done this before. Perhaps you have, and that isn’t a bad thing, but it feels almost lazy. That’s when it hit me, Rogue Point, in many ways, is like the old Terrorist Hunt game mode from Rainbow Six Vegas, but with some extra steps that take away from the experience, and what feels like ill-thought-out mechanics.
Setup That Feels Pointless
Rogue Point starts with your prep phase, which consists of two sections: the planning and loadouts. The less impressive section of this phase of the game is definitely the planning, as it feels pointless and like an unnecessary step in the grand scheme of the game. This part of the prep phase allows you to look at the map – something that you will never be able to do again – and plan your route through the mission to complete the objectives.
On the surface, this sounds nice. In practice, however, it turns into a useless screenshot of the map that you can scribble on. A better implementation of this mechanic would allow you to choose your infiltration and extraction points, but the most you get to do is mark up the map. You can’t even open a map in the game, making your planning all the more pointless, as you can’t look at any notes you may have made. Along with this, your on-screen compass allows you to easily find the objectives once you are in the mission.
The better half of the prep phase comes in the form of your weapon selections. There is a list of weapons for you to choose from, and with each mission earning you cash for completed objectives, you can purchase your gear. I prefer this over the standard level unlocks and loadouts that shooters like this normally have, but that isn’t to say that the standard loadout system is better. This method allows you to edit your loadout between missions, and punishes you by taking away your gear you worked for if you fail.
It adds a slight amount of pressure if things go south, that you will need to replay the mission with less money, and therefore less gear. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to worry about in the missions, as they are very easily completed in most circumstances.
Good Mission Concept, Poor Execution
Each of the mission types is something I would expect from a game like this. You can diffuse bombs, rescue hostages, intercept intel, and take out a group of terrorists. The issue is that most of these missions feel lackluster because you can easily run through and dominate the enemy AI with little planning and a bit of skill.
As someone who doesn’t play a lot of shooters, I was able to run into a mission solo on the hardest difficulty, take down every enemy, diffuse the bombs, and get out with only a few hiccups that barred my progress. None of these hiccups had to do with the enemies who were supposed to stop me, but rather my lack of ammo or inability to open a door due to a blockade or natural map barrier.
To give an example as to how bad the enemy AI is, I got into a firefight with a group of enemies in a mall. Rather than having numerous enemies flock to my location, I killed the small group, ran into a room, and discovered an enemy on his standard path, completely unaware of anything that had transpired in the room over. Even when my handler stated that enemies were aware of my location, I had to go searching for them. It ultimately let me abuse the enemy AI and ignore the game’s idea of covert operations by spraying weapons wherever I pleased.
Some Changes Are Needed
Rogue Point is a good concept that takes the idea of old school game modes like Terrorist Hunt and adds some elements of planning and build diversity that could elevate it above other games in the genre. Unfortunately, many of these mechanics either feel pointless or get lost in the cavalcade of misfortune this game has. All is not lost, however, as things could change if the enemy AI is updated and something is done to make the planning phase more of a necessity rather than something you can easily ignore.
