STACK #153 Jul 2017

GAMES FEATURE

visit stack.net.au

FIVESTAR

Strange Bridge

Words Paul Jones purveyors of mayhem

I t’s often the games you know nothing about before sitting down in front of them with a controller in hand that end up surprising you. This was indeed the case with Sniper Elite developer Rebellion’s Strange Brigade , a title we played on our final day at the show. It clearly takes inspiration from Raiders of the Lost Ark and is also set during the 1930s. You play as one of four adventurers (each versed in a particular skill), cooperatively or in a single-player mode, and being the antisocial gamer that I am, I went alone. Big mistake. Armed only with a pistol, a single-shot rifle and a special ability unleashed once charged, I was seriously under-powered for the ceaseless waves of mummies lumbering toward my position.

Usually, by trial and error, I can find a strategic point in a level. But the Ancient ruins-setting offered nothing other than a handful of traps set off with a well-aimed bullet – stay prone for too long taking potshots from a distance and you’ll be flanked; and killed. I faced a selection of different enemies in my 20 minute demo. Progression through the gameplay is punctuated by a humorous Pathé News British accent that was genuinely funny. It’s a quirky and amusing title and certainly stirred an interest. There’s no release date announced for Strange Brigade yet, but I’ll be playing this – with friends this time – when it does finally surface. I can remember Rogue Trooper from my days as an avid reader of the comic 2000 A.D., but I didn’t play the game when it released 11

RogueTrooper Redux

objectives range from shooting Nort soldiers and blowing up tanks, to taking out enemy spacecraft with an AA gun. The original has developed a cult following over the last decade and you’d imagine this is where most of the traffic is going to come from. There’s no release date at this stage. I found a H.P. Lovecraft book on a bus when I was around 13, and I was hooked from the first paragraph. The trouble with an author such as Lovecraft – and the worlds he created – is

years ago. Rebellion Studios, who own the rights to the comic, has decided to remaster the game. Rogue Trooper Redux is a third-person shooter. The single- player level we played dropped us straight into a battle on Nu-Earth. The blue-skinned Rogue Troopers are immune to harsh environments, and armed with an automatic weapon that doubles as a sniper rifle. Combat utilises a tactical cover system (the original game was purportedly one of the first to incorporate a cover system), and

066

JULY 2017

jbhifi.com.au