Rogue Ops

Skin-searing laser security systems can't stymie her--not when Rogue Ops1 shadow agent Nikki Connors can use the bodies of incapacitated guards to create a sizzling human bridge across the beams. If that sounds like your cup of cyanide-spiked tea, you'll find crushing hapless goons beneath chandeliers sweeter yet. Despite seeming like just another me-too silent assassin, this gal is refreshingly ungeneric. Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher can't pick pockets for security passes, and I'm sure Metal Gear's Solid Snake would like his own insect surveillance cameras. But next to these guys' spy games, Rogue Ops is irritatingly rough around the edges. If you buy it, go ahead and get a walkthrough as well. Realizing the solution to a progress-impeding puzzle has been staring you in the face is one thing, but growing desperate to the point that you're pursuing obvious dead ends for hours is bogus. If only Nikki's pals at HQ could send suggestions when she gets stuck, impatient gamers might bother playing all the way through.

Rogue Ops immediately grabs some points with its polished look and sexy heroine, and it does an admirable job of nailing the finer aspects of stealth and spycraft. But some serious snafus diminish its overall impact. Besides poor enemy A.I., the paint-bynumbers gameplay (requiring surgically precise cursor movement for actions like jumping or climbing) makes the action feel canned. The levels and missions are creative, though, and the stealth kills and gadgets (like the retina scanner) are cool. A decent attempt with untapped potential that has me looking forward to a sequel.

Don't hate Nikki Connors because she's beautiful. Hate her because she's yet another bland, soulless heroine shoehorned into an uninspired third-person stealth adventure. Connors snaps necks, breaks bones, and stuffs bodies into lockers with the best of them, but cannot, say, use her grappling hook to climb to new areas unless she's staring at exactly the right spot and a magical 'action icon' appears. Hunting down these arbitrary hot spots is about as fun as mildew. Which isn't that much fun.