Rogue Spear

****

PC

Red Storm

$99.95 (M15)

Review: Peter Eley

Red Storm's first game was Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, which took first-person action games to a new level.

It brought a new level of realism to the genre - we had to do without power-ups and health packs.

In their place was good old brainpower. You had to out-think your adversary, the problem was the artificial intelligence was pretty smart, too.

Rogue Spear jumps in where Rainbow Six left off, but with enhanced graphics and a new storyline.

Again, you are part of an anti-terrorist organisation battling various subversive elements.

For example, the first mission (and the one featured in an excellent downloadable demo) is set in the New York Museum of Art where Egyptian terrorists are holding hostages.

The action is heartstopping as you inch along corridors with your team, aware that the slightest wrong move will result in slaughter.

Teamwork is the key to success, especially the use of marksmen to give you cover.

Rogue Spear is a bit complex in the mission set-up stage, where you get to chose and configure your team.

We just used the defaults and seemed to get on fairly well.

* Send your comments e-mail to peter_eley@herald.co.nz