Renegade Ops Preview

Oops I meant Ops.

Remember cleaning a scratched PlayStation disc with an alcohol-damped piece of tissue? Well, I do, and the disc I was cleaning the most was my copy of Twisted Metal 2. Throw me back to ‘96 when Outlaw 2 and Thumper were the hottest things on the block and my top choices to win the death tournament in order to claim that prize from Calypso.

For those who enjoyed the classic Twisted Metal series, Renegade Ops could be right up their alley: high flying, lots of explosions, destructive scenery, carnage, wreckage, guns, guns, guns, and just pure mayhem. It is an all-out war, weapons pitted against massive weapons as a lone driver or possible four-man team drives into battle, out to destroy the terror of the world, but instead of it being Calypso, this time around the new treat is Inferno (isn’t that the rapper from Oakland?).

Right from the opening credits, the tone is to kick butt, and boy, are they about to get an ass-whooping. Driving through wooded villages, you bombard foes with unrelenting machine gun fire and "special" attacks. Strength of enemies varies. Footmen are easily killed with simple bursts of bullets, or if vehicular man slaughter is your thing, you can run those fools over. Mortar trucks are vulnerable but take some time to defeat, but whatever needs to be eradicated, “Serge” has full confidence the team will equip themselves with the necessary machinery to get the job done with haste.

Everything isn’t just about visual stimulation, though it is nice to shoot things just to watch them catch fire; it’s also about strategy and understanding how to maintain health. Aimless firing of weapons and blind steering are going to result in heavy punishment and loss of lives. Upgrades, which are achieved through gaining experience points by completing objectives and creating chaos, are vital in the pursuit of power and winning. Cut-scenes are shown throughout, with some that stop play entirely to show Inferno’s latest antagonizing threats.

At this stage, some of the action can get repetitive, but this leaves plenty of time to get used to the game's controls and overall feel; it's the type of game that seems better in short bursts of play. It would be good to see more free range non-objective play and possibly even more characters, though with the option of only being able to select one character from four, learning abilities and mastering car styles become more personal.

Rev into gear solo or spin off with a buddy; whichever you choose, Sega has got your back. With co-op play returning to gaming, Renegade Ops delivers a solid edition of single and multiplayer action. If you’ve got the lives and got the time to blow some stuff up, put Renegade Ops in your wish list and save the world from Inferno’s evil plans when it releases later this Summer.