Homage Review: Renegade Ops (Xbox 360)

Sega backs a beauty, with this over-the-top, explosive vehicle-based shoot 'em up.  

When I think about old arcade games, I think of either specific games I loved or just the overall bombastic, explosive action so many arcade games offered. Games like Narc, Mercs and Smash TV. It is in the spirit of such games that Sega, along with developer Avalanche, give us Renegade Ops.

The plot is suitably cliché and dumb. A megalomaniac mad man calling himself Inferno is blowing up cities, much like every megalomaniac mad man in every cheesy action movie ever. Rather than deal with Inferno using force, the world's leaders decide to negotiate a truce, because frankly, they're a bunch of p***ies. Thank God for General John Bryant, who throws his dog tags and accolades on the floor of the situation room in disgust and decides if the people in power won't kick Inferno's arse, he and his team of four renegade soldiers will just have to do it instead. Let the wanton destruction and arse kickery begin - and let's make one thing clear, if there's one thing this game does well, it's wanton destruction.

The renegades, from left to right, Armand, Diz, Gunnar, Roxy and John Bryant

You start the game by choosing one of the four renegade, each of which drives a different vehicle with different abilities. Armand's can hunker down, tortoise-like and deflect most flak for a few seconds, but leaves you unable to fire back; Diz has an EMP, which can disable all enemies within a limited range, but only for a few seconds; Gunnar has a cannon, which is very powerful, but can only be fired when stationary; and Roxy can call in a limited number of air strikes, which take a few seconds to wind up. Which ability suits you depends on the kind of player you are and they each have a down side. I favourite Diz, because the EMP was quick and bought me time to either lay down some suppressing fire or get the hell out of any immediate danger.

Each level is set in a different zone and consists of a number of objects (highlighted by a red arrow on the HUD) and challenges (indicated by a white arrow). You usually have one of each to tackle at any given time and generally speaking you are free to choose. After each mission you get to assign points to a skill tree, allowing you to unlock more powers, additional weapons and so on. Thankfully, you are not suck with the powers you unlock, only the one you choose at the start of each mission, allowing for plenty of experimentation.

Aside from how wonderfully everything blows up, the best thing about this game is the controls. Within no time you'll be whipping your little jeep or armoured vehicle around like a 4x4 in "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road. While we're making comparisons to old arcade games, the most obvious one is Konami's Jackal, to which Renegade Ops could easily have been a 21st century remake or sequel.

At the top of this review I said this game was in the spirit of classic bombastic arcade shoot 'em ups and that was no exaggeration. This is one of those games that leaves you feeling pumped up and ready to tackle anything. However, add in a few friends and you can also start to apply some strategy to how you play, partnering up to support and complement each vehicles strengths and weaknesses or simply making sure as many of the mission objectives and challenges are completed in each level.

If you want a modern game with the heart of a pure, classic arcade game, don't look any further than Renegade Ops.

Plays like

• Jackal
• Speed Rumbler
• "Iron Man" Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road

Highs

• Fast, furious and explosive action.
• Smart mission structure.
• Character levelling and progression add depth, but without tying the player down to set configurations.
• Multiplayer (local or online) co-op opens up new possibilities for tactical play.

Lows

• Some technical issues with the online multiplayer
• Not a lot of variety in the gameplay or missions.

Renegade Ops is available from tomorrow on PSN and Steam priced £10.99 and Xbox Live Arcade for 1200MSP.