ROGUE SPEAR: URBAN OPERATIONS
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Harder hitting, better looking

By JAMES ANTHONY

Just when you thought that the Rogue Spear line-up had outlived its usefulness under combined attacks from Counterstrike and Delta Force: Land Warrior, the old warhorse throws up a surprise.

Rogue Spear and its predecessor, Rainbow Six, sparked the counter-terrorist versus terrorist explosion of games, but while incredibly tense, the games were released with annoying bugs and glitches that took the edge off them.

However, Red Storm is nothing if not quick at learning and each release of the series has been a major step-up in quality and excitement.

The latest Rogue Spear add-on is Urban Operations, a five-campaign terrorist hunt through some of the most picturesque graphics you'll see.

Step out into the streets and buildings of Istanbul, a London Underground station, Venice, Hong Kong and Mexico, then pit your skills against some pretty damn nasty terrorists. The bad guys have had a major makeover and now have good artificial intelligence to test your squad members. They move, duck, are more accurate than usual, move to hunt you down and, even on the easy level, will keep you on your rubber-tread toes.

Graphically, Urban Operations kicks butt, with movements, faces and maps looking lush and detailed. Each location is visually exciting and you really want to stop and have a look at the scenery, only some nasty people are lying in wait for you to make the wrong move and it's bye-bye, bucko.

Aside from the campaigns, operatives can choose custom missions that allow a greater level of flexibility on what you play.

Pick a mission, either from the completed campaigns or older Rogue Spear maps, and then decide the number of terrorists you want to battle it out against in various, self-explanatory styles. They are Lone Wolf, Terrorist Hunt, Assault, Recon, Defend and Hostage Rescue.

The designers have made gameplay much harder with better places for the terrorists to hide in, and being in city areas, there are often innocent passers-by who you have to avoid killing. The Urban Ops CD not only has the new levels, but contains an upgrade of Rogue Spear that fixes the software hassles the original was plagued by.

This is a terrific new installment in the series and, for mine, takes it a huge leap further. Excellent work, Red Storm.

ORIGINALITY 70%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 85%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 90%
ENJOYMENT 90%