Rogue Spear: Black Thorn

Pros • Standalone---doesn't require original Rogue Spear • New multiplayer modes • Great new maps • New weapons • Most challenging missions yet. • No frickin' stealth mission	Cons • Subject matter might put off some, given recent happenings • Toughest missions are really tough
Bottom Line Black Thorn is a good way to leave things until we see what Red Storm has to show us next. Black Thorn is a standalone expansion for Rogue Spear, and the last hurrah for Team Rainbow, at least for a little while as Ghost Recon takes the stage. It should come as little surprise that it serves up some of the toughest missions in the series.

Terrorism is a topic that's hard to avoid these days, and I need not recap why. Black Thorn was one of several titles whose release was delayed as result of September 11, and its contents changed. I played the beta build of this game for a preview, and a level that was an airport was transformed into a bus station for the retail copy. You can still tell somewhat--there are banners for what looks like AA. Another level with an airplane was dropped entirely.

All the same, I'm glad Ubi Soft decided to go ahead with this game--going silent on terrorism, even in pieces of entertainment, is no way to run things. History has shown the more we try to quiet things down, even in the name of protecting ourselves, the bigger the problem gets.

Okay, less soapbox and more review. The game serves up nine new campaign missions, including some of the toughest in the series. In particular, there's a mission where you must race to a sniping post and puncture the driver of a bus before he can get away. The final mission has you storming a convention centre in Greece, and the terrorists will kill hostages if you so much as scratch your nose. Most of the levels are very big, though the six new multiplayer/custom maps are a little more modest in size. As usual, we get a good assortment of locales and places. A hospital, a chop shop, a train station... I am particularly impressed with the cruise ship and hotel levels. These levels are nice and big, and especially convincing as real world locations.

Missions are the usual prevent loss of life/eliminate terrorists/prevent them from doing something horrible. There's even a plant a bug mission, but thankfully you're allowed to kill people. I hated those stealth missions in the previous editions that wouldn't let you kill anything.

As you review the mission briefings for these new scenarios, you might be overtaken by a sense of déjà vu. This is because the scenarios are based on actual historical incidents of terrorism. Remember when the Japanese embassy in Peru was taken over in 1997? That's in here. Anybody who reads the paper a lot is bound to say "Oh yeah" at some point.

Given the recent climate, some of these situations are bound to put chills down your spine. Or perhaps it will allow you to vent some frustration at the world situation. The game has the blessing and curse of being very relevant to current events. Some may find the premise of Black Thorn a little distasteful, but I find it almost educational at a time when such information is very useful. In fact, they might have gone further. How, for example, were these situations resolved in real life? Were troops sent in, or did negotiators come through? If force was used, how did it turn out? Were there civilian causalities? I realize this might seem like bad taste to some, but really, the only difference between recreating this, and say, the Battle of Britain, is that more time has passed since one event. One of the reasons we study history is to learn from it and maybe do better the next time a similar situation arises.

Right, there I am on the soapbox again. Sorry about that. I'll drop the subject and concentrate on having fun, 'cause that's what we're here to do. In the new toys department we have over 10 new weapons. Some of them are very strange choices, but hey, we like trying to complete missions with only shotguns, so weirdness is welcome. There's everything from the 9mm M12 SMG, which an Italian friend of mine tells me is used by the Italian military police, and is ah...not the world's greatest firearm. Compare this to the P90 SD SMG, which looks like something out of Starship Troopers. This gun was designed to be as compact, accurate, and as lethal as possible, and apparently they succeeded. I also like the new 7.62 SMM SSG3000 sniper rifle. It's loud, but satisfying.

On the Multiplayer side, the game now works with Ubi Soft's new gaming portal, Ubi.com. This service is looking pretty good, and I've already had lots of fun playing Ghost Recon on it. It's very easy to use, and if you've played multiplayer Rogue Spear before you'll have no problems setting it up. The server performance remains solid so far. You've also got a few new multiplayer modes in there, such as a human opponents version of Lone Wolf. This is a good one for Rogue Spear fans to demonstrate their superior talents.

Black Thorn may seem a little modest, but considering Red Storm was also at work on the larger project of Ghost Recon, they gave us quite a bit. Thankfully, this is much meatier than Eagle Watch. Black Thorn makes a nice package, and is a good ride for fans of the series. It's probably a little rough on newbies though. For veterans of the game, get ready to have your skills pushed to the limits.

Info & Screenshots