Rogue Warrior is a 2009 first-person shooter video game developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released on 26 November 2009 in Australia, 27 November in Europe, and 1 December in North America.
In Rogue Warrior, the United States has sent in Richard Marcinko, a veteran U.S. Navy SEAL, on a mission into North Korea to disrupt ballistic missile launchers. Despite the game being named after Marcinko's 1992 autobiography, the game's storyline bears no relation to it or to his subsequent series of fiction novels. Marcinko is voiced by actor Mickey Rourke.
First announced in 2006, Rogue Warrior was originally being developed by Zombie Studios, and was set for a 2007 release. However, the game's release was delayed after Bethesda stated they were unsatisfied with the direction Zombie Studios was taking the game. Bethesda quickly scrapped the project and brought in Rebellion Development to develop an entire new game from scratch. Rebellion, while retaining some major elements from Zombie's rendition, has taken a whole new approach to the game and its focus.
Rogue Warrior received negative reviews from critics, who cited it as one of the worst games ever made. Criticism of the game included its poor controls, multiple glitches, outdated graphics, poor gunplay, frequent profanity, rushed production, uninteresting gameplay, short length, very limited multiplayer, and broken and exploited combat techniques.
Gameplay
Rogue Warrior is primarily a first-person shooter with tactical elements. The player assumes control of U.S. Navy SEAL Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko, also known as "Rogue Warrior". The primary goal for Marcinko begins as an infiltration mission to disrupt hostile missiles and evolves to prevent other potentially dangerous situations. To achieve this goal, Marcinko may use a wide array of weapons and explosives. Such weapons include AK-74s, grenades, and combat knives. In addition to weapons, Marcinko may also utilize explosives barrels and gas tanks to eliminate enemies.
The focus of the gameplay is Marcinko's over-the-top methods and signature execution moves used in war situations. When the player is in close proximity to an enemy, they may press one of several buttons to trigger an instant kill via finishing moves, referred to as kill moves in the game. There are more than twenty-five finishing moves available to players. Such moves include throwing an enemy over a rail, slashing their throat, or stabbing them in the head. Upon initiating a finishing move, the in-game camera shifts to a third-person cinematic angle to show the finishing animation. A cover system akin to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is incorporated. This allows the player to blind-fire and pop in and out of cover, but some positions of cover may be destroyed. There is also a "robust" checkpoint system that tracks player progress.
Plot
In 1986, Richard Marcinko (voiced by Mickey Rourke), a U.S. Navy SEAL, is sent on a classified mission into Unggi, North Korea, with two other SEALs, to retrieve intelligence from a North Korean mole on ballistic missiles of an unfamiliar design that North Korea is supposedly in possession of, as well as to recon a factory that is allegedly developing the missiles. Shortly after touching ground, Marcinko's unit successfully takes out a Korean People's Army patrol, but one of the North Koreans suffers only wounds and manages to pull the pin of one of his grenades, killing Marcinko's team. Admiral Travis Payton (voiced by Neal McDonough), the commander of the operation, demands that Marcinko abort, but he refuses, saying he intends to finish the mission. After fighting through Unggi, Marcinko discovers the mole was killed. However, he finds the intel in the mole's apartment room on missile launchers that have been developed in Unggi.